DANNY ROBINS' EVENTS GUIDE: 10TH MARCH 2011

A Lot of Kazoos

Fancy playing some Kazoo? Fancy doing it with lots of other people? Enough people to break world record? Then this is the event for you...

It's Comic Relief on Friday 18th and as part of the build up to it, on Monday 14th, the Royal Albert Hall in London is hosting Comic Relief's Big Red Nose Show a night of classical music and comedy - not two things you'd always expect to put together. It's organised in conjunction with Radio 3 and hosted by Radio 3's Katie Derham and Basil Brush (who I used to write for - long story, ask me sometime...)

It all builds up to an attempt to break the Guinness Book of Records world record for the largest kazoo orchestra on the planet. Loads of comedians and celebrities will be there taking part - Miranda Hart, Stephen Mangan, Richard Bacon, Marcus Brigstocke, Caitlin Moran, Grace Dent, David Morrissey and even newsreader Krishnan Guru Murthy along with kazoo band Masters of the Kazooniverse.

I think the current world record is 3550. The capacity at the Royal Albert Hall is 3929, plus people on the stage, so they should break the record if the show sells out.

Go here to get tickets.

Magic and Musical Darwinism

Bearded wizard Derren Brown is going on tour. The show is called Svengali and promises' marvels of the mind', 'wonders of the occult' and 'marvellous and startling feats'.

Derren's last TV shows were high-concept stunts - such as hypnotising a man into thinking he could fly and land a plane - which I really enjoyed but saw lots of people accuse him of faking. It'll be interesting to see if this tour is more of a return to the basics of magic and mind control.

The tour starts this week and runs across the UK until the summer. He's doing a stint at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London's West End From June 8th to July 16th, tickets for which are on-sale now.

To find out if Derren is coming to a town near you, look here.

On a slightly smaller scale, can I give a quick tip for a comedy gig this week at the Etcetera Theatre in Camden, one of London's Smallest Fringe Theatres. Steve Pretty's Origin of the Pieces - a hit at last summer's Edinburgh Festival - is one man's attempt to track the evolution of pop music from pre-historic bone-flute music to Lady Gaga 'with only a trumpet, a laptop and a fondue set'

It's on 10th and 11th March (that's tonight and tomorrow) at 9.30pm. Steve is also a member of the Hackney Colliery Band - a funk brass band that are well worth checking out if you ever get the opportunity.

Weekenders

There's a strong tradition of music 'weekenders' in seaside towns - a chance for groups of fans to fill up all the B&Bs and spend the whole weekend talking about and listening to their favourite genre or artist. I love them as chances to tap into a sub-culture and embrace the fun of music geekdom. There are punk weekenders, Northern soul weekenders, Goth weekenders and, in this case, Elvis weekenders...

Being a big Elvis fan, I'm just wishing I could go to this event but sadly I'm away.

If you're free though and fancy a weekend devoted to The King and everything about him, get yourself down to Bridlington this weekend for The Elvis Weekender.

It runs from Friday 11th to Sunday 13th. One of the highlights of the weekend will be the European ETA Masters. ETA, for those who don't know, stands for Elvis Tribute Artist and this is billed as 'the most prestigious contest ever held in Europe'.

You can get tickets for the whole weekend or just for individual events. There will undoubtedly be a Whole Lotta Shakin' going on.

And a heads up for another weekender, with an Indie bent, for which tickets are selling fast. The Great Escape, which is, I guess, the UK's answer to South By Southwest, combining, as it does, music industry convention with loads of band performances is happening the weekend of 12th to 14th May in Brighton.

Headliners are DJ Shadow, Friendly Fires and Sufjan Stevens, plus loads of up and coming bands. Get in there really soon if you want to go.

And finally...

Looking for a new job? I was amused to see man of the moment Charlie Sheen is looking for an intern. Deadline is tomorrow - Friday 11th. Must have #tigerblood...

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