Friday, September 18, 2009 metrolife 19 FIVE QUESTIONS FOR... Comedian Jarlath Regan for his new book, How To Break Bad News: Greetings From The Dark Side The book is a collection of offbeat greeting cards. If Hallmark were to use one, which would it be? The book has cards for several unusual scenarios: hostage situations, marriage break-ups, clingy boyfriends, annoying relatives, stalking and, of course, the nobody gives a s**t about your iPhone card. My favourite is the card that reads I know weve had our differences in the past and on the inside reads But most of the people I know think Im sound and youre an a***hole. Whats the dodgiest card youve ever seen? The one my prim and proper aunt sent my sister on her 21st birthday. On the front was a damsel in distress wearing a chastity belt and a knight in shining armour with a big shiny key and a smarmy look on his face. My aunt was mortified and claimed she didnt have her glasses on when she bought it. Who would you most like to receive a Valentines card from and what message would it contain? I force my girlfriend to make me a Valentines card every year because I absolutely love them. Shes terrible at make-and-do, so the cards are always hilarious in their amateurish charm and general crapness. You can nearly smell the hours of desperation and sweat that went into it. The message is more or less irrelevant after that. There are some extra-special guests appearing at the launch in The Sugar Club this weekend... There are three guests and they are three of my favourite comedy acts in the world. I actually got really lucky that they were all available on the one night. The evening entails me telling the story of the cards and showing the too hot to publish ones on a big screen. Then I introduce each of the guests, they do their thing and, in the second half, I perform the show I took to Edinburgh for the month of August. Then we all high-five and go home or get drunk. Tell me a joke. Why does Snoop Doggy Dogg always carry an umbrella? Fo Drizzle! Daragh Reddin How To Break Bad News is launched tomorrow, The Sugar Club, 8 Lower Leeson St D2, 8pm, 15. Tel: 0818 719 300. www.jigser.com AND ANOTHER THING... Broken Cro Heart Briste When Manchan Magan developed his story Broken Cro Heart Briste with distinguished director Tom Creed in an attempt to use Irish in theatre without alienating those who dont speak it, he, nonetheless, probably wasnt counting on many Brits turning up, least of all a reviewer. Bounding on to the sparse stage, our lecturer Magan becomes increasingly angry when the audiences grasp of the mother tongue isnt up to scratch. And so he starts over, the format changing to a language class that quickly goes awry when he calls upon stroppy pupil (Eva OConnor) to aid his manifesto. OConnor, while shrill at times, does a sterling job as the tragic little madam, her chemistry with Magan resulting in genuine pathos at the end, and her dance sequence is potent. Magan has the audience eating out of his hand from the get- go, but really earns his acting stripes during the duologues as Gaeilge. Yes, Broken Cro is absolutely alienating if youve never learned Irish at school and possibly for those with only a basic understanding. Approach the play almost like an opera, though there are even surtitles, of a sort and absorb the languages rhythms and repetitions, and you wont feel too much like youve gatecrashed the wrong party. Lucy White Until Sat, Filmbase, Curved Street D2, 7pm, 13 to 16. Tel: 1850 374 643. www.fringefest.com Jesus Has My Mom In There And Has Beat Her Up Real Bad Its a truism in Fringe circles that the more inspired a shows title the less interesting its content and Loose Canons Jesus Has My Mom In There... does little to buck this trend. The premise is certainly fascinating: actors adopt the personae of would-be immigrants whose attempts to seek refuge in Europe end in tragedy. Rather than being placed to the fore however, the voices of these marginalised figures become a springboard for some arid digressions into probability, diffusion theory and basic psychology which, at times, make this feel more like a lecture than a play. The self-conscious nature of the piece with actors appearing to slip in and out of character does little to help. Once you get round the artifice, however, the tales related are indeed poignant. Yaguine Koita and Fod Tounkara were stowaways who froze to death flying from Conakry, Guinea, to Brussels, Belgium in 1999. When their bodies were later discovered in the aircrafts wheel bay, the boys were carrying bags which contained a letter (widely published in the media). Writer Dee Roycroft brings a tender lyricism to their story when she deals with it head-on but the postmodern padding quickly becomes cloying. The cast is impossible to fault but theres little here to compete with the actual transcript of that heart-rending letter. Daragh Reddin Until Sun, Smock Alley Theatre, 8 Exchange Street Lower, Temple Bar D8, 6.15pm, 13 to 16. Tel: 1850 374 643. www.fringefest.com Dropping out of college was probably the smartest thing Daniel Wang ever did. Instead of furthering his education, Wang immersed himself in New Yorks club scene during the late 1980s and, soon afterwards, started to produce music. Wang released his offbeat, electronic take on classic disco on his own Balihu imprint, but it wasnt long before the affable DJ was putting out material on Morgan Geists Environ imprint as well as for Compost and Naked. If you caught Wang perform at this summers Airbound festival in Croatia rest assured that hell bring a similar box of disco, electro and boogie records to Nightflight tonight. Tonight, The Button Factory, Temple Bar D2, 11pm, 10 to 15. A resident DJ at notorious Berlin club Berghain, Ben Klock is one of the most high-profile names in techno. However, he has worked hard to attain this position. Apart from a stint behind the counter at seminal Berlin record store Hardwax where he developed a love of classic Detroit and Chicago techno Klock was a regular DJ at WMF, the club that preceded Berghain. He also spent long hours in the studio honing the dense, loopy sound that typified releases on Memo, Ostgut and his own Klockworks imprint, while his debut album released earlier this year proved that he had a broader palette. Catch a DJ at the height of his powers at Pogo. Richard Brophy Tomorrow, Pogo, Twisted Pepper, Middle Abbey Street D1, 11pm, 10. David Kitt His synth-pop-infused LP The Nightsaver marked a shift in Kitts acoustic oeuvre spot the difference at this live set Tonight, Whelans, 25 Wexford Street D2, 7.30pm, 18. Tel: (01) 478 0766. www.whelanslive.com City Chase Dublin Global scavenger-hunt-cum-assault course the victorious pair will go on to represent Ireland in Argentina Tomorrow, citywide, 10am to 6pm. Tel: (01) 237 4005. www.dublincitychase.com International Talk Like A Pirate Day Avast! Arr! Shiver me timbers! Make like a seaman tomorrow and brush up on sexist chat-up lines at the website as part of a worldwide nautical spouting day Tomorrow, The Stout Bar, Lwr Rathmines Rd, Rathmines D6, all day. www. talklikeapirate.com Fringe reviews Ben Klock (pictured below) is a DJ at the height of his powers index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html