... Chambers 'n' Nettleton--The C'n'N Channel Canal Cafe On paper this duo's comic ideas would not seem substantial enough to fill a wet lunchtime half-hour in the leanest part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. But in person, Lynn Chambers and Sally Nettleton possess enough ramshackle bravado and knock about charm to make even the slightest material work. The mock television channel at the ...

... Achtung Kabarett! New End Chanteuse Alexandra Valavelska has done her homework in creating an authentic aural slice of the volatile twenties. Subtitled Berlin and Paris of the Twenties, Criss Cross Production's show tells via song and narrative the tale of Lola, a precocious Jewish lass who escapes her small-town shtetl for the cabaret bars of the big city. A classic crop of songwriters ...

... Madama Butterfly Glasgow Scottish Opera really are a bunch of heartbreakers. This new production at the Theatre Royal looks deep into the culture clash that lies at the core of this tragedy, and it does so with unflinching directness. The result is very theatrical and heightens the emotional impact to nigh-unbearable levels without ever stepping over the boundary into melodrama. Director David ...

... Feats of memory stand out BY JOHN MARTLAND Children in Need day had been and gone, and there wasn't a red nose in sight when Kate Adie, the BBC's chief news correspondent, launched into the Goon's immortal Ying Tong Song on Wireless Wise (Testbed Productions for R4, Friday, December 8). Amazed as the rest of us, David Hatch just managed to splutter out: That was worth anybody's money. ...

... Melodies sure to stay with us Royal Festival Hall The Ted Heath Band--The Final Concert Thirty-one years after the death of its leader, the Ted Heath Band took its final bow to a standing ovation from a packed Royal Festival Hall. Fronted since 1976 by one of the major stars to emerge from the band, trombonist Don Lusher, the concert brought to an end 56 years of immaculate music making. ...

... Eric Bibb Blackheath Halls It was standing room only in the Great Hall as American-born, Swedish-based Eric Bibb made a welcome return for this final date of a European tour. Bibb and his three accompa nying musicians were all seated on-stage in a relaxed atmosphere as they proceeded to run through a host of familiar tunes along with some new material. With a repertoire of traditional American ...

... Hull McLeod Holden Enterprises The Willerby Manor Hotel again played host to this event and on arrival we were greeted with the skills of the 'Birdman Of Magic', Paul Derek. He had most of his menagerie on display including his impressive eagle owl. This has to be one of the most unusual and impressive magic acts on the circuit. Compere for the evening was the affable Steve Massam who ...

... Dylan Moran--Ready Steady Cough Brighton/Touring Dylan Moran quite literally spluttered onto the stage at the Gardener Arts Centre, working his way through two malfunctioning microphones to bring his skewed mix of observational and slightly tormented stand-up to a receptive full house. His appearances in the recent Channel 4 sitcom Black Books and repeats of How Do You Want Me? on BBC2 were ...