We are delighted to have this duo back to perform their niche, ridiculous and super interesting performance lectures.
"Ben Bailey and Chris Parkinson make a perfect double act, combining the best elements of stand-up with weird, funny and fascinating PowerPoint lectures. Who wouldn’t want to know more about tapirs and board games called Baconopoly?" - David Bramwell, The Catalyst Club
Which former Prime Minister used to eat 63 bananas a week? Which notorious cult leader composed an electro-jazz concept album? Did Hercule Poirot really continue to solve mysteries until the age of 129? Were the Tintin comics just a vehicle for imperialist Catholic propaganda? Why did Donald Trump create a board game all about himself?
These questions and more will be answered at The Slide Show Must Go On, a tour around the esoteric fringes of politics and popular culture driven by an unhealthy obsession with PowerPoint. Ben Bailey and Chris Parkinson present three nights of illustrated talks covering topics as diverse as the man who believes Stephen King killed John Lennon, Margaret Thatcher’s egg diet, and how Agatha Christie became the first British person to stand upright on a surfboard.
Ben and Chris have delivered talks on these (and many other) subjects at literary events and music festivals – and anywhere else that can be persuaded to accommodate overenthusiastic slideshow presentations. This unique one-off special for Brighton Fringe features new and expanded talks that delve into their topics to turn up a wealth of intriguing and hilarious minutiae. Each talk concludes with a Q&A and the opportunity to put your hosts on the spot.
Ben Bailey is a writer, journalist and musician. He has published two interactive game books, Zombies in Brighton and Vampires in Brighton, written countless articles about music and film, and once created a kebab shop simulator that caused a disgruntled player to destroy his own copy of the game. He also plays in several bands including cabaret-punk pranksters and Brighton Fringe favourites, The Lovely Brothers. He has just finished making a documentary on conspiracy theories and owns over 200 VHS tapes.
Chris Parkinson is a poet, writer and aspiring situationist. He has released four collections of poetry, has won the Best Literature award at Brighton Fringe twice (once in 2007 for The Poetry Brothel and once in 2014 for his show Moonshine), and built a robot called MechaPoet to deliver algorythmically generated verse (which once came second-last in a poetry slam). He also became an associate movie producer after his Gumtree advert offering free accommodation for someone prepared to dress as a walrus ended up inspiring the Kevin Smith film Tusk
Dates, times and tickets
Tues 22 June – Science Fiction and the End of the World / The Golden Age of Detective Fiction
Weds 23 June – When Board Games Get Political / Great Snakes! The Politics of Tintin
Thurs 24 June – We Are All Conspiracy Theorists Now / The Eating Habits of Politicians
8pm – 10pm
Tickets: £5 (general admission in person), £6 (livestreamed online)