THE JOKER: Preston Road, Brighton, 01273 675769

FROM a train carriage snug to the chance to play Russian roulette with chicken wings, the new owner of one of Brighton’s oldest pubs is offering a traditional town pub for local people, but with a bit of an edge.

Daniel Wright took over the former Circus Circus pub off Preston Circus late last year, and has transformed it in just six weeks, stripping back everything but the old marble-topped bar.

“The brewery [Brakspear] was looking for a fresh new concept,” says Wright, who moved to Brighton from East London three years ago.

“People living around this area are looking for a bit more than a tired old pub. We wanted to drop something in here which would suit the area.”

The colour scheme downstairs is black and red, with booth seating and the aforementioned train carriage-style snug, which seats ten people and is separated from the rest of the pub by a set of glass doors. The walls are adorned with artworks from Brighton artists.

Upstairs Wright has created The Devil’s Disco – a free-to-hire 100-capacity space with its own stage, sound system and skull-shaped glitterball. The space is suitable for live music, parties and even, as happened in December, pantomime rehearsals. Walking up to the venue is an experience in itself, with a deliberately disorientating black and white staircase and sickly flickering neon light guiding the way.

The week before Christmas the pub welcomed street food vendor Tom Samandi, who has brought his Orange Buffalo trailer to its first permanent home inside the pub.

Samandi’s speciality is deep-fried free-range chicken wings, served with his own home-made sauces based on traditional recipes from Buffalo in New York State.

His wares enjoyed a clean sweep in the inaugural London Wing Festival, run by Frank’s RedHot Sauce brand in Dalston to mark the 50th anniversary of the chicken wing. Orange Buffalo scooped both the Buffalo Wing award and the Wild Wing category for his chocolate and chipotle with avocado and melted cheese sauce.

At The Joker the wings come in eight-strong portions offering five categories of heat, from the mild BBQ to the super hot Viper made with scotch bonnets, naga and chilli extract for £7.

“We looked at what everyone else was doing to offer something different,” says Wright. “The food is about people sharing and interacting.”

Nowhere is this more obvious than in Orange Buffalo’s Snake In A Basket roulette game, which sees one Viper hidden among seven medium Original or hot Woof Woof wings.

“We had two people cry yesterday,” laughs Samandi. “It’s hot!”

The wings menu is accompanied by sandwich options of slow-cooked salt beef or Buffalo chicken (£8), and a vegetarian Bloody Veggie Burger made of roasted beetroot, mushroom, tofu, adzuki beans and almonds (£7).

“We wanted to add to the menu and cater for a Brighton market,” says Wright. “As well as the vegetarian burger we have a gluten-free barbecue sauce. There will be changes to the menu as time goes on – we’re pretty happy with it, but will see how people like it.”

Probably the best days to try the menu are Wings Wednesday, when diners can buy two portions of wings and get a third free, or the Sunday blues sessions, with live music from 5pm to 7pm.

Or there is the chance of a cheap night out with Cut The Deck on Tuesdays – anyone ordering from the bar can cut a deck of cards to find one of four jokers and get their order for free.

“Someone has won every week so far,” says Wright, who plans to run hot sauce competitions and a wings challenge later in the year.

The Joker is currently looking for a full-time general manager – please email daniel@thejokerbrighton.com for more details.

Open Mon 4pm to midnight, Tues to Thurs and Sun noon to midnight, Fri/Sat noon to 2am. Visit www.thejokerbrighton.com