***** ARGUS ANGEL WINNER

Brighton Fringe finished on Sunday in triumphant style with this glorious act.

Sarah-Louise Young and Michael Roulston, well known on the London Cabaret scene, are a talented duo who not only write their own material but also perform it to perfection.

Their latest creation sees Young in the persona of a tortured French chanteuse, always in the shadow of Edith Piaff. Not accepted by the French public as another Little Sparrow, she has been cruelly dubbed La Poule Plombee, which roughly translated means "Strumpet Pigeon", and forced into exile where she seeks the acclimation of Brighton’s cultured classes.

During the course of an hour, which flies by all too quickly, she spoke and sang of her life and loves.

She was aided by the excellent Roulston, in the guise of Mu Mu, her piano playing accompanist and stooge. He is all that remains of her onetime band, The Miserycords; the rest all walked out on her while performing on the cross channel ferry.

The writing was clever; the lyrics witty and truly Gallic. Young’s voice was amazing, as was her sense of comic timing and finely nuanced acting.

This was cabaret at its consummate best.