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Urban Artz which presents the 'Off The Road' variety show is a local community arts project which is currently organized by myself, Jayney Wright, Philip 'Wincolmlee' Barnes and Jane Foster.

'Off The Road' is a monthly show at the New Adelphi Club which consists of poetry; spoken word, music, comedy, drama, cabaret acts, performance artists. The events showcase local up and coming talent and also invites more established artists. This gives the new performers a chance to perform alongside and possibly network with more experienced artists.ΜύWe have a wide range of multiple performances which range from low art to high art;Μύ i.e. urban to the more academia performers.

Off The Road is a controversial show which can be described as being, "off the wall" and a bit edgy. Hence why The New Adelphi Club is the perfect venue for our show. Paul Jackson (the tall guy in the picture) who runs the New Adelphi Club has been very supportive towards our shows and through him we have been fortunate enough to have international performers such as Dufus anti-folk band from America and Picastro from Canada. Jim Nutter, Adelphi's sound man has been really supportive also. The name 'Off The Road' was initially taken from Jack Kerouac's novel 'On The Road'. Our show aims to be a post-modern bohemian, cabaret event.

At the moment the shows are self funded by myself although there's a small entry fee for people wishing to see the shows. Every show is recorded on video then edited to show the highlights of each performance. As a thank-you we give each performer a copy of their performance on DVD.

We have had some fantastic feedback from both performers and the customers. Lots of folk are saying it's a great night and they are liking the variety of the acts. We aim to make everyone feel welcome and some customers have said it's like a family atmosphere. Will Ramsey from the Hull Daily Mail branded us as "possibly the most bizarre variety show in the world". Quite a compliment in our eyes. This is 'ull, the alternative website has also helped us in various ways by publishing a couple of our press releases and bringing us together with great spoken word acts such as Joe Hakim; Mike Watts, Michelle Dee and Jane Foster.

Our future aims are to continue running the shows in Hull and we want to drop some theme nights into the events every now and then with the help from our regular performers. For example, our Winter Solstice event will consist of a musical film theme. Scarlet Lights shall be doing a number from the musical Chicago. The musically talented Sam Jones will be conjuring up his own songs and making a musical song for the film Fight Club.Μύ

ΜύAlso the hip 70s rock/blues band the James Dean Syndrome will be entertaining us with one or two tunes from the fab four, The Beatles. We will also have two wonderful hosts Andy Hampel and Sean Wilson from Hull Blokes. They will be subjecting our audience to games, laughter and music as theΜύNew Magnet.

Our other performers for the night are Dr Q a.k.a. Hayokee. Spoken word and poetry will be performed byΜύMike Watts, Jane Foster & Philip 'Wincolmlee' Barnes. We shall be ending the night with some very special guests; Keep It Cash who'll be playing this memorable night out to the tracks from the great rebel himself, Johnny Cash.ΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύ

Our other future aims is to take "Off The Road", on the road to other towns. My aim is to take Hull acts out of town if we can get the funding. I feel we have great unique talent in Hull and I think we should be proud to show other towns exactly what we are made of. At the same time inviting other acts from other towns to take part in our shows.