Summer’s not over, but Devon venues are firing out emails promoting autumn shows.

Reach for the credit card if you like to book early.

In true Go Devon! fashion we bring you the unusual, the different and the quirky, showing once again what rich, diverse arts we enjoy here.

Yours in Devon,

P.S. Some readers ask if we get commission for recommending shows. No, the links are to save you searching. If we do introduce partner promotions they will be clearly marked.

P.P.S. Our listings page are bulging with new events near you. In North Devon 55 entries (bound to be something you like) feature spoon whittling, a RNLI charity walk, Barnstaple’s fun carnival and mellow Lynton jazz. Click here

• A stonking 70 things to do in South Devon (just the gig you love, perhaps?) range from open studio art, seaweed pressing and tasty Ashburton food to spying on beavers in Plymouth. Click here

The intoxicating world of The Moscow Drug Club

When it comes to an eclectic music range, it’s hard to beat The Moscow Drug Club.

They are the “transcendent troubadours” of world jazz and folk, a “heady mix” of jazz-French musette, Berlin cabaret, Latin grooves and New Orleans swing.

Imagine Django Reinhardt jamming with Tom Waits, with Jaques Brel, Leonard Cohen and Eartha Kitt as the support acts. Watch them here.

Palace Theatre, Paignton, 7.30pm Saturday 13th September. Tickets: £21.65

Gateway Theatre, Seaton 7.30pm Saturday 18th October. Tickets: £20

Swimming shorts

Enjoy a salty cinematic night starring the wonders and lure of the ocean.

From freedivers dancing with whales to bodyboarders fearlessly taking on giant waves, you’ll meet cave divers, adventurous scientists tracking ocean killers and discover how surfing meets humanitarian aid in Liberia.

See details of the 7 films here

• Exeter Corn Exchange, 25th September and 11th November. Tickets £18.50

• Landmark Theatre, Ilfracombe, 27th September. Tickets £17.50

Marcel Lucont’s Whine List

A deadpan Frenchman serves up gripes, moans and woes.

With wit, Gallic superiority and a side dish of his premier erotic poetry, Marcel Lucont promises no solutions — just plenty of laughs.

An award-winning comedy that crosses frontiers.

“Fresh, accessible and hilarious” — The Guardian

“His elegant, sardonic turns of phrase are an utter joy… superb stuff” — Time Out

25th September, Queens Theatre Barnstaple. Tickets: £19

An entirely improvised comedy play in the style of Jane Austen

Quick wit accompanied by music, period customs, and lots of swooning.

Austentatious has made teasing Jane Austen into almost an institution, appearing in the West End, Stratford, and on Radio 4, launching careers for the original cast.

“A potboiler of a parody, joyously performed” — The Times

“Brilliant, barmy improv in Regency frocks” — Daily Telegraph

7:30pm Saturday 4th October, Princess Theatre Torquay. Tickets £32

Hear the true story of “Britain’s answer to Superman”

Royal Marine Commando Mark Ormrod was on patrol in Afghanistan on Christmas Eve, 2007 when he stepped on a bomb.

Losing both legs and one arm, he learned to walk on artificial legs and just 5 months later marched into a parade ground to receive his campaign medal.

Hear a story of resilience and determination from the Plymouth man who Prince Harry called “Britain’s answer to Superman.”

Exmouth Pavilion. 7.30pm, Friday 17th October. Tickets: £27

Screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey

Linking the start of the Dark Skies stargazing festival (details coming here soon) with a spacey film, the Landmark Theatre Ilfracombe is showing this Stanley Kubrick classic.

The big screen is definitely the place to watch this 1968 epic which blended science fiction with dramatic classical music and cashed in on the global human fascination with space. The film cost $10m and made $146m.

You can see it for less than the price of a coffee, or free!

3pm, Saturday 25th October. £2, over 50s free. Tickets

MEMBER POLL

Last week’s result: “Are you a long distance trail walker?” (3,158 subscribers)

• Yes - 47%

• No - 53%

Samantha said: “I walk a lot of the South West Coast Path” (I love it too Samantha)

Revdj said: “My wife and I enjoy walks all around this area and have recently completed a basic navigation course to better handle walks on Dartmoor and Exmoor.” (What a great idea. Nothing worse than going the wrong way!)

Devon Curiosities #74: The Barnstaple Elephant

In the days of global warming between the Ice Ages, hippos wallowed in the marshes of what became London and giant deer foraged in the English forests.

The idea that animals like these existed here was unbelievable in 1844 when workmen digging clay in Barnstaple uncovered unusual bones.

They were tusk and teeth belonging to the 12-ton straight-tusked monster Palaeoloxodon Antiquus that lived 120,000 years ago.

WHERE ARE THEY? Alongside a model of the front half of an elephant at The Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon.

• The teeth are in the Natural History Museum in London.

SCIENCE: According to experts, back then the temperature here may have been 3-4 degrees centigrade higher than today, sustaining many different species.

• Barnstaple was probably part of a swamp and as the teeth were from a baby elephant, one possibility is that the adult died trying to rescue its calf from the mud.

Whatever happened, the discovery gave Barnstaple a small yet little-known cultural icon, and provides us with a long-term perspective on the climate crisis and how it changes our world.

If you’re in an archaeological mood, read more here.

WHAT ELSE IS ON?

🌊 North Devon 

🐬 South Devon

🏆️ Get lucky! Win Devon leisure prizes

FEATURED:  🛳️ A family cruise for 2 adults and 2 children with Stuart Line Cruises exploring the Jurassic Coast or the River Exe from Exmouth (11th Sep)

🍷 A 7-course Michelin-star tasting menu for 2, worth £360, near Plymouth (7th Sep)

NEW!  🦉 A weekend escape for 2 in a luxury treehouse in North Devon, with a copper bathtub, wood fired hot tub, stove, pizza oven, BBQ, and cinema projector, worth £1,460 (25th Sep)

🌊 A 3-day stay for 2 at the Saunton Sands Hotel in North Devon in a deluxe sea view room with breakfast on all 3 days and dinner on one night, plus £100 of holiday spending money (29th Sep)

NEW!  ♨️ A 2-night stay for 4 people in a cliffside cottage at Babbacombe, with breakfast each day and 1 lunch for 4, including access to the sea-facing spa (30th Sep)

NEW!  🌊 A 2-night break in a 3-bedroom North Devon sea view apartment for family or friends with private hot tub (30th Sep)

🐕️ A 4-night break in an East Devon cottage with its own dog friendly enclosed garden and views across open countryside (30th Sep)

🪙 A £500 holiday voucher for a Dawlish family holiday park, plus attraction vouchers - survey (30th Sep)

❓️ Have you won a prize from a link here? Let me know

New member? Catch up here

🎼 High quality, possibly world class, choral music in 5 Devon villages

🐎 75+ events celebrating 368 square miles of wild beauty

🧂A pinch of Salt Path 

🫢 A shocking case of BMW 2002 envy

That’s all for this week. Thanks for being a member.

NEXT WEEK: Page-turning by the sea.

Andy, Esme and Lara