While John Godber was busy directing a new production of Teechers, which opened at Hull Truck's Spring Street venue this week, 5,000 miles away in Los Angeles, classic Bouncers is being staged at The Lost Studio. Now some might think the subtleties of the script inspired by life as a doorman outside a Yorkshire nightclub may get lost in translation, but not so. Most of the reviews have had nothing but praise for Godber's turn of phrase, but when it comes to theatre you clearly can't please all of the people all of the time. "The poster was the best thing about the show," wrote one disappointed audience member. "It had its moments, but we ended up walking out. The actors' performances were good, the material they had to work with fell short of entertaining."



Could Simon Armitage be one step nearer achieving a life-long ambition? The Yorkshire poet has made no secret of his childhood desire to follow in the footsteps of his musical heroes and his latest book Gig: The Life and Times of a Rock Star Fantasist continued the theme. However, while Armitage may have spent many years reflecting on his failure never to attract groupies or indulge in usual rock star behaviour, he is gradually making a name for himself in music circles. Cropping up on the live coverage of this week's Nationwide Mercury Prize there was a certain glint in his eye when asked to name the best lyricist among the 12 hopefuls. "There's a line in an Estelle song about underpants that my daughter likes, but no way is she the best lyricist," he told the blogger from The Guardian. "I think Guy Garvey is the best lyricist here. You can't go wrong belting into a song with the line 'I've been working on a cocktail called grounds for divorce'. Elbow have also got a song called The Fix and it's full of internal rhymes. I particularly like the rhyme 'jockey' and 'cocky' – it's about a horse racing scandal."



For years we tried to pretend otherwise, but Jarvis Cocker is no longer in his prime.

The Sheffield singer has long been preserved as an icon of Britpop and like a musical equivalent to Dorian Gray, he was destined never to get old and grey. However, according to insiders at Radio 4, the Pulp frontman could soon be appearing on I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue. The BBC confirmed the long-running comedy show is to return to the airways, following the death of host Humphrey Lyttleton, and Jarvis, as well as Stephen Fry, are being considered as replacements for Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Barry Cryer.



Reverend and the Makers' Jon McClure isn't happy. The Sheffield singer has announced he is to quit the music business after the release of his second album, A French Kiss In The Chaos, early next year, blaming a lack of rebellion in the industry.

"I'm going to retire from the music industry because it's run by rich white men who are very conservative and have been around too long," he said.

"They don't wanna hear anybody with anything truly rebellious to say... you only get two albums anyway, so on this album I might as well do what I want to do and go out telling the truth."