Yes, the London for Less Meetup group did it again - taunted me with an interesting event, and dashed my hopes by having it be sold out by the time I got around to it. :-) Well, that didn't stop me buying my own ticket to Beta Testing by Circus Geeks, part of the Udderbelly Festival - I do love my circus! Mind you, I was a bit miffed to discover, after I'd bought my ticket, that I could've got it cheaper on lastminute.com. Never mind..
I made my leisurely way in, in good time - a good thing, given that I had to change at Earl's Court, where the direction board was positively schizophrenic. It was a lovely sunny evening, if breezy, and it didn't take too long to get to the upside-down, purple cow for which the Udderbelly is famous. I pretty much immediately saw my group when I went in (well, not officially my group last night), what with the organiser's trademark cream baseball cap. They were second row from the front in the centre section. Honestly, you wouldn't have had trouble finding anyone in there - it can't have been as much as 1/3 full.
So I went and sat in one of the several empty seats behind them (seating was unassigned), and said hi. I was introduced to the other people there, one of whom I recognised from Saturday's event. And when they saw where I was sitting, there was a mass uprising (literally) and they almost all decamped to my row - slightly elevated, it gave a better view over the front row.
In due course, the show started. Three jugglers, in short. Now, I recognise that people in this business have to keep their acts fresh and interesting - hence the twist to this show. As the group name implies, this started geeky. We literally had a 20-minute lecture on the science of juggling, with some practical examples. And honestly, I wasn't sure what to make of it, or whether it really worked. Certainly, the little girl two seats down from me wasn't impressed - she remarked to her father, sitting between us, "Daddy, this is boring!"
And then there was this extended routine that they "couldn't" get right. I thought it dragged on a bit too long - but the little girl perked up remarkably! And for sure, the show improved after that, with some impressive juggling, and in particular a spectacular visual display at the end, superimposing film taken of them on stage, on a transparent screen behind which we could see them in "real life". Slightly headwrecking, and very visually impressive. They've definitely found a new take on juggling - I'm just not sure the kiddies are the best audience. Anyway, runs until 21st - tickets available every day except next Monday and Friday, and they also have weekend matinees.
One of our group was definitely not impressed, and left as our organiser was finding us a space in Le Pain Quotidien, just on the other side of the bridge. The rest of us took the end of a long table, and treated ourselves to most excellent desserts and drinks - the strong recommendation from one of the group was for the cheesecake, but I've had their chocolate bombe before, so bucked the trend there. Someone had tarte tatin. And I can testify that the pinot grigio is excellent.. and the chocolate bombe as chocolatey as ever. I was in chocolate heaven - despite the cocoa powder coating getting all over my top. Only recommended on its own though - not with a meal, it'd be far too much.
The chat was excellent, we had what you might call a rare old time, and I was delighted I'd come. On my own tonight though - another of those Meetup groups I'm not a member of is off to hear the Philharmonia play Sibelius in the Royal Festival Hall. So I booked myself one of the cheap tickets in the rear stalls. Tomorrow, I'm off to Ireland, and on Monday I'm breaking new ground again - another new Meetup group, would you believe! The Post-Apocalyptic Book Club is meeting to discuss The Running Man, by Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman. I don't have time to dig it out again in the meantime.. must try and revise as much as possible though!
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