Comedy: Laugh Train Home

Yep, it was comedy last night. Now, London for Less Than a Tenner was off to the Top Secret Comedy Club - but I'm not terribly keen on that venue. Comedy is subjective, I'm careful with it. After due consideration of YouTube clips of the performers, I decided to risk Laugh Train Home, and booked - tickets are with Design My Night, cheaper in advance.

Now, this show runs in the Four Thieves, a pub  not at all far from my new flat. So it would've been ideal to stay there last night. But noo... the removal guy is coming this evening, and I still had packing to do - so I came back to the old place. Moseyed off down there well in advance of the show, thinking to eat at the pub - my letting agent was due to show my old room yesterday, and I wanted to stay out of the way.

Streetview, as usual, showed me the way, and I rounded the corner to the pub just behind a young couple, who turned out to be going there too. We went in the first door.. up a rather dark flight of stairs.. and into a (deserted) games room! I checked out the bar menu - very limited, much less on it than on the one online. Didn't appeal.. I left, figuring I'd find something in one of the eateries I'd passed on the way.

As I walked outside though, I was puzzled - could this really be it? I did some exploring, and discovered the entrance to the bar proper - the games room, upstairs, is quite separate. The main entrance is the next door along, and when I went in, the place was buzzing. I did a quick reccie, but couldn't see a single free table, so I left again. The next couple of places down the road were equally busy - lively area, this - and the most attractive option seemed to be Panahar Indian, across the road.

It was completely empty when I went in - well, apart from a guy sitting near the bar, who I subsequently discovered was waiting for a takeaway. Nice little place - a single, long room, toilets downstairs. A Christmas tree blinked away at the top of the stairs, and blue fairy lights in the window. I took a table in said window - a couple of other tables were filled while I was eating.

Service wasn't the absolute quickest, but nothing to complain about. The house wine was better than usual, and I made an excellent choice for starter - the onion bhajis were delicious! and served with a slice of lemon. They were a bit spicy, which was as much spice as I fancied - I had the chicken korma main course, served on a plate-warmer.. it's ages since I saw one. I didn't have rice - weird, I know, since these places serve their dishes drowning in sauce, which the rice is handy for mopping up: but I always get too full if I do. Instead, a went for a peshwari naan, which was lovely. Everything was served on piping-hot plates. When I asked for the bill, I was spoiled - it was served with a really hot hand napkin, a couple of slices of orange, an After Eight mint, and a little glass of Bailey's, for goodness' sake! Indeed, I was happy with my choice..

It was now about time to head back to the pub. When I went in, I spotted the performance area to the right. Most of the seats were reserved, though - seems they had no fewer than three groups in last night! There wasn't anyone on the desk when I arrived, but I was soon spotted, ticked off the list, and had my hand stamped. And filled out my details on a small ticket I was given, and told to pop in the raffle box on the (boat-shaped) bar - I could win a free pair of tickets to another show.

I tried to take a seat on the bench at the back, but was asked to move - they needed it. I ended up at a table in the front row (ooh-er!). Anyhoo, it's a pretty cool venue - the bare brick wall at the back of the stage was obscured by the projection screen for the first act, James Veitch, who described for us, in a very funny set, how he always replies to spam emails.. he also has a book for sale. The acts after were a mixed bag - and there was something of a problem with the crowd, who could be rowdy at times.. and yes, the people on stage didn't appreciate people whispering amongst themselves, either.. but it was a decent show. Despite the fact that, when the final act came to the punchline of his closing story.. I'd heard it before! (On YouTube.) For sure, the girl beside me enjoyed herself - she practically exploded with laughter several times, and provided much amusement for the performers. This show runs on Wednesdays - just not the next two. Probably worth a look.

And so back to Flat #1, and a late, late night packing, and a blasted early start too. This week may kill me yet.. So, I'm moving properly this evening, then back to Ireland for the weekend. And on Monday, I'm off to the Hammersmith Apollo, to see Trevor Noah, on a ticket I got from StubHub. So I'm not quite done with Flat #1 yet! (I see there are still official tickets available for that show, but standing only, so I'm happy enough.)