Anyway, I made it back as quickly as possible from the office; this was near Russell Square, which meant something of a trek. The cheap route would be a combination of two buses; the fast route was to catch the train to meet the Victoria Line, take that to Euston. And it would've been tight to get the bus, so I chose to go the train/Tube route.
Turned out to be a very good idea - Google Maps can be optimistic about timings, and despite their prediction of a travel time of about 30 mins, it took more like 45. Even though the trains are back to normal. And that was just to get to Euston.. factor in my complete confusion in Euston rail station, as I hadn't thought about what exit I needed, and it took me another five minutes just to get out of there and pointed in the right direction! And with another few minutes required to walk there, I got to the venue with about 10 minutes to spare.
There are a lot of university buildings in the area, and Logan Hall turns out to be part of UCL - enter on Bedford Place. I was slightly worried about finding a particular room in a university building, but figured I'd follow the crowd; sure enough, lots of people were arriving as I did, and anyway, there's a separate entrance for Logan Hall, just to the left of the steps to the main door, as you enter. Inside were lots of Just for Laughs posters - this show is part of the festival, it seems - and yes, crowds and crowds of people brandishing ShowFilmFirst tickets. Hmph.
Seating was unreserved, and as we entered, we were asked how many were in our party, and shown to a seat. Mind you, the place was only about half full.. I got a perfectly fine aisle seat, not too far from the stage. Took a while for it to start.. a lot of people arrived late, and it took while to seat them.
The show started with a lot of dry ice. Lots of flashing lights too - beware, anyone who has a problem with that. Five magicians, they have, but we only saw three in the first act.. First up was a babyfaced conjuror called Edward Hilsum, who performed fairly spectacular tricks with doves and candles.. Faye Presto's set, with interlocking rings, was quite funny.. but for me, the absolute highlight was the mentalist, Alex McAleer. I know they have their tricks, but he did seem quite spectacular: and as for having plants in the audience, well done on picking them, when the volunteers are chosen by throwing a "chimpian" (stuffed baby chimp) backwards over your shoulder into the audience, and having your volunteer be the one who catches it..
They were in the lobby at the interval, but I didn't bother - stayed where I was and read the paper. Fay Presto opened the second act, with a bit of audience participation - very impressive, although there was a bit of a blunder when she was supposed to open a sweet packet to produce something she'd earlier taken from an audience member. Unfortunately, she'd given the sweets to a child in the audience.. who, of course, ignored her instructions not to eat them.. and NO, the child hadn't noticed anything in the sweet packet when she'd opened it..
We were just enjoying the mentalist's second appearance when the fire alarm went off. Shortly after, we were asked to leave, and wait across the road - just as well the evening was warm. Yep, full fire alert - a fire engine arrived, firemen entered the building.. it transpired that a student, in adjacent student accommodation, had left a fork in the microwave and started a fire. O dear. Anyway, I used the break to check my route home: thought I'd saved it as a memo, but they don't save automatically on my new phone, and it was gone. Still, what my new phone does do spectacularly well is pick up on WiFi signals, and I was able to check it live, online. Meantime, Edward Hilsum and Faye Presto obligingly came out and entertained the crowd.
It was a while before we were let in again - perhaps 20 minutes. Which was a problem for some people, and not everyone returned - unfortunately for the mentalist, who'd previously asked us to guess what was written on a blackboard, suspended above the stage and covered in a red cloth:
..of course, the person who'd guessed correctly (and written the answer in a box, which the mentalist opened on stage) had now left..
The show was closed by a couple of magicians we hadn't seen before. Young and Strange were more a comedy double-act, entertaining us with some impressive illusions and some wonderful stagecraft. And in a perfect finish, they had confetti shower the stage and front few rows like snow.. several of the kids ran down in delight, to play in it.
Not honestly the most spectacular magic I've seen, but there were some very impressive acts, and it's a terrific family show. Runs till Sunday - recommended. On a ShowFilmFirst ticket, if they have any left.
I got the bus back - turned out that the 168 would take me to Elephant & Castle, where I could pick up the 344, but that every single bus that stopped at the bus stop I was waiting at went to Waterloo, where I could pick up the 77. So, when one of those came along, that's what I did - although I had to wait forever for the 77. And when I got home, I had to feed myself - so that was as much as I got done last night: no blog.
Tonight, Helen and I are off - again with cheap tickets - to the Best of Bare Essentials, a set of short plays by new writers, showing in the Seven Dials Comedy Club. I'll be meeting her at Waterloo.. by the Stay Puft marshmallow man. :-)
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