Monday, 16 January 2017

Comedy: Festival of the Spoken Nerd

Ah, deep joy! I finally got shot of the old place, made yet another run in the car with the last of my stuff, cleaned it, left the keys and I was done. That was last night - but I finally felt the benefits tonight. With the show not starting till 9, I would have had plenty of time to make yet another run. But.. I DIDN'T HAVE TO!! No, I could relax. Even the walk home from work was easier, no blizzards or gales, just the leisure to look around me:



I shopped in Sainsbury's on the way home, had a nice leisurely dinner, then set out 15 minutes before showtime - plenty of time to walk to Soho Theatre! Now, this is what city centre living is supposed to be about.. not even much traffic at this time of night. Picked up my ticket at the box office, with some mild confusion when she asked me my postcode and I realised she meant the one I'd booked with! Side effect of moving.

Anyway, this was in the main theatre, so for once I didn't have to climb into the attic. And as I took my seat, it occurred to me that it's an age since I was in this theatre. I had a balcony seat, overlooking the stage - which was just about perfect. The show for tonight was Festival of the Spoken Nerd: mostly sold out, and it quickly became apparent that the participants were People I Should Recognise. Well, you know, sorry, but I don't watch tv over here - don't have time - and hardly listen to the radio.

It also smacked very much of a kids' science show - funny, given the 16+ rating. So we have three self-proclaimed nerds - one with a maths bent, one with a musical bent, one into experiments. It would be an absolutely great show for introducing kids (well, 16+) to science - for adults however, you really do need to be a nerd to enjoy it. Still, they do bring quite a bit of humour to it, and some audience participation. And to be fair, it takes no little imagination to come up with all those science jokes. Some of which are really funny - if you're a nerd. Anyway, runs for about an hour, and they sell their books afterwards (autographed, if requested). For the nerds among you, it runs until Saturday, with Wednesday's performance subtitled and Thursday's accompanied by a BSL interpreter.

I, of course, have other plans. Tomorrow, I had signed up for free comedy in Hammersmith (!) with Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith Wimbledon and Farringdon, and London Live Comedy. But.. then I saw that Funzing UK had advertised Rising Stars: East England Burlesque Festival 2017. So I booked that instead - hey, I can get straight there on the Central Line! And I love burlesque. After booking, I got an email from them to point out that there are two events there that night, and that to avoid confusion, the name of mine has been changed to "Star Watch"..

On Wednesday, I've signed up with London Speaks SessionsLondon for a Tenner or Less, and LDN Talks @Night (or more particularly with Funzing) for a talk on The Science of Psychedelics.

On Thursday, free comedy in Hammersmith, with Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith Wimbledon and Farringdon, and London Live Comedy.

On Friday, I'm finally headed to The Comedy About a Bank Robbery, at the Criterion Theatre. Same team that did The Play That Goes Wrong - which is excellent - so I'm looking forward to this. Best value tickets from the venue.

On Saturday, I'm out with the Man with the Hat again, after an unusually long break - this time, it's Woolf Works, a Wayne McGregor triptych, inspired by the works of Virginia Woolf and showing at the Royal Opera House. Both his groups are going: London for Less Than a Tenner (note the difference with the group name above), and Let's Do London - for less! As usual, I have a cheap seat.

And on Sunday, the ever-busy Man with the Hat is headed (with Let's Do London - for less!) to a dance production - at Sadler's Wells, unusually for him. The Red Shoes, choreographed by Matthew Bourne, is completely sold out for its whole run. Our Man with the Hat has tickets, though.. but he held them back (under his hat, as you might say), with sales starting at 11am on New Year's Day. They sold out in 15 minutes - I checkedThat's the speed of U2's ticket sales.. of course, being a seasoned purchaser of U2 tickets, I managed to get one. All he needs now are a stetson and some glasses.. (Mind you, I think U2 broke records this year for speed of selling out. U2 are touring, you see, and I have tickets. Purchasing still in progress. Watch this space..)

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