Always happy to follow the Man with the Hat, and some of his best events are when he takes London for Less Than a Tenner to Top Secret. So when he announced it, I postponed the Funzing event I'd booked; you can cancel up to 48 hours beforehand, and most of their events run on several dates, so I just booked a later date for it.
How gloriously close my office is to Top Secret! No more than about 10 minutes' walk - the Man had suggested we arrive at 6:40, so I left about 6:30 and had a short stroll through Seven Dials and down Short's Gardens to Drury Lane. Arrived just after 6:40, and found myself in a whole queue of people getting their names ticked off the Meetup list! I bet they don't often see such a crowd, so early.. we were there for the free, early show before the main attraction, and I suspect we pretty much comprised the whole audience.
Got a drink - the barman recognised me - and wandered over to where the Man with the Hat was holding court, to the side. I didn't see any of the people who'd been in the queue in front of me.. anyway, we had a fine old chat there, being joined by some others as time went on, and the Man with the Hat promised some upcoming events in Southwark Playhouse. We'll hold him to that - it's been a while, and it's a great venue.
After a bit, I did start to wonder where the comedian was. Leo Kearse was to perform, and as someone said, he was sitting over the side. Was he waiting for us to sit down? As I remarked to someone when we did sit down, he'd better start - coming up to 8 o' clock, people start to arrive for the main show, and it gets very noisy, to the detriment of the performer. They should really finish the free show at 7:45 - it's almost impossible to enjoy it after that. Anyway, Leo did eventually take the stage - a funny guy, I think, although I've never seen him before. However, on this occasion he was woefully, and obviously, under-prepared, constantly stuck for something to say, starting jokes that didn't go anywhere, resorting to the lowest common denominator - I'd like to see him when he's better prepared, I suspect he can be quite good.
An interval followed, during which the place filled up so much that they sat people in the ex-restaurant upstairs. I'd never seen this done before, but apparently what they do is send comedians upstairs to entertain them, in rotation, so that they end up performing on both levels. I'd taken the precaution of buying a second drink, specifically so I wouldn't have to queue once the place got crowded. And the Man with the Hat was to be seen, prowling the venue for seats for his members who'd just arrived for the second show.
Two people started the main show - first up was Jamali Maddix, less confrontational than last time: but then, he had less opportunity than last time, when a lady in the audience started an argument with him and got thrown out. He was followed by Ian Smith, who gave a salutary lesson in what not to do when sitting in the front row at a comedy show. Pity the poor girl who was discussing with her friend a text she'd just received from a guy she fancied. Unwise, with Ian performing just in front of her at that moment! He asked to see the text. He responded to the text, texted a picture of himself, then confiscated the phone, returning it at the end of his set. No response by that time - jeez, I hope the guy on the other end of the phone had a sense of humour..
At the next interval, I made a dash for the toilet, beating the queue. Pity the tap had only a trickle of water and there was no soap.. Anyway, after the mc, Mark's tired joke about everyone having had a nice wee-wee (yes, thanks), we had Fiona Ridgewell, who complained about still living with her family, and the bonkers Olaf Falafel, who confirmed that yes, he had been performing upstairs. And then described our characters on the basis of biscuitology.
I'm afraid I did less well in identifying the comedians in the final section - predictably, they were quite different from the advertised set, which there's rarely any point in taking notice of - apart from whoever's doing the free hour at the start. First up was an American called Sean (Shaun?), who was a Scorpio (as he told us). I think he came as something of a relief to some of the several Americans sitting at the side. Then there was quite a funny guy, German, whose name sounded like Christian Short-n-low? Usefully, he told us just to Google German comedian - and now I know he's called Christian Shulte-Loh! Recommended - he came as a pleasant surprise.
Ending the night was Robert White. Now, I've seen him a few times at this stage, and on one of those occasions, he was very funny. He'll happily describe himself as autistic - he's also obviously clever, and with a talent for piano, his technique (at least the first time I saw him) was to compose little ditties on the spot, generally mocking audience members. Unfortunately, I don't know what's gone wrong, but the last couple of times I've seen him he's seemed a bit lost. Problems with setting up his piano didn't help, and he's seemed a bit stuck for material on stage. I do hope that this isn't a permanent obstacle to him, because when he's on form, he's really very good.
Mark stood by the door with a bucket again as we were leaving, and again I didn't give anything. Thought I caught a sarcastic remark, too. Well, sorry, but I'm actually still quite broke - yes, I got paid yesterday, and immediately used pretty much all my disposable income on stuff that needed paying for. Give it another few months and I should be flush, and prepared to give. Kudos to the girl I saw tipping by card, too, as he'd suggested..
Outside, it was frigid. I saw another member and went to join him - unusually, no sign of the Man with the Hat. Anyway, another couple of ladies from the group happened along, but weren't inclined to stay, and frankly, it was way too cold to be hanging around, so they left pretty quickly. The Man with the Hat eventually appeared, another lady dropped by to say goodbye, the guy I'd joined decided he needed to be up in the morning, there was no sign of anyone else from the group.. and behold, although I'd have gone for a drink, not one person wanted to accompany me! The Man with the Hat walked a bit of the way up the road with me, to where his bike was parked - and from there I made my chilly way home, stopping in to Sainsbury's on the way (nice it was still open) for a Chocolate Orange to ease my disappointment. With the London European Club never letting me know where they ended up on Tuesday, I'm not having a great week socialising with Meetups, am I?!
Hey-ho. Tonight's group isn't known for its socialising either, but I'll definitely enjoy the event. I'm back with the Crick Crack Club at last, at the Art House Crouch End. First meeting of the year, and finally, on Tuesday, advertised on Meetup! I saw it on their flier for Crouch End, and booked ages ago. Anyway, the title is Rebranding Beelzebub, which is certainly enough to get me there! And I now live closer to it than I did the last time I was there. Be interesting to see how I'm supposed to get there - it'll be a late one in the office (for the free WiFi), as they don't start till 8:30!
Back to Ireland at the weekend, and on Monday, I'm back with Funzing UK for Eat Zagi - an immersive dining & theatre experience. I had some fun booking it, when the bank thought it was a fraud and kindly stopped my card, so I had to ring them at 2am.. in the meantime, I did find a discount code, so it wasn't all bad. Try "EnjoyFunzing5". Actually, why not try "EnjoyFunzing10"? That's a code too. Anyway, again, I'm closer to this venue in Finsbury Park than I was before..
On Tuesday, I'm headed for Sex with Strangers at Hampstead Theatre. First Meetup of the year with London Dramatic Arts. Dunno, I think it was that she had seats at both levels of the theatre, so it would've been too hard to avoid them..
On Wednesday, the Man with the Hat is starting the month again. Let's Do London - for less! is off to the Opera House for La Traviata.
On Thursday, he's taking both groups to Cadogan Hall for a concert involving the works of Brahms and Elgar, among others.
Friday 3 promises to be unusual.. the Crick Crack Club is hosting a late-night storytelling event at the Wellcome Collection. Mustn't forget to book tickets for the actual storytelling - they go on sale tomorrow.
And finally, Saturday 4, I'm finally going to the much-advertised British Museum Tour - Ideas That Made our World. A Funzing event, as advertised by two of their Meetup groups - London Speaks Sessions and LDN Talks @ Night. So I booked with both..
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