Now, I hadn't been here before, and was delighted to see I could walk from the office. No rush, either, with the show not starting till 8. And off I strolled, at about 7:15. Lovely evening for it - mind you, as I crossed the bridge, I had a moment where I was glad it was a footbridge, following the recent terrorist attacks where vehicles were driven into pedestrians on London bridges. Just a moment, but it shook me a little. True what they say - you can't let them stop you living your life.
The pub turned out to be easy to find; just cross to the other side of Jubilee Gardens and head down the road that runs perpendicular - that's Chicheley Street, and the pub's on the right. With several signs to direct you to the main door. Conveniently, there was a notice on the main door to say that the So You Think You're Funny heat would be starting at 8, and the doors opening at 7:45. Didn't say what doors, though. It was nearly that now.. I entered the ground floor bar. Nice decor. Had a look around, figured the comedy would probably be downstairs, where the sign indicated extra seating, and toilets. Went down - yep. They weren't quite open yet though, which gave me time to head back upstairs for a drink. Just in case the downstairs bar wasn't open. Very reasonably priced it was, too.
Back downstairs, they still weren't quite ready, and by now a queue was snaking up the stairs. But it wasn't long after that. I didn't need to show the man anything - my name was on the list, and we near the front of the queue were encouraged to take the tables at the front; there were also rows of seats. A decent-sized crowd, in the end - one of the acts said he'd counted, and there were 43. And no, the downstairs bar wasn't open.
So - two sets, one with five performers, one with four. No more than seven minutes each, and an mc. Who, in the time-honoured tradition of comedy mcs everywhere, got us whoopin' and hollerin' so hard that it was virtually impossible to hear anyone's name. So I really have no idea who performed, since I had never seen any of them before - this is a competition for newbies (one year or less performing). A couple of them had decent material, but really dull delivery. They were on early - they kept the better acts for later. One guy.. jeez, it was his first time ever performing, and he died so badly it was hilarious! Well done, that man. Highlights of the first set, though - both with quite polished sets - were the woman who told us all about online dating, and the guy who fiddled around with the song Mandy.. the chorus was now "Oh, Brexit!"
A short and snappy interval, and we finally came to the friend of the banking software engineers sat in front of me (the mc was kind enough to find that much out for us). A nice, thick Glaswegian accent there. And there was a fella with a "feral" Irish granny, who I'm sure would've been delighted at being the star of his set. A wee lass who'd considered being a nun (because she had a phobia about speaking), and a long-haired chap from Mauritania, who kept being mistaken for a girl from behind. No audience vote - I think they probably filmed them and decided from all the heats. And yes.. this was the highest standard I've seen in a while. Yay!
A trip to the poshest toilets I've seen in a while:
..and back nicely early, to a lovely sunset:
On Wednesday, it was originally supposed to be free comedy again - Random London, Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith Wimbledon and Greenwich, and London Live Comedy were advertising a "Cooking Edition", for which I'd booked. But then I booked a Funzing talk, with those two above-mentioned Funzing groups - ExMI5 Agent Talks Russian Hacking. I got a discount of 30%. (That code's now expired, mind.. but you can usually get 10% off with "Fun_Week10".) And Helen's coming too. We can eat at the venue.
On Thursday, some more storytelling with the Crick Crack Club. Nick Hennessy is telling the story of The Ruined House of Skin - an Irish one, which I've heard before, but he's one of the best on the circuit, and always worth going to. Now, this is on at the Arthouse in Crouch End again, and after the debacle the last time, with no confirmation email from them, I checked - and don't have one for this either! So, when I was up there the last time, I asked them to print out my receipt, which I've been holding onto carefully ever since.
On Friday, London Dramatic Arts is seeing Gloria in Hampstead Theatre - and since they're getting us to buy our own tickets for once, so am I! Pulitzer-Prize-winning, apparently.
And on Saturday, I had my eye on Day Trips from London, who are headed on a Lulworth Cove Heritage Site, Corfe Castle Village + Warhead Quay Day Trip. But I was busy when the email came through to advertise it, and wouldn't you know it, by the time I got around to it, it had booked out! Always popular, it seems. Never mind - while I was at Soho Theatre the other night, I was facing the screen advertising future events, and what should I see but that Andrew Maxwell is performing a run there, ending that day. Now, I saw him live once before, and he was fall-off-your-seat hilarious! So I've booked. So much for my Westminster Residents' Card though, which is supposed to give £1 off at this venue - there was no mention of it when I came to book! Bah humbug.. Well, at least it means I can have a lie-in on Saturday..
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