Circus: Happy Factory

Tonight, it was back to the Vault Festival - for Happy Factory, who have an airealist show. Not suitable for young children, they said..

Well, this time, my route took me past The Lucas Arms, so there I ate. She remembered my order - they're great, here! And it was exactly what I needed. Would have liked to stay longer, but I didn't want to be late..

My outbound buses both arrived before I had time to check when they'd be there! It's a late show, and as such, I arrived quite early. I see they have a sign to tell you where you are, now!

Good to see the graffiti artists are still busy at it!

The show was supposed to be on in the Cavern - I passed a map of the street, which I hadn't noticed before, but it didn't mention it, so I supposed it was just in the Vaults Theatre, as usual. And as you enter the theatre, they have a map of that complex too, at the box office - sure enough, the Cavern is just past the Pit, which is just across from Leakey's Bar, where I took myself for a drink, as the Cavern wasn't yet open. Poor fellow at the bar had to open another bottle - which turned out to have a cork, so he had to go searching for the corkscrew.. then his card machine wouldn't work, so he had to wait for another.. when he eventually served my drink, he apologised for the delay, saying that everything possible had gone wrong. "Not everything!" I replied, "You could have dropped it!" "I still could," he warned..

Anyway, it was a lovely sauvignon blanc - which I hadn't quite finished by the time they called for us to go in, but taking it in isn't a problem. Ushers showed us all to our seats again, wooden benches with cushions. Happily, it was warm enough for me to take off my coat.

Now, this show starts with a little theatrical piece, where we are introduced to "the director of the Happy Factory", whose job is to cheer us up. Cheesy idea it may be, but they're so persistent, it works! One spends the whole show with a smiley face mask on, they're all dressed in yellow when not performing, and they do regular "happy scans" of the audience to see how we're doing in terms of happiness. Certainly, one lady sat directly opposite me was having such a good time, she was either drunk, stoned, or deranged.. 

The acts are set up at various intervals along this long room. Some happen quite close, if you're sitting near the front:

Oh yes, and I should mention, each has a theme! The guy in the above photo was enjoying a day at the seaside..

This act was the most visually stunning, with great use of lighting:

The following, lithe lady positively hopped about the stage:

and this lady was supposed to be the worse for wear for drink, there having been a party. I guess that's why they don't want kids - honestly, it's the only thing they might be worried about! There's no nudity or anything..

It lasts about an hour. The acts are variable in quality, to be honest, and having nothing but aerialists is a little samey. But some of the acts are truly excellent - and say this for them, they sure are smiley, happy people!

Runs till Sunday, if you're interested. Sadly though, my buses home weren't quite as well coordinated as my outbound buses.. but I made it before it got too late.

Now, tomorrow is Paddy's Day. But for once, I'm not doing anything related - I'm back with the Crick Crack Club (CCC) for a performance of Beowulf, at King's Place. Two Danish storytellers, it seems.

On Saturday - awesome! Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners have a walk I haven't done, and which is scheduled for a day I can make it. How unusual.. This is Clubland: Secrets of the Gentleman's Clubs. Unfortunately, it turns out that this is one of the many days affected by rail strikes.. and the poor chap also seems to be having terrible trouble getting people to confirm whether they're coming for lunch after. I know that feeling..

And what a very good job it's in the afternoon - because that evening is a performance, in conjunction with the CCC, of Medusa, again at King's Place! An unusual take on it, from the evidence of last week's storytelling..

On Sunday, London Walks, Art & Culture Explorers are going on a Quirky London walk. And so am I.

On Monday, back with UITCS for a play called Women, Beware the Devil, set in the year 1640 - showing in the Almeida.

On Tuesday, I booked with The London Palestinian Rights Meetup Group for Taking Sides – A Conversation about Love, War, and Changing the World. Happening at Amnesty International UK. But you know, I thought I might just go to a film instead.. The listings just came out, and top of the list is Rye Lane, a romcom set in South London. The trailer looks hilarious - this looks like much more fun than that talk, and since it was free, I have no problem in cancelling my attendance. Nearest place to me showing the film that day is the Vue Islington - which now has theatre-style pricing, with different seats at different prices. So I booked, to get a decent seat at the cheapest price possible..

Back with UITCS for the next two days - on Wednesday, it's for comedian Rosie Holt at the Leicester Square Theatre.

Next Thursday, I'm at Further Than the Furthest Thing, at the Young Vic. Then back to Ireland for the weekend again. Might get to see Scream VI at last..?

On the 27th, I booked with the Happy Positive Group! For their weekly Monday trivia night! They seem to be completely online. But wow, looking at it lately, they seemed to have switched that week to the next day! Although, having cancelled my attendance, I then noticed that all Meetups were displaying in the wrong time zone, so were shown as starting five hours later than they actually were.. I complained, and they did fix it. Well, I probably wouldn't have gone anyway. The best Meetup left for that day is with the Shanty Singers Colliers Wood. This is another of those things I once booked and ended up cancelling, so I'll hold off on booking that till nearer the time. As is becoming usual.

On the 28th, I've booked for Phaedra, at the National.

On the 29th, I'm going with UITCS to Sadler's Wells - first time in an age - for Creature, by Akram Khan! I absolutely love his work. Handily enough, I used my latest Theatre Token for this - would have used it for Phaedra, but while neither theatre takes them online (you have to phone if you want to use a token), the National charges extra for phone bookings. So I used it for this instead.

On the 30th, back with the London European Club, at somewhere called the Ugly Duck, for Synchrony, a female 12-piece string ensemble. Tickets from Eventbrite. As hosted by Eleanor Salter Thorn again! So glad to see her hosting events in more central locations..

I was keeping the 31st free because Ivan is feeling thirsty again. :-) And for once, he seems to be sticking to the date, having booked us a table at The Lucas Arms (which, as he pointed out, has a smoker's area). We're hoping to have Martin - my other friendly ex-boss - join us, but he has more family commitments, which he's trying to juggle - we've told him to join us whenever. And this looks like turning into the first zapoi in a while - Ivan is talking about booking a studio, where we can drink overnight. Oy ve, watch this space.. So, not pushed about doing anything extra on the 1st.

And on the 2nd, I'm back with the CCC, for Orpheus Dismembered, at the British Museum, courtesy of Ben Haggarty.