Musical: Happily Never After

Tonight, joined the London Improvisation Community Group for the first time - they have a show called Happily Never After, which tonight was at the Pleasance - part of the London Horror Festival. I see someone from Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) does workshops with the Maydays, the actual improv group! She's not appearing in this, though.

Got up late, after a long night booking stuff.. and what with people mooching around the flat, on another rainy day, I decided to eat out. It's really not a big enough flat to share space. With nary an eatery within spitting distance of the theatre, though, I decided to go local - which meant my usual fallback of KFC. Where I have to compliment the ultra-fast service - I barely had time to pick up a straw, a spork, and a napkin.. and there it was! I also have to praise the new practice of apparently stationing a couple of staff upstairs permanently, to clean up. Someone must have complained - it used to be filthy: and you can see why, what with the arrogant, pretty young couple who sauntered out, leaving a filthy table behind them, not taking a thing with them. So, an improvement in the surroundings. I just wish they'd start offering me dips again.. I am supposed to get them, with a meal!

Anyway, sufficiently nourished, I headed off - and Google Maps offered me a number of bus options from there. Happily, the bus I chose arrived quickly - I wouldn't have fancied hanging around for long in that bitterly cold breeze! And I was really lucky, after just one stop, to get a seat - I had to jump for it, on a bus that eventually filled so much it wasn't taking on any more. Google Maps seemed to think a couple of stops were closed, which actually weren't - and my second bus was emptier.

This is obviously one of those Meetup groups that just exists for advertising purposes - so no meeting-up was involved. Fair enough, I suspected as much. Now, they did make one error - on the Meetup page, they should have included a link for booking this show. Because it was only when I went looking for a ticket receipt today that I realised I'd never booked one! Anyway, I booked it at that point - which is doubtless why she had to look me up on the box office system and print out my ticket. Or maybe nobody generally books, here - certainly, it was less than half full. Anyway, ticket in hand, I got a glass of wine to go with it. (The house white is a bit iffy, BTW). She gave it me in plastic, so I could take it in - which was a good idea, considering that the house opened very shortly afterwards!

As you enter, a fellow in ragged clothing is playing creepy music on the keyboards. Fair play him, he keeps going throughout! to great effect. And in due course, someone emerges from behind the black curtain at the rear of the stage, and - a la Showstoppers - asks the audience for suggestions: of professions, this time, which might have been held by their parents or grandparents. They stopped on "stonemason" tonight - and unlike Showstoppers, that's all they need. But then, the show is just about an hour long.

Gotta say, absolutely hilarious! Their comic sense is on the button, they really do seem to be making it up on the spot - and I describe it as a musical because they have a habit of bursting into song! And they're all excellent singers. The stonemason in this story lived in an underground house, in a hole lined with human skulls, into which he welcomed his young nieces, whose parents had just died. And they were rather disturbed to find that he still slept with the skeleton of his dead wife.. I think I'll give the award to her for best performance; her flopping onto the stage at inconvenient moments was just too funny for words.

They're a really talented troupe - touring at the moment, and I highly recommend going to one of their shows. Or more - after all, it's a different one every time! Check out the Maydays website for the schedule. It's a real shame they didn't have a bigger crowd tonight - and don't worry, they don't pick on the front row! The Horror Festival, BTW, is a festival of live horror, based at the Pleasance, and runs till the 2nd. Me, I took a different couple of buses home - much emptier now, of course. And given how long I had to wait for the first, I'm very glad that bitter wind had died down!

Tomorrow (assuming Extinction Rebellion lets me out of the building - they're protesting there tomorrow, it seems), I'm seeing Mother of Him, at the Park. I see North London Friends is going to this a bit later, and already raving about it..

On Tuesday, UITCS is off to the Albert Hall for Symphonic Queen - the Royal Philharmonic is performing Queen.

Then begins a long period of non-Meetup stuff. On Wednesday, I'm heading to the ballet Manon, at the Opera House.

On Thursday, the Crick Crack Club (CCC) is back at Rich Mix, with Melusine. TUUP is the headliner on this occasion, which should be terrific!

On Friday, Helen's in town, heading to a Midge Ure concert at the Palladium - we're meeting for dinner beforehand at the Slug & Lettuce. Now, that's the day I should be flying back to Ireland - so I'm going the next day instead. And with my mother's birthday during the week - and not having any major holidays booked - I said, why not just take the week off and spend it in Ireland? So I am.

On the 28th, the CCC is back again - Ben Haggarty is in Soho Theatre with Grim Grimms - a dark take on fairytales, highlighting four lesser-known tales of the brothers Grimm. With musical accompaniment. Tickets weren't available when I noted this in my calendar - they have now, predictably, sold out.

On the 29th, I'm trying to persuade the social group from my former company to come with me to a Design My Night event - Fright Night Cinema is showing Hallowe'en in the Rivoli ballroom, with a themed cocktail bar and people dressed in spooky costumes. Now, that sounds like fun.. I've booked, at least, and a couple of others have indicated they'll come.

On the 30th, back with Meetup at last - UITCS is at a mixed programme by Birmingham Royal Ballet, at Sadler's Wells. I've seen part of it before, and it's excellent.

For Hallowe'en, The Embers Collective stepped up to the plate, with a storytelling performance called Witch, at The Jago.

On the 1st, meeting Ivan.. he's away most of the time till then, and I'm busy the rest of the time!

And on the 2nd, I've booked with Best Authentic Walking Tours in London, for a Royal Maritime Greenwich Ghost Tour. Now, this is - as with all their walks - with Funzing, so I can get a refund up to 48 hours beforehand. Which I'll probably do (have, in fact, done for this twice already), as I might go to a film that day - depending what's on - or, if I don't like the offerings, Love London Theatre, Arts, Music & Stuff is off to Blood Wedding, a new adaptation of the Lorca play, at the Young Vic. By 'eck, though, I see there's already limited availability on tickets for the whole run, and several dates sold out! Hope I don't lose out..

Play: A Gym Thing

Tonight, booked with Up in the Cheap Seats, for A Gym Thing - got a fright when I saw that, but no, it's a play - in the Pleasaunce. Just the two of us going! Second time that's happened with this organiser..

But you know that breathlessness I started to experience on Thursday? Turned out to be quite serious, and I still have it - although it's not as bad, I do get breathless whenever I stand up, and I just don't think that schlepping all the way out to that theatre would be a wise thing. In fact, I'm taking myself home to bed, and planning on working from home tomorrow. This infection is going to take some effort to fight.

Tomorrow, I'm back with North London Friends - to the Theatre Royal, Stratford East for Our Country's Good. Assuming I can manage it - jeez, I go so seldom with them, they'll think I'm avoiding them!

On Wednesday, Up in the Cheap Seats is off to The Writer, at the Almeida.

On Thursday, London Literary Walks is doing - ahem - Stalin's Doss House. If I can manage a walk, by then.

Then we're into the Early May Bank Holiday - and I saw an interesting trip, advertised by Carpe Diem, for a long weekend in Bulgaria. So I applied for a place - only to be told that there'd only been six, which were now gone. When I pointed out that the Meetup page advertised 12 places, and that some were shown as still available, they removed the event entirely. Instead, on Friday I'm headed - with the £3.60 club - to Music Hall Monster: The Insatiable Mr. Fred Barnes, at Wilton's. Could be good.

And on Saturday, as of now, I'm signed up to an overnight trip to Newquay in Cornwall with Eddie's Excursions. This time, I got in the first six - ironically, they're not guaranteeing it'll go ahead unless they can fill a minibus! Watch this space..

Comedy: Tez Ilyas & Concerts: U2 (Iberia) and Hanitra

Hello. I feel slightly frazzled, and (co-worker) James' cold isn't helping. Thank you, James.

Oh, what a week. So - returned from Ireland on Sunday, and on Monday night (prior to flying out again on Tuesday), I went to see Tez Ilyas. On one of those £3.60 tickets. My mother thought I was bonkers, in between flights, but then, I've never claimed to be sane.

It was to start quite late, at 9pm, and I hung on in the office until after 8, having a sneaky drink of wine. Bus then, up to the Pleasance Theatre - I'd just missed one, and ended up cutting it quite fine. The walk from the stop was familiar, squirrelled away among housing estates where I had to take staircases. And there, at the end, was the theatre, just across the road. Up the stairs to the venue itself - box office on the left, bar on the right, as the helpful sign shows. I was counting on them starting late, as they always do, and was not disappointed - the lady at the box office told me they weren't quite ready yet, and I was to wait in the bar.

In the event, they were a full 20 minutes late in starting. Which gave me time to have a packet of crisps - I didn't fancy any more wine. I plonked myself on a seat under the stairs, and watched everyone milling around impatiently, the usher frantically on his walkie-talkie, and every now and again positioning himself on the stairs to block people going up. Seems there was a technical issue. When we finally filed in, we were asked not to leave spare seats - it was pretty full.

Last time I saw this guy, he was in a suit. On Monday, he dressed down, in a t-shirt and baseball cap. Nuts, I think he was funnier in the suit. Anyhoo, he was doing an Edinburgh preview, and it really showed - the laptop on the table was there to show a slideshow that he kept forgetting the contents of. Now, the guy is funny - and this show would've been fine, if it were free - but I did find that the stories that he made out of his material were very long, ad the punchline had been too diluted by the end. I was glad to get out of there, and honestly, won't be paying to see him again.

10:20 when we got out - ouch! By the time I got home, it was late enough that all I had time to do was search for one of the handful of European adapters that I know I have squirrelled away somewhere. Sadly, not one of them could I find, so I'd have to buy yet another at the airport (for my phone charger, you know). At least I was packing light, for only one night away - the weather forecast showed I wouldn't even need a coat. Of course, I had printouts of my flight itinerary, and the all-important U2 ticket for Tuesday's concert in Barcelona; the latter caused some stress, when first I couldn't log into my Ticketmaster Spain account, then they couldn't display my ticket, for some reason - they could email it to me though, and all was well.

An early start, and I wore jeans but packed a skirt. Glad I left so early - it took me about three hours from the start to when I'd finally navigated my way through Terminal 3 (handily, there's a luggage shop just outside security, so the adapter issue was sorted - which also relieved me of some change). A quick breakfast in Caffe Nero - seems that everything they do is tasty: their new chicken and bacon toastie is delicious! That, and a quick trip to the loo, just left me enough time to get to about the end of the boarding queue, and the nice lady at checkin had given me a seat up front. I treated myself to a glass of wine (choice of chenin blanc or chardonnay) from the trolley - I see that BA don't take cash onboard now, interestingly! Oh, and their location map has Stansted in the wrong place..

Benvingut a Barcelona, brilliant sunshine (they were having a heatwave). Already too hot, and I was still in the airport. An enormous trek to Arrivals - at least I was travelling hand luggage only. Wisely, I'd researched my trip to the hotel. Now, both of the last times U2 has played in Barcelona have been on top of Montjuïc, but the last time was in Palau Sant Jordi, and I stayed on the airport side of the hill (no accommodation on top). Travel was a direct bus from the airport. This time, however, they were in the Olympic Stadium, and I was on the town side, in Poble Sec. Cheapest (apart from walking) - and simplest - was the Metro, so I headed for the ticket machines. One working out of seven, with a worker standing beside it, because practically every one of the clueless tourists in the queue needed help. A special Bitllet de l' Aeroport (€4.50 one way) takes you anywhere on the subway network.

Oh, but TFL could learn something from the Barcelona Metro, with internet access throughout, even in tunnels! Took the airport line to the end, in glorious aircon, then changed lines, disembarking at Paral.lel. This is on the junction between Avingude del Paral.lel and Carrer Nou de la Rambla, which is the street I wanted. Glad I had Google Maps though, to tell me which direction to go in. And what a shame I hadn't known that the lift to the street was actually at the side I wanted. Anyway, off I set, in brilliant sunshine and oven-temperature heat; I got a tan line on my legs where my jeans ended, just in the 10 minutes or so it took me to find the hotel!

There was a gentle uphill incline, and it wasn't easy. No sign of Hotel Brummell either, or any other - when Google Maps showed me I'd passed it, I wondered whether it was the large, unmarked yellow building on the corner. Even popped in there, but couldn't figure out its function. As I came out, mercifully, I saw the hotel sign, discreetly hidden behind some leafy trees on the other side of the road. Checked in - lovely, friendly staff, I have to say! The receptionist might have taken some time to tell me about all the (expensive) activities they offer, but I was only staying one night, so there wasn't any point. Oh, they have it all - yoga, massage, bike hire.. I took the lift up to my room on the second floor, and opened the door to blissful aircon! Set at 18 degrees, they cleverly decided to set the bathroom temperature a bit higher, reflecting that you might feel colder in there. Dinky little motion-sensitive light, near floor level, beside the toilet too, for those middle-of-the-night calls of nature, when you don't want to turn on the overhead light. Overall, they have a lovely, minimalist decor - and I had a (very) small balcony!

Well, I hid in my room for a few hours - ventured into the stifling corridor (stifling because the door that led to the stairs down to the pool was open) to grab something from the vending machine just outside my door, as I was hungry. Unfortunately, I started with crisps, which aren't heavy enough to push through the flap to fall into the collection tray, so I had to grab a hapless receptionist to open the machine for me. Payment is through your keycard, which is preloaded with €10 - I also got one of these (could I resist?):

Okay, they cost €4. Never mind.. dark chocolate, incidentally.

Well, I finally decided to lie down for a bit - and this has to be a contender for the comfiest mattress I've ever experienced! Absolutely gorgeous, and the pillows at exactly the right height for tv watching - mind you, the only English-language channels were news channels. God, it was hard to drag myself out of there. Anyway, I couldn't stand to put on the jeans again in that heat, so out came the skirt, earlier than intended. I took one of the two small bottles of water they provided for free in my room, removed unnecessary heavy things from my bag, and - much revived - bravely set off up the hill.

 

Went well for a while, until I realised I wouldn't be able to come down that hill I'd just come up - not in the above picture, I'm talking about the dreaded Carrer de Margarit! Right, I determined, I'll just have to come down a different way. And that's when I saw..

Well now, I'd already established I couldn't go back. So, onwards and upwards it was.. thank God there's a railing, at least. I took it nice and slow - particularly at the bit where I had to brush aside the trailing branch, because I didn't dare to leave the railing. And, amazingly, I did eventually reach the top, and joined the sea of the faithful - as usual, no need for a map at this point, just follow the crowd:

Despite stern warnings about id, they didn't ask for any. Queued forever at a merchandising stand outside the stadium, determined to get me one of those red t-shirts. I see the shade is different for different sizes! A lot of Americans in the audience, this time. Heard Noel Gallagher start up as I queued - you know, I was never a fan of Oasis at the time, but it kind of grows on you. And then I made my way into the stadium, praying against all experience for handrails. Well, there were some - but I was still left at Row 29, to make my way down to 13 without assistance. Had a trip to the loo, then made my way down gingerly - I discovered that I was much better if there was someone on the steps in my line of sight, blocking them a bit: so I just paused whenever there wasn't. With all the people coming and going for drinks and snacks, I didn't usually have too long to wait.

Best seat yet, this year. No food near me unless I went back up the stairs, sadly - which I wasn't going to do. And now I have to give a shout out to the Barcelona crowd - I was quickly reminded why I keep coming here. They're just good for the soul! They were in fine voice, singing along heartily to the chorus of Champagne Supernova. And the first Mexican Wave of my concerts this year - it went around four times! Oh yes, this crowd were up for it, getting all excited whenever anything at all happened, and jumping to their feet while Whole of the Moon was still playing, just before U2 came on.

I'm going to start with it - this was far and away THE concert of the tour so far - I know Dublin is still to come, but this will take some beating. You know, I curse them when I hear they're playing on top of Montjuïc, but it does have a couple of advantages: you get a bit more of a breeze, and the fact that there's no accommodation up here means they don't have a residents' restriction on how late they can play. So they didn't start until 9:30, which meant they could break out the spotlights, which looked amazing - in particular for the first four songs, when they haven't booted up that screen yet. To see the place bathed in red for Sunday Bloody Sunday - that was special. For the first time, I wished I was in the habit of taking photos at concerts..

Setlist:

Sunday Bloody Sunday
New Year's Day
Bad
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Where The Streets Have No Name
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
With Or Without You
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running To Stand Still
Red Hill Mining Town
In God's Country
Trip Through Your Wires
One Tree Hill
Exit
Mothers of the Disappeared

ENCORE

Miss Sarajevo
Beautiful Day
Elevation
Vertigo
Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
One
The Little Things That Give You Away

An emotional one for me - not only during Bad, but even during I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, which never has that effect on me, did I well up. And a LOUD one! Bono quite rightly remarked from stage that this was the noisiest crowd ever. (One of the happiest too, from what I could see.) He left us to sing a couple of songs - the crowd was aching to take over. I felt for Bono, actually, who was constantly gulping water during the show - can't have been easy, not only in jeans but also a leather jacket. He spent some time profusely thanking the stage crew for managing to get this together so they could play this date - I'm guessing the reason for the lack of gigs on this tour is that they only have one stage set-up. Usually, they have three - one that they're playing on, one being dismantled after the last gig, and one that they're assembling for the next one, all simultaneously. However, I guess they only have one of these high-res screens.

Paul McGuinness was in the crowd that night again - I bet he's proud. And good news - Bono dropped a suggestion that the new album, Songs of Experience, might be with us by year's end! Now, he's not the most reliable of sources - but the odds are good of a tour next year. Renew those memberships, folks - the presales are invaluable. I didn't get this ticket on presale - I actually couldn't log on for hours after the public sale started, and was convinced I'd lost out, but then tried on spec just before lunchtime - and got a ticket!! One of the best seats of all concerts, too. I guess no-one else had been able to access the website either. And hey, third time lucky - I finally got under that flag of the Syrian refugee that's passed around the stadium, and could help to pass it along! Sadly, it only made it halfway around - unlike London, where they ran it across the empty bits, it couldn't go across here, where there were railings.

And it was worth the trouble, the expense, the heat. Barcelona always is, but this in particular was one of the concerts that made me remember why I'm a U2 fan, why I keep schlepping along to all of these concerts around Europe, why I keep coming back to Barcelona. One of those that makes a impact, one that makes me long for the next one. And how lovely, they ended with that song they're debuting from the new album, so that was the song that stayed with me afterwards. Roll on the next, I thought, as I gathered my things.

Coming down, I just followed the main road - mind you, it was a lot longer, and I'm not sure I could have borne to come up that way, in the heat. Funicular next time! (As we finished after midnight, that wasn't an option for coming down.) Gratefully staggering into my room, I stopped at the vending machine, for a decently cheap bottle of ice-cold water, at a very reasonable 60c. Yep, great hotel this - mind you, at just under €200 for the night I was there, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. Neither was I forking out €15 for breakfast, so I just made my way straight to the airport next day.

The nice lady at checkin the day before, seeing my itinerary, and that I was flying back the next day, had asked whether I'd like her to check me in for the return flight as well - which handily meant I could skip checkin this time, and go straight through security. A food court on the other side offers three options - Mexican (unoccupied when I arrived), Italian, and Chinese. I queued at the Italian for about 10 minutes before realising that the queue started on the other side. Ordered beef ravioli for what was now brunch - you had a choice of sauces, and I chose the carbonara. Despite me asking for no cheese, he got distracted and sprinkled some on anyway - but it was very tasty. Drinks and desserts available at the central island, where you paid - if by cash, through one of those machines I've never seen anywhere else: but it worked for me.

Arrived early at the gate - which was unfortunate, as they boarded us late, for some unspecified reason. We then waited for a Very Long Time before we could take off - and would you believe it, back at Heathrow, we had to wait again, for a plane to get off the stand we were supposed to be occupying. So we were 20 minutes late getting off. And, of course, I had that awful queue for passport control that I never have to bother with at T2, thank goodness. Shopped on the way home, for something for dinner - but when I got there, would you believe, someone had nicked my baking tray, which I must've forgotten to lock in my cupboard when I last used it, last week! So I needs must run out again, to Argos - who were frusratingly busy - to buy another.

So, with one thing and another, and having to rush out again yesterday evening - I fully intended to do the blog, but didn't have the time. In fact, having eaten, I realised I was going to be late for the World Music concert I'd booked for, in Sands Films. I was in two minds about going at all - well, I decided I would, and hopped on the Tube. I was counting on them starting late, as ever - they probably did, but had still managed it by the time I got there. When the song that was playing ended, I slipped in. Eleanor pointed me in the direction of seats in what looked like a pretty full room, and I got a seat on a bench at the side.

Hanitra is from Madagascar (although living in Réunion now, I believe?). Well, this was her first time in London, it seems, and Eleanor was doing quite a bit of translation for her. She has a lovely voice, and the music is mellow and catchy - I did find myself thinking that she could easily have slotted into a support slot in the concert, the night before. Most enjoyable - but not what I'd call memorable. And gee, home too late to blog again - at least I'd eaten!

Tonight, first it was free comedy in Hammersmith - with London Live Comedy and Hammersmith & Fulham Friends (soon to be closed down for lack of an organiser, I hear). Also hosted by Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith, Wimbledon and Greenwich, Random London, and Discover LDN.UK. Then I booked another Funzing talk (as usual, with London Speaks Sessions and LDN Talks @ Night). This is a talk about serial killers, as given by a forensic psychologist (Jennifer Rees) that works with the police, and who also gives terrific talks about psychopaths. Highly recommended! She's a terrifically engaging speaker, and looks far too young to be working in such a murky area. Unfortunately, now I've had to cancel - turns out that the much-anticipated first Meetup of the Man with the Hat's other ex-members' group, Love London for Less, is happening tonight, so of course I'm headed to that - we're going to the Icebar, where I've never been, meeting in Strawberry Moons beforehand. Should be interesting, and it'll be great to see old faces again. Never mind about the talk - although, despite being on the watchlist for the talk, I received no notice, Helen spotted that another instance of that talk has been scheduled for next month, and I'm booked for that.

Tomorrow, I'm back to Ireland for a long weekend - first to Dublin (from London City airport, a first for me), for U2's (one-and-only!) concert there.. then down to see my mother for a couple of days, flying back on Tuesday. That concert sold out ridiculously fast on public sale - I was lucky to be in the presale.

On Wednesday, I had booked free comedy in Greenwich - London Live Comedy, Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith, Wimbledon and Greenwich, Random London, and London Art, Comedy & Culture Lovers. Then Funzing rode to the rescue, and I booked a Funzing talk entitled "Politics - WTF!" Appropriate, no? Anyway, I booked them on a once-only code "iwantfunzingagain". Or you could try "Funzing30" - both give 30% off, but are time-limited. But only just now, I checked.. and whoopee, London Literary Walks is back at last, with a Sculpture in the City walk. Thank goodness I can cancel Funzing up to 48 hours beforehand without penalty.

Next Thursday, free comedy in Hammersmith again. So far.

So, that brings us to Friday 28th July, and it's off to Amsterdam, for my final two U2 concerts of the year (sniff). On Saturday and Sunday. Really, you have no idea of the organisation that went into all of this, back in January..! These were the only ones I couldn't get tickets for officially - bought them on Viagogo.

I fly back on the 31st, and saw an interesting Funzing talk advertised for that night - "Are We Living in the Matrix?" Well, I'm well overdue a free talk, with all of them that I've booked (every fourth free), so I contacted them to get a code to get this for free. Still waiting..! Despairing of them, I finally booked it on one of their limited 50% deals over the weekend.

On the 1st, I finally get to see Jennifer Rees again, when she's giving a talk on The Psychology of Criminals. With dim sum, great! (Had to stick with a 10% discount for this one - Fun_Day10 or Fun_Week10 are the ones you want for that.) And it's walking distance from me for once, in Covent Garden. Excellent.. and Helen has sensibly decided to come too. On which occasion she'll deliver all the stuff I couldn't fit in my bag, coming back from Twickenham!

And I was just looking up what to do on the 2nd - and wouldn't you know it, at that moment the Pop-Up Opera sent me a mail with upcoming events. Une Éducation Manquée is a short, French comic opera, whose run finishes that day. All right then!

Comedy: Alasdair Beckett-King

Nothing in Meetup for last night, but I got a cheap ticket to see Alasdair Beckett-King perform, at the Pleasance Theatre. Gosh, I'd completely forgotten I'd ever been there before - it's been over two years, it seems, and I had no memory of the place! Anyway, two years ago I was coming from further away - last night, it seemed that all I had to do was hop on the 29 bus. Which was also the bus I'd have taken from home - so it just made more sense to go straight from the office.

My bus hid itself discreetly behind another at the stop, but I found it - and this early in the journey, it was almost empty. I was to be glad I'd got on there - it got very crowded further on, but had emptied out again, pretty much, by the time I got off, at the fetchingly named Hilldrop Road. From there, Google Maps led me a merry dance through the back roads of housing estates - really, I have to say, it was very inventive. I'd never have found the route without Google's help, and it did seem to be the most direct route. At the end, the Pleasance was just across the road.

Up the stairs, left through the door to the box office. I said I'd booked a ticket, gave my name - was stumped when they asked me what show I'd come to see! Ehh.. what was it called now? One helpfully suggested, "Is it the comedy?" "Yes!" Got my ticket, got a glass of wine at the bar - the house wasn't open yet, and I didn't feel like sitting, so wandered about a bit.

They were quite late in starting - when they finally did, citing a "technical issue" for the delay, we were asked to bring in our drinks in plastic, and fill the rows from the front. I figured that I could get out of being in the front row if I finished my drink first - it was over half gone anyway, so that's what I did.

The show was in the "Stage Space", just around the corridor from the "Main Space" - blue, bench seats, and I ended up just at the end of the second row. The man himself was standing to the side, personally greeting everyone - friendly chap. You can't miss him, he's the one with the Messianic hair. Practically waist-long and a lovely shade of ginger, it took centre stage for the whole show, with him constantly flicking it out of his way, and picking stray strands off himself. Quite mesmerising, really.

The show was advertised as "Work in Progress" - apparently, that's the name of a series they're running here. Himself, he was calling it "Mysteries". And it was a very pleasant evening - under an hour and a half, in the company of a funny bloke. Edinburgh preview, of course. Now, I've seen some of his material before, and saw it again last night - it's a rare comedian that doesn't repeat himself. And when you're a Messianic-looking vegan, well, that's always going to feature. Still, it was fun - well worth the price of admission. And as we decamped into the cold night, we were still chuckling.

There must be a Valentine's curse on today.. tonight, I was supposed to go to a Funzing talk - Brexit Vs. Trump - but it's been bumped to next month. So I booked what you might call an anti-Valentine's walk - Walk About London (and Walks, Talks and Treasure Hunts) was going on a walk called My Bloody Valentine. But it's all change - over the weekend, both walks were cancelled, as the guide has, apparently, lost her voice! So I swapped my walk for comedy (again!) - I'm off to TNT Comedy, it's closer to me now than the free comedy in Hammersmith.

Tomorrow sees the Man with the Hat back with London for Less Than a Tenner at Top Secret comedy.

Thursday, he's taking London for Less Than a Tenner to a concert in St. Martin's, where we have gallery seats. And he's sold out his quota, I see.

Friday, I'm back for free comedy in Hammersmith. Courtesy of London Live Comedy, Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith Wimbledon and Farringdon, and London Art Comedy and Culture Lovers.

Saturday, after lunch with Helen - venue TBD - I'm back with London Dramatic Arts for a production of Hamlet, at the Almeida.

Sunday is shaping up to be a busy day. I'd booked to go to a free organ recital, with the London European Club, at the Methodist Central Hall. Then the Man with the Hat decides that would be the perfect evening to take Let's Do London - for less! to see the Pop-up Opera, with the Barber of Seville, at Charing Cross Theatre! With a 6pm start, I'll have to rush over from Westminster.. have to make my excuses to the London European Club. My, what a busy life!

Monday is the only day I have free to use my Wowcher before it expires - it's for the Magic Lantern festival.

Next Tuesday, unusually, London European Club is taking us to some storytelling - up in Cambridge Heath!

Wednesday 22, I'm headed, with LDAM, to The Cherry Orchard, at the Arcola.

Thursday 23, the Crick Crack Club is back at Crouch End, with The Fate We Bring Ourselves - not that you'd know it from their Meetup page! Ben Haggerty standing in for Claire Muireann Murphy, who's having a knee operation, it seems. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.

Monday 27th, London for Less Than a Tenner is off to Two Man Show at Soho Theatre. I've seen it before, but it's worth seeing again. And so is the group!

Tuesday 28th, Let's Do London - for less! is off to Sleeping Beauty, at the Opera House.

Wednesday 1st March - well lookee that, the same group is off to Roundelay, at Southwark Playhouse. Three in a row for the Man with the Hat - we'll have to carry him off on a stretcher. About time we got back to Southwark though - we've missed it!

Thursday 2nd, I was thinking of free comedy in Hammersmith - this time with London Live Comedy, Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith Wimbledon and Farringdon, and Random London. But then Walk, Talks and Treasure Hunts (and Walking Victorian London) announced a walk called True Spy Stories! So I thought that sounded more interesting, and booked - they're both the same price, this time.

Friday 3rd, again, Crick Crack is telling stories - Daniel Morden and Hugh Lupton are performing Metamorphoses at Rich Mix. However, neither Crick Crack's Meetup group, nor the Rich Mix website, seem to have heard of this.. The independent Crick Crack Club website now has a link to buy tickets from Rich Mix though, and at the moment they're being sold at a discounted preview price.

Saturday 4th, Let's Do London - for less! is back to see Sleeping Beauty - and so am I. Honestly, this was a mistake on my part - I was booking a lot at the time and forgot I was already going - but hell, I'd rather be doing this anyway than not. Amphiteatre, this time - it's been a while since I was there.

Sunday 5th, London for Less Than a Tenner is advertising "Soho: the Roots of the Swinging Sixties - guided walk"! Now, this confused me, before I read deeper.. I do recall the Man With the Hat saying that, while he was interested in guided walks, he wasn't interested in actually guiding them. Turns out someone else is doing the actual guiding.. Anyway, count me in.

Monday 6th, I'm off to see Russell Howard at the Albert Hall.

Tuesday 7th, jeez, the Man with the Hat is back again! Hard to keep up these days - so as of the last 60 seconds or so, I'm going with Let's Do London - for less! to The Diary of a Teenage Girl at Southwark Playhouse.

Wednesday 8th, I finally get to go to something with the Post-Apocalyptic Book Club - not a book discussion this time, instead they're off to a play called The Machine Stops, at Jacksons Lane Theatre. Suitably post-apocalyptic. Then I'm back to Ireland for a long weekend.

Monday 13th, I'm with LDAM at the Royal Court, for The Kid Stays in the Picture.

And to complete the tally of a month from now (!), that rescheduled talk from tonight is on Tuesday 14th. Unless I decide to go to a film instead - I can get my money back if I cancel at least 48 hours in advance!

Play: The Curing Room

Today was freezing cold, and with rain in the morning, it definitely wasn't a day conducive to fireworks shows. Instead, I found a curious show called The Curing Room, running in the Pleasance Theatre in Islington. Based on a true story, it tells the tale of seven Soviet soldiers, captured by the Nazis in Poland in 1944 and left behind, imprisoned in a cellar, when the Nazis retreat in the face of oncoming forces. Naked, without food or water, we learn what they had to do to survive.

Well, this charming show is running in a place I'd never been before, but it turned out to be quite easy to get to - Piccadilly Line to Caledonian Road, and a five-minute walk, left out of the station, left at the junction, and it's on your left. Couldn't be easier, really. No problems getting a Tube from West Brompton today, unlike yesterday, and no problems with engineering works on this line. Caledonian Road, it turns out, is one of those stations with lifts, and stairs only for emergencies.

It's not the most scenic of neighbourhoods, quite bleak really, but the walk is short. The Pleasance is well signposted - just turn in the gateway beside the sign, and climb the stairs. It's above Shillibeer's Bar & Grill, and they have a promotion where, when you book a ticket to the theatre, you can have dinner in the pub for £10 extra - but you had to phone to reserve, and it seemed too much hassle for me - I ate at home.

Upstairs, the box office is to your left, and I got a ticket without trouble. Mind you, I arrived 20 minutes early - I think the house was completely full by showtime. A small bar leads off the box office - there's a piano, but hardly room to pull out the stool if you wanted to play it! Two upper floors are visible, and were roped off - a nerdy looking guy near me turned out to be over-enthusiastic, and when it was announced that the house was open, he bounded upstairs! only to discover that the theatre was over the side, actually, just off the bar.

Seating is unassigned, and I got a decent spot, middle of the third row (there are five). It's bench seating, and unfortunately the back was a bit uncomfortable - my back was giving me trouble long before the end of this 90 minute play with no interval. The stage, as you might expect, is small and sparse. And once we were seated, the lights went down and the actors came on.

Yup, there are seven of them. Yup, they're all completely naked, and they stay that way. A light projection at the side explains that we're in Southern Poland, Spring 1944. To denote the passage of days, the lights go down again, and when they come up, the projection at the side tells us how many days into their incarceration we are, and the actors have formed a tableau that leads us into that days' story. Some of these stories are quite short - mercifully.

I couldn't believe how long their incarceration went on for. How these men survived in a bare room, no food or water, no clothes, for 39 days.. well, I don't have to go into too much detail for you to guess how horrible it became. It starts out jolly enough, and there is some humour. That doesn't last. Last night, I came across a horror story that speculated on the nature of hell. Tonight, I saw it embodied.

The nudity is by far not the most shocking thing in this play, and there were several bits I decided I'd rather not watch, as I kept my eyes on the ceiling. The least disturbing of the unpleasant aspects was the sheer filth - they started off dirty, and got more so, smeared with blood as well. And by the end, you could hear their bare feet sticking to the floor as they walked across it. Ick. Mind you, they were hard times - I just listened to a podcast with a cast member, who explained that cannibalism was quite common in Russia in those days..

Yes. Well, thought-provoking stuff. If you fancy having some thoughts provoked, it's running for another week, Tuesday to Sunday.

Tomorrow, I was intrigued to see yet another production of The Marriage of Figaro listed, running in the King's Head. Lordy, you don't see one for ages, and then they all come at once.. eh, no thanks, I only saw a production in the Coliseum last Tuesday! Mind you, you can get tickets a little cheaper in the King's Head - their more expensive tickets are the same price as the cheapest tickets in the Coliseum, their less expensive tickets are £2.50 cheaper. But then, I suspect the production in the Coliseum is more elaborate! No, instead, for tomorrow I'm looking at another play - hopefully lighter than tonight's! Listen, We're Family is showing in JW3 Jewish Cultural Centre. It apparently involves actors reciting the words of real life Jewish characters, as they listen to them through headphones.

On Tuesday, I got another free ShowFilmFirst ticket. This time, they're taking me to the opening night of the Buta festival of Azerbaijani culture! What's nice is that it's in the Albert Hall, and it's nearly two years since I was there. Then on Wednesday, I'm flying back to Ireland, where I'm going to see Dara O' Briain in the University Concert Hall on Thursday - and I'll be there for the weekend.