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The Brunswick Open Mic in Brighton is a Very Good Open Mic
i start on a salty note: this open mic isn’t an open mic in the most important of ways. I don’t mean “anyone who turns up on the night gets a slot” – I understand why even open mics would like to operate some form of quality control – it’s also a good way of… Read more
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The New Muppet Show is Just Okay
The thing with puppets is you can’t kill them. When their human operators shuffle off this mortal coil, the puppet remains – gathering dust for a few years, perhaps, but waiting patiently for another unholy union with a fresh human soul. [1] Kermit the Frog is on his third human handler, and he doesn’t sound… Read more
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Relationships Relationships Relationships (or: people fear he’s writing about improv again)
Saturday was the last of my performances as part of Hoopla’s rolling House Team programme, in which they stick together a bunch of promising improvisers (and, on this occasion, me), try out some new formats, and see what comes of it all. I wasn’t able to make all the sessions, which consisted a couple of… Read more
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Who has the power: architecture, politics, and social hierarchy in 1980s He-Man
Due to insomnia I’ve been rewatching Filmation’s original 1983 He-Man, a cartoon designed (successfully!) to sell the child version of me toys of body-building blue skeletons and ripped, blonde, quasi-barbarian heroes. In terms of plot, dialogue, character development, and animation, He-Man is largely dogshit, with one exception: Skeletor’s relentless commitment to evil is pleasing and… Read more
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Sea of Stars is the first video game I’ve properly fallen in love with since Breath of the Wild
Hark at me with my zeitgeist blog posts, but I’m really enjoying 2023’s charismatic tribute to the golden age of Japanese RPGs, Sabotage Studio’s Sea of Stars. I bought it for my quiet Christmas in suburban Luton, as part of what’s become a bit of a theme the past few months; an attempt to relearn… Read more
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Thomas Crapper and a toilet seat made from the Elgin Marbles
I’ve been up and down to London like a cockney yo-yo the past few days. Thursday: a sketch rehearsal at Theatre Deli in the city, followed by a show at Hoopla Impro in London Bridge with some visiting pals (one a big improv enthusiast) from Istanbul. Friday: an improv session with an experienced improviser, Melissa… Read more
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The Highchurches (or: The Threechurches) record a live session at BBC Maida Vale
Thanks so much to my very talented friends for making this happen. Maida Vale shuts its doors for good (as a BBC institution, at least) in a few months, so it felt faintly miraculous to get the five of us (three members of the band, my friend the sound engineer, and my friend the photographer)… Read more
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An evening with John Lloyd and Steve Pemberton
Tonight was an End of the Pier show – not in the traditional sense, but these talks with comedy greats did take place at Horatio’s, the old karaoke bar at the end of Brighton pier. It was an interesting place to be on a dark and stormy night, and the waves looked garish in the… Read more
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