Day 1: London Victoria to Market Harborough Travelodge London is a difficult place to escape. It always takes longer than you expect. Ian Nairn drove out of London on the Edgware Road, on his way to being charmed by Northampton, horrified by the M1, and bemused by urban clearance on the edge of Man ForContinue reading “Cycling London to Edinburgh: Fringe or bust (part one)”
Category Archives: Diary
Balfron Tower: then and now
A short, insomniac post from me, on this grey Wednesday morning, to note that flats for the refurbished Balfron Tower are finally on sale. Oliver Wainwright has all the grim details here. And here’s what I wrote about it back in 2015. And on a related, entertaining-timing note, here is an investigation into the landlordContinue reading “Balfron Tower: then and now”
Horse Passports at Extra Topping
“Wow, so we’ve both changed our names since we last performed together.” Not quite, Selena Mersey, fabulous musical comedian and stage name of the lovely Hel MacCormack. What had actually happened was: on Friday evening myself, Paul Creasy and Nadine Bailey made our debut performance as Horse Passports, a sketch comedy trio from the NextContinue reading “Horse Passports at Extra Topping”
Maybe semi is pushing it
I’m a semi-professional pet sitter. Every so often I pack up my more useful possessions, go to some London dwelling, and spend a week or two pottering around, as though I could afford to live there.[1] I’m quite proud of my 100% pets not dying on my watch record. Not all pet sitters can sayContinue reading “Maybe semi is pushing it”
Ramen 2013
In a ramen restaurant near Tottenham Court Road, with Bella. Nine years before. In a Korean restaurant a few metres away, now long demolished for Crossrail. I don’t remember what we talked about but I remember how I felt. This has been a summer of hauntology. A job cycling around London, memories bursting from everyContinue reading “Ramen 2013”
I’ve started writing regularly about comedy for the Morning Star. Back in the day I had a culture column for them, writing about everything from books to video games. I seem to remember having a very earnest byline photo and a pun-based column title – “Culture Matters”, I believe. I remember being super pleased whenContinue reading
Cycling up Ditchling Beacon
“Be careful”. Usually I ignore it. But this time, I bite: “Do you say that to all your friends heading out, or just the ones cycling? Do you like my new cycle cap?” “Why a cap and not a helmet?” Cyclists like me head out on their rides knowing that if someone in a fewContinue reading “Cycling up Ditchling Beacon”
Next Level Sketch with Daniel Willis and Just These Please
I can’t take too much credit for this one. Distracted by writing and learning a song to perform at my sister’s impending wedding, approximately 95% of the organisation, preparation and planning was done by my fabulous co-producers Paul Creasy and Nadine Bailey, pictured here, as everyone should be, on the far left. I had alsoContinue reading “Next Level Sketch with Daniel Willis and Just These Please”
Christian Brighty: Playboy, Brighton Fringe
I first saw Brighty as 1/3 of clown collective Privates, which is an unusual number of balls. Here, he plays a very different kind of testicle in the shape of eighteenth century heartbreaker Lord Christian Brighty – an ancestor, perhaps – in this very enjoyable hour of caddery, invisible ballroom partners, and ships struggling withContinue reading “Christian Brighty: Playboy, Brighton Fringe”
Brighton Fringe: Luke Rollason: Bowerbird and Gämez presents: TV Pilots Live!
In a city as iconoclastic as Brighton, the Jubilee was always going to be weird. Friday was a combination of marauding day trippers and unbothered locals, with the Union Jack per square mile quotient pleasingly low. Luke Rollason I first saw a few years ago at The Vault Festival, dressed as a sperm. His currentContinue reading “Brighton Fringe: Luke Rollason: Bowerbird and Gämez presents: TV Pilots Live!”
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