London
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Through the looking glass
I wrote recently about Naomi Klein’s Doppelgänger, a book inspired – if that’s the right word – by the mirror-world of far-right grifters, snake-oil salesmen and demagogues, and their radicalised followers of conspiracy theorists, angry and lonely boomers, and young incel men who think women should return to lives of indentured servitude. I wonder, sometimes,… Read more
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Next Level Sketch with Soft Play Area, Luke Rollason, and The Awkward Silence
A late write up of a very enjoyable show, so please forgive the fragmented recollections as the near-distant past retreats into the fog of hearsay and memory. Something very unusual happened at the April NLS: most of our audience didn’t show up. Ticket sales were very healthy indeed, and I told all and sundry –… Read more
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Next Level Sketch at Improv At The Glitch, with Noises From The Attic
No March show for us at Hoopla, as Steve and the lads were overburdened with end of course shows, turning us into travelling sketch comedy rōnin, willing to perform on any stage in exchange for a bowl of rice. Mercifully for our hungry bellies Noises From The Attic, an improv troupe featuring our own Alex… Read more
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Next Level Sketch with Camilla Borges, Ali Brice and Rob Duncan
Is there a link between audience size and performance quality? Laughter is a contagion, and logic suggests that a packed room = punters giving themself the permission to let go. And so: a great atmosphere, and performers raising their game accordingly. The answer, after five years of hosting alternative comedy shows, is I’m really not… Read more
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Next Level Sketch’s 5th Birthday Show with Julia Masli, Luke Rollason and Jamie Mykaela
We are five! It was a splendid evening at Hoopla, our first Thursday show and a sold out room to boot. We prepped a greatest hits set – pimped up with Josephine’s wonderfully bizarre sketch about being a sofa in a nightclub toilet, alongside Ben’s pleasing anti-Dyson rant. And I rebooked some of our favourite… Read more
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Next Level Sketch with Jamie Mykaela, Mikey Bligh-Smith, Michael Brunström and The Mayor and His Daughter
Hello! I did the Treason Show for the first time, and am back in London with some cats. I sometimes find it difficult to sleep after a show, and so after a few aborted attempts at no longer being conscious, I thought I’d write a short post about last week’s Next Level Sketch, which was… Read more
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London to Berlin, via Harwich Ferry and European Sleeper
Last time, I came to Berlin via the night ferry and then a day train from Amsterdam. It’s now possible to flip reverse it: the day sailing from Harwich, and then a sleeper from Holland. [1] My journey started at 5:25am in Furzedown, near Tooting Common, with Murphy the dog forlornly watching me get underway.… Read more
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Next Level Sketch with Katie McCleod, Chuck ‘n’ Jeck and Rob Duncan
There has been a lot going on with me recently, more on this to come in future blog posts. A lot of you out there already know what I’m talking about. So my own personal desire for the last Next Level Sketch before our summer hiatus was to get through it without falling over or… Read more
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It was twenty years ago today
I have been informed that London Loves, the Soho-based indie disco I ran with a gaggle of friends, started in June 2004, suddenly quite a long time ago. The definitive history of London Loves has already been written, in the form of Denny’s fanzine article celebrating our 10th anniversary back in 2004. The only thing… Read more
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Next Level Sketch with Will Sebag-Montefiore, Jen Zheng, and The Awkward Silence
I dashed off to Istanbul straight after our show, and so didn’t have time for my usual, far-too-long write-up. But I wanted to write down a few things, as it was another fabulous night at Hoopla Impro, with some of my favourite people. Self-criticism corner first: I probably should have prepared better for hosting. I’m… Read more
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