Fairgame

Yesterday, our occasional work social took us to the funfair - Fairgame recreates funfair-style games! So, that saw me back in the office, first time in a while, although that evening, we headed for Canary Wharf. Well, back home-ish for me, then.

I missed the main group leaving the office - was still packing up - but we ended up on the same train, and I caught up with them at the station. (Loving the aircon on the Elizabeth Line.) Fewer places easier than Canary Wharf to get lost in - but our Project Manager managed us, and got us to the venue - it's not far. We had to walk all the way to the other end to find the entrance though - it's massive!

Well, they officially open at 6pm, and that's when our booking was for. We were shown right through to the back - we had a massive seating area, drinks all prepared. The food arrived at 6.30, giving us time to read the rules of the game, posted on the wall. We had to scan a QR code from the staff member's phone, so we could check our leaderboard online, and also got wristbands that we had to sync with that, and scan every time we played a game, so our scores were recorded. We got additional wristbands to identify our group to staff, so we could enter our reserved area.

Everyone remarked on the amount of food - of course, they initially thought many more would attend, but knock-on effects of train strikes put paid to that. We started with sliders, of four different kinds - there was a "butter bacon" one, a spicy one (which I didn't try), a vegetarian one, and one whose name I can't remember - I tried that, and the bacon one. Both very moreish. There were tacos too - meat and vegetarian - but I didn't try those. Star of the initial offerings were the tater tots - bitesize potato snacks with a lovely aioli dressing - of which everyone had several. It was a while before pizzas arrived.. so many, they had to set up another table!

In the midst of these, you can see a couple of garlic pizza breads - I had a slice of that. Skipped the actual pizzas - they don't agree with me, and I filled myself up on sliders and tater tots.

Games are from 7.15 to 8.30. Now, there are nine games - and the scoreboard shows, as well as your overall score, how many you've played. Most have holders for your drinks, which you can take with you - but not food. You don't have to play the games in any particular order, which is nice - and you get two gos at each, back to back; the better of your two scores is counted. After a brief squizz around, I started at their equivalent of Whack-a-Mole!

Very good for frustration, this one - although tough on the hitting arm! Behind it, to the right, you can see Pantry Pandemonium, a game to hit the items on shelves, which I didn't do as well on as I'd thought I would - and to the left of that, a shooting game (interestingly, with a sign to the side that said you couldn't shoot if you were intoxicated! Yeah right..). Now, somehow I managed to come top on my first go at that - did exactly the same thing the second time around, but missed every shot. Go figure..

This shooting game was easier - you have a water pistol, which constantly spurts water, which you direct at whichever hole is lit, to make your clown face rise to the top. 

This is one of those games where you direct balls at the higher value holes to make your horse go faster. I enjoyed this one the best - wasn't bad at it, and you get to sit down! On the far side of that is a game where you have to throw balls into bins when their lids open, which they do periodically. Harder than it looks.

Space Race, to the right of this picture, isn't bad - you have to press the button when the arrow is in the firing zone. Turns out the secret to it is to just keep pressing the thing the whole time for the higher levels, where the arrow spins faster. Now.. passing Alley Hoop, I said no - I've always been terrible at basketball. There's actually a similar game across the way that I did much better on, again, directing smaller balls into holes. Alley Hoop? I left to last, and sure enough, it was the only game on which I scored precisely 0. I came near the bottom of our leaderboard - but having said that, it's a great venue, and a great night out! I happily got buses home - but was too tired to blog last night.

Tonight, last film of the week, again at the Curzon Bloomsbury - and finally, The Zone of Interest, which I originally booked for months ago. This is a recreation of the story of the Höss family, living a normal family life in the shadow of Auschwitz (Rudolf Höss was the commandant) - stars Sandra Huller. Gotta leave soon for that.

Tomorrow, I'm back in Ireland for the weekend. Film is looking like The Fall Guy - an action adventure rom-com with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt - how could you lose? Showing, conveniently, in Limerick Omniplex.

On Monday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Cutting the Tightrope: The Divorce of Politics from Art at the Arcola - a timely topic, with funding being cut all over. It's a collection of short plays about the question of whether artists should be political.

On Tuesday.. ooh, looking forward to this one: I'm back with CT, who have cheap tickets for an exhibition called The Art of Banksy! Runs till 8pm, entry any time.

On Wednesday, The London Movie Club has their May social - back in the BFI Riverfront Bar again.

And next Thursday, with CT again - and back with the Backyard Comedy Club! About time..