The Immigrant Comedy Show & Plays: Foreverland, Kim's Convenience, & Land of the Free

Wow, have I been busy.. Safely back from Romania on Sunday, and after a much-needed lie-in, I had booked with Cultureseekers for the Charlie Chaplin Guided Walk. Finishing at The Jolly Gardeners Pub. But you know - subsequently, Over 40 Living the Life advertised a trip to the Immigrant Comedy Show at the Camden Comedy Club. And I was likely to have a better time with them than with Cultureseekers - which I hadn't yet paid for.. so I booked for that instead. Could technically have gone to both, but I couldn't be a***d. And this gave me a chance to try out the food at the Blues Kitchen Camden, which is right across the road..

Ah, the buses, the buses.. I had to change buses, and one not only had to change drivers (I am so often privy to that long-drawn-out ceremony), but stopped "to even out the gaps in the service". TWICE!! No surprise that I was a bit late to the Blues Kitchen. Now, this is one of those businesses that texts you a couple of days before to confirm you're coming - but what I wasn't accustomed to was being texted, after 15 minutes had passed since my booking time and I still hadn't arrived, to find out whether I was on my way! What an excellent idea.. so I texted back that I was (I really was nearly there by now), and they replied to say that they'd be expecting me. I dashed in the door two minutes later, hurriedly explained to the girl at the till, and she showed me to a table. Later on, someone else - looking more senior - came to check that I had a reservation, and my name; I guess the first lady hadn't caught it.. Nice to see them taking reservations seriously!

My goodness, this is practically a carbon copy of the Blues Kitchen Shoreditch - not exactly, but you can see the trend: the tiles, the advertising, the ambience.. as usual, I was sat facing the bar. And yes, the menu is the same too - and I had the same as ever; a lady came to take my drink order, and I ordered food with her, only for her to tell me that she wasn't doing food orders. Fair play though, she gave my order to the right person, rather than make me repeat it for them. And oh, but it was all delicious.. and so good to get back to decent wine, frankly! Not to mention predictable food - not that I didn't get good food in Romania, but here, I know what to expect, anywhere I'm likely to eat..

I visited the loo before I left, figuring it'd be to a higher standard here than in the Camden Head Pub, where the Comedy Club lives. And so it was, and interestingly decorated, each cubicle sporting the depiction of a different Blues musician.. mine was Billie Holiday:

And so across to the Camden Head - ever so slightly late to meet them as well - where I ran into the group, sat to the side. I got myself another drink - happily, on this occasion they did have white wine: a choice, even! And we chatted until it was time to head upstairs. Our organiser had our tickets, and we found a few seats close to each other, in what has always been a small and slightly cramped venue.

I don't know the names of anyone who appeared that night, I'm afraid - didn't recognise any of them from before either. But they were fine, if not earth-shattering.. Some took refuge in political banter - no harm in that. We chatted again at the interval.. and it was a pleasant evening. 

On Monday, I was back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS), who were off to Southwark Playhouse (SP) for Foreverland - more biotechnology SciFi.. promising to be much less spooky than The Substance! Booked, as usual, on their excellent PAYG offer, where you pay in advance for discounted tickets to five shows, no time limit..

A couple of us met for food beforehand in Mercato Metropolitano (MM) - where we sat in front of the katsu stall, where I hoped to get food; I love katsu curry. Nobody at the stall! I ended up ordering chicken pad thai from the stall beside - in the meantime, somebody rocked up at the katsu stall, stayed for about a minute, nipped off again.. ah, that's what you get for delegating the minding of the stall! Meantime, the pad thai was spicier than I cared for, and lacking in chicken.. four pieces, I think I had. I didn't finish it. The Albarino, from the wine bar down the way, was excellent though.. although after a while, we decamped to the theatre a bit early. As my companion correctly pointed out, the wine cost less over there!

I finished off my meal with a packet of smokey bacon Tayto from the theatre bar - and they were so good, I had another! And had a fun evening, regaling all and sundry with tales of my trip. This was showing in The Little space, seating unassigned - and I ended up right on a corner. The seat beside me was curiously placed - no legroom at all, as it butted right up against the row running perpendicular to it! Might have been handy to leave stuff on, if I'd had more stuff..

Okay, so there are three chairs on stage because the play opens in a doctor's office - she has the chair in the foreground, her patients are a couple in the other chairs. They've come to see her about this new procedure - they have to pass screening to make sure they're suitable for it, and indeed, they need reassurance that they even want it! Essentially, the premise is that they've found a way to fiddle with stem cells to regenerate constantly - so you never grow old, you never die..

There are the obvious problems with the procedure; it's expensive, so not everyone can avail of it - including even the participants' family members. Then again, even if they can, they don't necessarily want to.. and even with our golden, immortal couple, there are issues; as depicted in the play, life tends to become quite samey, the routine drags. They have a child - later than they otherwise could, a tangible benefit of the procedure. But of course, children bring their own issues, particularly as they rebel against their parents.. and when it transpires that those parents hid something during screening, they start to have more problems..

The play isn't earth-shattering, doesn't reveal any great truths. But it's beautifully acted, and I found it quite moving, as we focus on the human side of these stories. Recommended, as an entertaining piece of theatre, rather than a particularly educational one. Runs till the 19th.

On Tuesday, I'd been thinking film - but when I finally got around to checking the listings, and saw what was coming up, I decided that the Over 40s' plan sounded better - they were off to Kim's Convenience, at Riverside Studios. So I booked one of their last two tickets.

Uh, it's a long slog out there for me - glad I don't have to go more often! The Tube was a nightmare - this seemed to be a day when everyone decided to use it, and just as I was headed out.. I had to wait for the third Jubilee Line train before I could squeeze on at all, and when I did, I experienced that phenomenon where you're so tightly packed, you don't need to hang onto anything - if you died, you wouldn't fall over! Even the District Line, more spacious and generally more comfortable, was just as packed. It was such a relief to get off..

As always for here, I ate in Wasabi in Hammersmith Broadway - I will not eat in Riverside. Of the two places there, one is overpriced, the other has such slow service, you could grow old and die before they get to you. Anyway, I got to have the chicken katsu curry I was deprived of on Monday! Yum.. portions too small, but what can you do.. just as well I ate somewhere quick anyway, I was only just in time.

Outside, it was pouring rain - heavier in Hammersmith than where I'd come from. And me with a 10-minute walk to the Studios - ah well. Off I set, my hood barely keeping the rain off. I actually arrived just ahead of the organiser - who hadn't been there before, and was most impressed by the model Dalek at the entrance! She asked me to take a picture, which I did - she then returned to her seat, while I was unfortunately waylaid by the weirdest character, who wittered on about being Russian, and something about danger. Nothing I was interested in - I frantically smiled and nodded until she got bored and walked off, whereupon I decidedly needed a drink..

With large advertising posters for the show, there were plenty of photo ops. Now, apparently this is related to a hit Netflix show (although the play apparently came first) - of course, I don't watch Netflix, so it completely passed me by. There was at least one big fan in the group though. 

We occupied a large section of one row in the rear stalls:

As I soon discovered, the show centres around a convenience store run by a Korean, Mr. Kim, somewhere in Canada. It's a family thing, and we meet his wife and daughter too - the son shows up later. And there are some regulars who call into the shop.

Again, nothing earth-shattering - but it is sweet, it is funny, and as Mr. Kim is elderly, we let him away with the racist remarks he's prone to. Well, comedy has to provoke.. and it is well-written, flows nicely. Yes, an enjoyable evening.. Runs to the 26th, if you're interested. And I got to shop on the way home, on the - mercifully - less crowded Tube.

On Wednesday, I was back with UITCS - at SP again, would you believe! This time, it was for Land of the Free, which sounded interesting - with the promotional photo showing someone obviously meant to be Trump, staring at a portrait of Lincoln, we all expected it to be topical.

That night's group was huge - some of us ate beforehand, again, at MM. And this time, there was someone at the katsu stall! So I got katsu, second night in a row - and oh, I love that sauce. Just as well, because I got a lot more of that than of chicken. Back to the Albarino, of course, and the guy at the bar remembered me.. and we who ate had a good chat before joining the others at the theatre.

Now, I'd had to go into the office that day, unusually - for a meeting that couldn't be had face-to-face yesterday, which would have been my normal day. So, I was lugging a laptop - as well as another bag, a drink, and another packet of Tayto smokey bacon; I was so glad the seat beside me was free, or I'd have had serious trouble managing everything!

This, of course, is running in The Large space. Looking at the stage, I was kind of reminded of an American school play.. what with all the US flags n all. And sure enough, they start with a rousing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. There's a wee potted history of it too, and how some objected to its controversial lyrics, but President Hoover (quite recently then) decreed that it be the national anthem. They also spend some time hanging pictures around the edges of the stage of other presidents who, like Lincoln, were shot (spoiler..). Even a photo of Trump is included, holding his ear right after someone took a shot at him.

And that's literally as topical as it gets - unless you count the inclusion of John Wilkes Booth playing Caesar, shortly before he shot Lincoln. So, you know, the implication that Lincoln was a tyrant, like Caesar.. Otherwise, this comes across basically as a school history project about Booth. And as that, it works wonderfully! Full marks - the costumes are good - hell, they even found someone who looks reasonably like Booth. We find out about his actorly background, his tyrannical father, his abortive love life - and then there's the assassination, and the shootout where Booth was killed. And.. curtain.

Clappity clap. Most enjoyable. But just don't go along expecting anything topical - we get no references to the present day (apart from those photographs, which aren't mentioned), we get little analysis, except that Booth was a Confederate sympathiser. Runs till the 9th, if you want a history lesson.