Comedy at the Candlemaker & Social

Last night, third in what was now a run of five Meetup days, I was with a new group, 45+ Solos Socializer, for a comedy night at Candlemaker Smok'd, which is a pub with a BBQ menu. Anyway, they do comedy too on Thursdays, Saturdays, & Sundays, and are offering 30% off bookings for both comedy and food until the 16th. The organiser booked a table for us all.

Lordy, what a day - started with me getting literally half an hour's sleep (or, in fact, slightly less) the night before, trying to (a) blog and (b) do the work I should have been doing through the day. Which took a lot less time than the blog, actually. Anyway, following a day in the office - how many people noticed I nearly fell asleep in meetings, I wonder?! - I had to traipse off to Clapham Junction. What a trek - even from the office, I ended up on the Tube followed by a train.. which was more crowded than the Tube, and which I made with about a minute to spare. Only one stop to Clapham Junction - standing beside a big, black dog and trying not to bump him with my rucksack when I was taking it off - and wow, was it nostalgic exiting the station, coming down steps I regularly came down when I lived right across the road! I haven't been back since. I remember a homeless guy used to beg at the foot of those steps.. he seems to have moved on..

Up the road and to the pub, and I asked at the bar for the table booked under our organiser's name. Just as well I did - it was right down the back, behind a heavy curtain, in the area separated for comedy! He was there already with one of the group, and so the chat began. I have to hand it to the servers - service was terrific, we were never left wanting for long, plus their knowledge of the menu was encyclopaedic! I decided to test their culinary skills by having the half roast chicken - which I am delighted to say was succulent and scrummy. The food in general seemed to be well-received. Wine was also quite nice.

I found some of the artwork intriguing:

Seating near the stage was individual chairs, some cafe-style tables. And despite initial misgivings, most of the group ended up there. There were four acts, each with about 15 minutes, and an interval in the middle. Now.. the comedy was mostly fine. I've heard better, I've heard worse. I had to feel for the last guy however, who completely tanked, becoming obsessed with the front row and letting them take over his whole act. But you know, never mind - we had a great night, it was a fun group, we were well fed, and as I say, service was top-notch. I'd love to come back to this pub.. but even from Clapham Junction, it's something of a slog! Well, we'll see. Funnily enough, with lighter traffic, I managed to get buses home in a reasonable time.

Absolutely no chance of blogging last night though, I kept falling asleep while I was trying to do other things. Mercifully, I was WFH today. Mind you, my woes continued, being locked out of my room.. in the rain.. I have to give thanks to the proverbial kindness of strangers, as a neighbour I'd never met drove up in a British Gas van, and upon my request, hopped the fence to open the gate from the inside so I could get in that way and open the door lock from the inside! I did report it - but the last time my door stuck, it took them a month to fix it. So I ain't holding my breath - just have to remember not to lock my room when I leave it..

This evening, I decided to accompany London Social & Cultural Meetups, who were meeting in a "secret location"! A hotel bar, where we could hopefully get food, as well as the advertised social drinks, considering we were meeting quite early! Well, it turned out to be the Ruby Stella Hotel, and when I got there, a few had beaten me to it. We decided to sit in an area with tables we could push together - and their food menu isn't extensive, but I ordered a pizza. And a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc - seeing the price of the Marlborough, I went for the cheapest of the three Sauvignon Blancs available, which was Italian. 

First time I think I've ever finished a pizza - I'm intolerant to tomato, but this didn't seem to affect me so badly. And it was lovely - particularly as it was a nice, hot antidote to the awful, cold, wet miserable weather. The chat was excellent - it's a shame I don't get to go so often with this group, and it was lovely both to catch with people I hadn't seen in ages, and to meet new ones! Actually a terrific antidote to some trying times. The timing of this Meetup couldn't have been better.

Tomorrow, the last of this run of Meetups, is also the start of a run of four days of film.. First, Movie Roadhouse London (MRL) is off to The Seed of the Sacred Fig, a thriller, shot in secret in Iran. I do love Iranian film, and this looks fantastic..

Later in the evening, their sister group, The Hideout, is seeing Bring Them Down, a thriller of a different sort, involving bad blood in a rural Irish farming community. Starring Barry Keoghan (originally supposed to be Paul Mescal, I believe) and Colm Meaney, it promises to descend into Peckinpah-esque violence at the end.. topical, considering the number of rural Irish disagreements that have come to a violent conclusion in recent years! Anyway, both showing in the Curzon Soho.. so I said, why not? Years since I was there. Must eat beforehand.. and thank goodness they're not meeting too early, so I get a lie-in..

On Sunday, I'm seeing a film under my own steam - A World Not Ours is a documentary that promises a different take on the Ein El-Hilweh refugee camp in Southern Lebanon. Showing in another Curzon - Curzon Bloomsbury, this time.

The next two days, back with MRL! in Picturehouse Central, this time. On Monday - well, they're seeing The Last Showgirl, starring Pamela Anderson as an ageing showgirl whose long-running Vegas show is about to close. I just couldn't resist, the shots of the Strip in the trailer made me so nostalgic!

And on Tuesday, they're seeing September 5 - a tense thriller about the terrorist attack on the Munich Olympics. The trailer looks terrific - really tense - and it apparently includes some original footage.

On Wednesday, a break from Meetup and from films - I'm back with Storytelling at Torriano Avenue! This one is "Queens of Albion"..

On Thursday - yes, back to film, this time on my own again - I'm thinking of Certified Copy, a nice pre-Valentine's Day romance, with Juliette Binoche showing an English author around Tuscany. Showing in the Prince Charles, one day only - and I'm planning to eat in my fave Bella Italia (Cranbourn Street) afterwards. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.

And on the 17th, back with CT for a jazz & tap night at Piano Smithfield..