Storytelling: Maui Trickster
Last night, storytelling from the Crick Crack Club again! This time at Folklore Hoxton - and it was Maui Trickster. Ate at The Blues Kitchen beforehand, and my companion from the Swiss trip said she'd join me.
I couldn't remember how I'd booked my tickets - so the reminder email that Dice sent that afternoon was much appreciated! I was at the office, unable to check my phone regularly - so it was long before I left that she started out, and I didn't get the message until I left that she expected to get there.. 10 minutes from when I got the message! Well, I wasn't going to make it for that - she'd mistaken the time. I couldn't respond immediately, rushing for the next bus - but when I was on the bus, I let her know I expected to be about half an hour. And downloaded my ticket while I was at it - you can't screenshot from the app, but it seems stable enough once the code is activated. And I cancelled my restaurant booking. Busy bus journey.
I arrived and was shown to her table - she'd obligingly sent me a shot of the wine list, from which I chose a wine that she ordered. And she had a starter by the time I got there - she waited though, and ordered her main along with mine. So! Sorted. I never get a starter there anyway, there isn't anything I fancy. Had my usual - fried chicken with fries - it's a huge plate of food, but very moreish. I am continually finding the chips too salty these days though - don't suppose there's much point in complaining, I'm sure they're done in a large batch anyway. As I pointed out, we had plenty of time, so no rush.. Meantime, quite different from my experience, she had terrible trouble getting the app to work! It finally deigned to open when she restarted it.
My, it was a long schlep up there with my laptop - my back was killing me this morning. As we finally approached, who should be standing at the door but Ben Haggarty! who took a look at us and pointed at the door, then opened it for us. As I thanked him, he mentioned that "we had that look.." Inside, we found seats first, then I came back to the bar.
Not much of a queue, at that stage - indeed, the venue wasn't completely full either, last night. There were four people in front of me - two girls being served, two people waiting. One of the girls wanted a cocktail, which was in progress - I don't know how long this had been going on, but for sure this isn't the world's quickest barperson; the guy in the queue left in disgust. All the better for me! The one in front of me turned out, from the chat, to be American, had studied here on her year abroad, and was delighted to be back! just for a week. I discovered all this by eavesdropping while waiting to be served - now, we were nearly up to showtime, the performer was waiting at the doorway, not wanting to start before we all came in.. you'd have thought the barperson would have been more considerate! Anyway, I did get a glass of wine in the end - awkward, that snake obscuring the wine list - it was so foamy, interestingly, that when I got it back to my seat my companion thought it was beer..
We had seats pretty near the front. Sara-Liisa Wilkinson did the MC-ing, and introduced the performer as Mikael Öberg, whom I've since discovered is Swedish. Interesting, considering this mythology is Polynesian. My though, he did a fantastic job.. not only was his delivery consistently enthusiastic and exciting, but he produced the most marvellous set of sounds from his synthesiser, over the side - obviously very well-practiced, all he had to do was tap, or blow, or brush something across a drum placed on top, to produce the most marvellous background sounds, which he then put on repeat. Provided a fabulous backdrop.
The stories themselves were about a mischievous trickster - and with the twinkle in the storyteller's eye, you could well believe he knew what he was talking about! A childlike quality meant he seemed as excited about the stories' twists and turns as anyone there - honestly, it was just a pleasure to watch him. Except for one thing.. it was absolutely sweltering. We popped outside for a breath of cool air at the interval, and in no way did I feel like more wine, I was sweating so hard - a pity, considering there was no queue at the bar, for once.. I suppose most of the audience felt the same! We were accompanied on the outside by the smokers, of course, including TUUP, who was having a cigarette accompanied by Laura Sampson! I guess they must have been in the audience.
Mercifully, they turned on the aircon for the second half. Despite the discomfort, though, this was a fine evening's storytelling - a shame to hear that's it for here until September. I was too tired to blog last night - it's been a manic week.
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