Backyard Comedy Club & Walk: Breathtaking Bloomsbury

Last night, back at Backyard Comedy Club with CT - double the price of other nights, perhaps because it was Friday, but still cheap. Estimating when I'd have to leave, I had to bear in mind that the place doesn't open till 6pm.. so I left it a bit later than Google Maps suggested to leave. Heh, I needn't have bothered to wait - the buses were delayed, then I was delayed further by a broken-down bus holding up traffic on Bishopsgate - and by the time I alighted, with some relief, from a packed bus, and got to the club, it was about 6.45..

The bar was still empty, mind - I chose a table and ordered. And on the bar, they had a sign with new menu items - they now do garlic bread, lovely! So I ordered that as well. Ah, and this famous sign is still over the bar, of course.. it was what I immediately thought of when I saw the same saying printed on the menus at Rocca:

Food ordered and drink obtained, I went to collect my wristband - and with it, she gave me a voucher for a free ticket! Has to be booked in advance though, and is only valid for the last weekend of next month - I'll have to see what I'm up to.

Of course, you're supposed to go and collect your food when the buzzer they give you sounds - but with me being the only person in the bar, they tend to bring it to me, and last night was no exception. And I'm happy to say that the garlic bread was quite nice - looked a bit burnt, but didn't taste it, and was in fact quite tasty. I'll have that again.

I was one of the first in, and bagged a table near the front, but not, of course, in the front row, which is dangerous. Now, there was one other chair at my table - and lo and behold, I was joined by a fellow with nachos. He kindly offered me some, but I really don't like them. We got to chatting.. and much of his attention was taken by what, to be fair, turned out to be an historic World Cup match between Australia and Egypt, being Egypt's first time to advance to the knockout stages. Egypt finally won on penalties, which must have been exciting - and as this guy was Egyptian, I bet he wished, in retrospect, he'd just stayed home and watched that.. 

The acts were excellent though. First up was Gbemi Oladipo, who turned his experiences into a very funny routine - and last up, the very funny Sean Meo. But - for us both, I think - the winner of the night was the middle performer, Diane Spencer, who has a wicked line in observational comedy. A good night was had, and my companion was good enough to buy me one for the road in the bar afterwards. I had less trouble on the buses home - but was too tired to blog.

Especially because I had to be up, being back with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies for a walk around Breathtaking Bloomsbury. I should really have got buses there - but I wasn't ready exceptionally early, and then the buses were delayed. I could still have managed it by bus, but only just - and as the trip involved a change of buses, I could see myself being late. So I got the bus to Waterloo and the Tube from there. On the bus was the interesting sight of a bloke in a wheelchair.. with his little girl riding along! He'd got on at the same stop as me, where she was perched on the back - when they got off, she hopped onto his lap.. and never stopped chattering the whole way, mostly about her friends at school, it seemed. It really was the sweetest sight..

At Waterloo, I passed a couple of guys adorned with multicoloured feathers - must have been headed to Pride. Sure enough, on the walk later, we were to pass a small group having a picnic and displaying a large rainbow flag.. but that was as close as I got. Anyway, at least getting the Tube meant I was arriving exactly where the walk was starting - he always starts outside a Tube station. We were just waiting for one person when he decided to start - as he said, he'd be making an introduction just down from the station anyway.. and sure enough, she caught up to us there, happily.

The day started off unexpectedly cool - it was overcast, and cool enough that I was beginning to wish I'd worn something warmer! At least I had the comfort of quite a long skirt, meaning my legs were mostly covered. Meantime, we were passing the picturesque Minerva House:

And, of course, there was a whole succession of blue plaques - it took everyone a minute to figure out whom this was!

We passed the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) - crikey, I once had a job interview there! Anyway, that's not what we discussed, but rather the relatively recent addition of the names of three female scientists to the facade! You can tell they're more recent, if you didn't already know, just by the colour of the stone:

The last of the names, that of Marie Curie, also includes her maiden name of Skłodowska, and the middle name refers to Alice Ball, who developed the first effective treatment for leprosy, but who died before being able to publish her findings, whereupon her study advisor took all the credit. It all came out later, of course.

As we continued, the sun came out - the temperature jumped, and I was now glad I hadn't dressed more warmly. And meantime, of course, what walk around Bloomsbury would be complete without a mention of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood?

Round to a side entrance of the LSHTM, which I swear was the one I entered by, the day of that interview - and I'd never before noticed (or perhaps I had, but had forgotten) the depictions of disease-carrying insects that adorn the windows:

I could never forget the dystopian facade of Senate House, though, which apparently inspired George Orwell when he was writing Nineteen Eighty-Four:

We passed one of the old taxi drivers' rest stops, now open to the public in general, selling tea and coffee:

And so to the striking Kimpton Fitzroy hotel, built in the reign of Queen Victoria, and incorporating in its facade the statues of the four British female sovereigns to that time (excluding the Catholic Mary I). Note also the Pride flags:

Thence to the confusingly named Queen Square - it's apparently named for Queen Anne, but the statue is of Queen Charlotte:

We came to the plaque commemorating the start of the Foundling Hospital:

And then to the Foundling Museum:

With the statue of Thomas Coram, who started the hospital, alongside:

And, of course, the Bloomsbury Group! I quite liked the disparaging description of them as a group that "lived in squares, discussed in circles, and loved in triangles"!

And we saw the first British medical school for women:

So, women did indeed feature heavily in this walk. But wow, we were ready for lunch - my back, in particular, was killing me! Lunch on this occasion was in the Friend at Hand, whose sign depicts a dog - appropriate, as Laurence's dog made an appearance today again, and of course kept everyone entertained!

They didn't have a table big enough, but pushed two tables together for us; I had the chicken katsu again, and wine - which wasn't that cold, despite coming from the fridge. I asked for no rice - I got rice. Happily, the lady beside me didn't want all her chips, so I took some of those instead and just left the rice. Meantime, conversation was excellent, as usual - and we had the added distraction of a rugby match, much of the preamble to which was taken up by what I guess is the Fijian version of the haka, considering they were playing! So, sport very much on the menu these days.

And so to post-dinner coffee, which Laurence is of the opinion is never as good in a pub. For this, we returned to Russell Square, where we managed to grab a couple of outside tables at Caffe Tropea, a couple of us had wine, others coffee and pastries. Conversation continued to be good, and doggy had great fun begging from anyone who was eating. In due course, we went our separate ways, a few of us bussing it to Waterloo, where I shopped before catching the bus for home. I hadn't managed to get everything I wanted there, so it was rather handy when the driver ignored that a couple of us wanted to get off, and we were carried on to the next stop - because that's right beside my local Tesco! So I got the rest of what I needed there.

I proceeded to crash, sleeping for most of the evening - obviously needed it. It's true what I said at the cafe, when someone remarked that they'd get sleepy after drinking - the sleepiness starts when the drinking stops..

Next, a run of three films - becoming quite the habit! Today, I'm thinking of Blue Heron - set in the 1990s, it sees a family move to Vancouver Island, only to have serious problems with the increasingly erratic behaviour of their teenage son. Showing in the Garden Cinema, nice and late - which is good, as I'm going to bed again soon.

Tomorrow, finally thinking of Toy Story 5. Aw, I do enjoy them.. and this one has the traditional toys competing with AI. V topical. Nearest showing to me is in Everyman Borough Yards.

And on Tuesday, I found a new Meetup group - The DocHouse Documentary Adventurers Group: seems they head to the Curzon Bloomsbury for documentaries, which makes perfect sense with their dedicated DocHouse. With no reviews yet, it seems like a very new group! Anyway, they're off there that day to see The Day Innocence Died, a documentary about Bloody Sunday - so I thought that sounded interesting, and I'd give the group a shot.

On Wednesday, a friend of mine cleverly got in in time to invite me to The Ladyboys of Bangkok, a burlesque in the Sabai Pavilion - he got free tickets. I've booked dinner beforehand at The Sindercombe Social.

And on Thursday, back at last with Movie Roadhouse London for The Invite. Delighted they advertised it - the trailer looks promising. Based on a Spanish film, in this, Seth Rogen and his wife decide to invite the enigmatic couple upstairs - Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz - for dinner. They have no idea what they're letting themselves in for.. showing in the BFI, and we're meeting there beforehand, and for drinks after.