Comedy: Laughter to the Rafters

Tonight, went to Laughter to the Rafters, a comedy show in aid of The Passage homeless charity, and starring Dara O' Briain, Ed Byrne, and Sara Pascoe, among others. That was at the Hackney Empire. I booked a table at the Pizza Express across the road for beforehand - I've had trouble before, with them being full, and eating options around there aren't great.

Headed off by bus.. my second bus departed early, and I was despairing of making my reservation in time - but then the next one arrived early, and in fact I made it on the dot. For starter, I initially thought calamari - but a lot of places don't do them terrifically, and in the end I plumped for the chicken goujons as a starter, with the BBQ chicken pizza as main (crucially, with a BBQ sauce base). I love BBQ sauce. And I had the Romana version, which is thinner - I think I might be slightly coeliac, and a thick crust will give me indigestion. I tell you what though, I got sick of the hard sell - everything on the menu that I didn't order, she tried to sell me - pre-starters, sides, dips, water..

The goujons were lovely, the pizza tasty, and - of course - I didn't have ill effects, so I ate it all, for once. Except the outside of the crust, which was burnt. Have to say, after my recent trip (where I was spoiled with good wine), the wine here was terrible - the Sauvignon Blanc too flowery, the Pinot Grigio insipid. Service was quite quick. Looked - and sounded - like an Irish family at the table next to me. So, yes, mainly a good meal. Then I just had to cross the road, and was through security quickly - got a drink at the packed bar, and took my seat, to the side of the front row of the Dress Circle.

The MC, Leslie Gold, was good, engaging with the audience (and was I glad I wasn't in the front row). The show started with a funny set by Janine Harouni, who's Arab-Irish, and married to an Irishman (we do get around). She's just had a baby, and much of the set revolved around that. Similarly, Ed Byrne used his teenage kids as material - the first half ended with Sara Pascoe, and what, for me, was the funniest set of the night. And no, that is NOT just because she brought up the debacle over U2 unleashing their album, Songs of Innocence, for free on Apple devices. 

The second half started with Laura Lexx, and an hilarious set revolving around her keep-fit attempts in, of all places, Australia - she was followed by the trans comedian, Sarah Keyworth. Dara O' Briain finished off the night - but you know something? I wish he'd produce some new material. He had a couple of routines I hadn't heard in a while, but nothing that was completely new to me. The couple beside me, mind, were of a different opinion - comedy is subjective, and I didn't bother to argue.

My second bus came quickly on the way home.

Next, it's six days of Meetup in a row... starting with three days of mythology. Tomorrow, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Bloodsport - After Helen of Troy, at the Theatre Royal Stratford East.. all about Helen of Troy, and what it means to return to your home, after abandoning it and starting a war. She's played by Michelle Dockery, and it's set in modern-day Essex.

On Wednesday - whee, I'm hosting storytelling with London Museums A-Z (LoMAZ) again! The Crick Crack Club - in the form of Lucy Lill - is performing Doom Scrolls - The Never-Ending Prophecies of the Sibyls in Folklore Hoxton. Female prophets, the theme - and today, I was still getting new sign-ups. Hope they have tickets, as it's now sold out - two people have cancelled since I said it. Anyway, I've now closed RSVPs. I'm eating in the Blues Kitchen Shoreditch beforehand.

And on Thursday, I'm at Watkins Bookshop (yes, they have their own Meetup group) for the launch of a book called Pantheon, about the Roman Pantheon and the society that birthed it. Eating in Bella Italia Cranbourn Street afterwards, yay!

I'll probably be eating there again on Friday, when I'm with The Hideout for Her Private Hell - a stylized, futuristic psychological thriller set in Tokyo, and starring Sophie Thatcher. Details TBC.

On Saturday, I'm back at last with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies for a walk entitled Heavenly Heights of Hampstead.

And - as so often on these walks - that evening I'm off to a film (second day in a row). This time, it's with Movie Roadhouse London for Bad Apples in the BFI - a comedy with Saoirse Ronan as a teacher who locks a problematic student in her basement.

And on Sunday, back yet again with LoMAZ to see The Coming of Age exhibition at the Wellcome Collection.

Next Monday, I'm back with TAC to see Who Killed Marilyn? at the Emerald Theatre. Spoiler, this assumes it's the Mafia..

On the 29th, thinking of cinema - coming up is, again, Coyote Vs. ACME, a partly animated comedy based on the roadrunner cartoons, in which Coyote sues ACME, whose products always blow up in his face. It's getting great reviews - nearest showing to me that day is in the Odeon Luxe Haymarket, and I'll have to leave quite early for it.

On the 30th, heading with CT to see Franz & Marie, a new folk musical version of Woyzeck, in preview at Charing Cross Theatre. Eating in Bella Italia Strand beforehand.

On the 1st, thinking of film again - and what's coming up is something I saw the trailer for ages ago; Tony is the story of how Anthony Bourdain became a chef. He's played by Dominic Sessa, his mentor by Antonio Banderas. Closest showing to me that evening is in the Barbican. And then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend, because otherwise I shan't get back at all next month!