Return Of The Tardy Blogger. Week Four.

School for Gifted Children.

A top notch gig from Robin Ince and guests: Stewart Lee, Jim Bob, Bridget Christie, Robyn Hitchcock, Joanna Neary, Alan Moore, Darren Hayman and Kevin Eldon. It was such an awesome gig that I went straight home and booked for the next one in May.

So many brilliant moments, but I think Robin Ince sulkily standing behind Jim Bob with a bubble machine while he rocked out was a favourite. I thought Kevin Eldon and Stewart Lee were great and I just adore Bridget Christie as 'A Ant'. The evening ended by all the performers coming back onstage to join Robyn Hitcock for 'Olé! Tarantula'.

The Art of Storytelling.

Another wonderful gig as part of the London Word Festival, this one featured the likes of Daniel Kitson, Ian McMillan, Matthew Robins and Terry Saunders debuting 'Six and a Half Loves'. It took place in St Leonard's Church which looked majestic covered in candles, string and baggage labels of lost things. Photos here.

Matthew Robins' set was absolutely incredible. His whimsical songs where enhanced by paper puppets that were cast onto a screen by an overhead projector.

Terry Saunders series of video blogs where played on the screen behind him as he told the hour-long story that is 'Six and a Half Loves'. It's lovely/sad/funny/beautiful/crass and so much more. 4 chapters can be found on YouTube. About half way through, the audience awwed simultaneously. Saunders stopped, looked up, and exclaimed "oh yes, but this is fucking grim". Ha!

Ariadne the WAG's Charity Bag.

The line-up was pretty good and it was for a good cause (to raise money for Haiti victims) so I decided to go at the last minute. Nick Mohammed, The Penny Dreadfuls, Jonny Sweet and Abandoman where hits while the rest of the performers, were misses.

I hadn't seen Nick Mohammed's stand-up live before and his set was a real treat. Characters, magic, songs, power point; who knew?

The front row where very drunk and roudy which most of the acts took in their stride, but Jonny Sweet seemed to get a little bit frustrated. He's still ace, though. He did the part from 'Mostly About Arthur' in which he attempts to read the blurb from "My Irish Life" in an Irish accent. HILARIOUS.

A thought.

Since reading my friends blog, 'Quite a lot of thoughts on vegetarianism', I have stopped eating read meat and chicken. I'll still continue to eat seafood as I don't think I could ever give it up. Well, I probably could, but I don't want to. I enjoy seafood too much.