I've been to Comedians at the Lyric Hammersmith twice so far, and have two more perfomances to see. I first went to the third preview, on the 9th of October, which was a Friday. Let me just say there was a big difference between that performance and the next I went to, which was last Monday. People were drinking on Friday, you see. The Monday audience was...slightly boring. Dead, in places. Not literally, of course--that would have been creepy. Even though there was a slight chance we might all have been dead by the end of the night, as the fire alarm went off at the end of the third act, through which four-minute blaring Matthew Kelly was the complete professional and went on with his semi-monologue without blinking. But I digress.

I didn't notice much difference in the performances, but certainly the audience has a lot to say when it comes to this play. In short, the story is about six budding/hopeful comedians trying out their material in a local Northern worker's club. Before and after this gig we meet them in the classroom where they've been taught and even groomed by The Lancashire Lad (played by the aforementioned Matthew Kelly) in the evenings. They all have different acts, but one of them, Gethin Price (played by David Dawson, in a role originated by the brilliant Jonathan Pryce--and I'm sure Dawson's tired of being compared to him, but hey, that's the way the cookie crumbles), is even more different... When it comes to the audience, I actually assume some heckling would be welcome (and I don't just say that because of Keith Allen's utterings during The One Show a couple of weeks back--I've witnessed the difference between a heckled and a heckle-free performance...so to speak). On the Friday there was a rather intoxicated gentleman at the back of the auditorium who got some great replies from the actors on stage (especially Michael Dylan, who plays Mick Connor and is first up on stage during The Gig). There was no such patron on the Monday (at some point I was afraid I was the only one there and only imagined seeing other people around me so as to soften the shock). I feel I should apologise for being part of an audience lacking in the 'oomph' department. It must be said that I had been working flat out for six days at that time and wasn't very animated, myself. Nor bothered. Shame, really. On the inside I was laughing, it has to be said.

The play, written by Trevor Griffiths, was first performed in 1975, and has not been altered in any way (as far as I know) for this run 34 years later. The jokes are contemperary and you may shamefully find yourself laughing at jokes that are both racist, degrading to women and basically testing your tolerance. The worst part is when you discover you quite like the silliest jokes of the lot, where you could see the punchline coming from a mile away. At the same time, this being performed at the theatre and not supposed to be a genuine stand-up act, you may find that you try to humour the actors themselves by laughing at jokes that aren't really funny at all. Or perhaps that's just me?

In order to introduce the lot, there's Mick Connor, already mentioned, who's an Irishman and plays off his heritage. Then there's Sammy Samuels (Simon Kunz), who plays off the fact he's a Jew, and George McBrain (Billy Carter), who comes from Belfast and works on the docks. The two brothers Phil and Ged Murray (Reece Shearsmith and Mark Benton--and I have to admit I keep thinking I would like to see a second series of Catterick when I see them together) are trying out their double act in public for the first time, and teacher's pet Gethin Price has changed his act at the last minute; much to everyone's surprise.

Now, the first time around I wasn't too impressed by David Dawson's portrayal of Price (sorry, David), but then again I had no idea what to expect and merely assumed he was exaggerating everything. The part grew on me, however, and I have a feeling I may do a 270, if not a 360, by the end of my fourth and last visit. My hat's off to him for doing a whole routine without much, if any, feedback from the audience! (Technically, of course, silence is a sort of feedback as well. As long as you know there are people out there watching you and listening to what you're saying.)

I've read the reviews and seen that most give the production a three out of five, but I sense that despite my strong bias (Matthew Kelly, Reece Shearsmith, Mark Benton, Paul Rider and Keith Allen) I would like to give it four out of five. When you get into it and the reasons behind the characters' behaviour, you may feel the same way I do.

One last note; strangely enough (although not too strangely, for those of us who always have a tendency to focus on the "supporting artists" anyway), Paul Rider's caretaker/concert secretary and Kulvinder Ghir's Mr. Patel (and that's no euphemism) threaten to take over the show. All in all a strong cast!

Two silly notes: Matthew Kelly is really tall, and Reece Shearsmith and David Dawson are the only ones who look grumpy and like they really would like to be somewhere else while taking their bows. Personally, I would only look like that because I would be terrified of going on stage in the first place...

Labels: comedy, reece shearsmith, theatre

...so happy birthday! You may celebrate as well, by buying his latest release (which came out on Monday).

Labels: comedy, greg proops

Something weird has happened to me lately. I have actually managed to finish a few games! I have way too many games and way too little time to ever be able to finish them all, the way I play. But within the last few weeks, I have completed three games. OK, so one of them was The Secret of Monkey Island (redux), which I have finished a few times before (the original game is from 1990, after all), but still! Two days ago I completed the original Company of Heroes (I had an inkling it was drawing to an end when my mission turned out to be cutting off the retreating Germans), and yesterday I returned to Fallout 3 after a few months off, only to finish it (very suddenly) within a couple of hours. I had read about the ending being very abrupt, but didn't really see how they could have made it such a big surprise on everyone. Yesterday I understood what they all meant. Luckily, I had already paid for the expansion pack and so could continue after the original ending. Also, the way I play, I was already midway through level 25 by the end of the game, which originally only allowed players to level up to 20 (the expansion pack allows up to level 30). Imagine having wasted enough XP to fill five and a half levels...that's quite a lot of extra skills and perks gone down the drain.

Well, Batman: Arkham Asylum was released last week, and I wasn't the least bit interested until I saw a brief clip of the gameplay on Gamespot and read the amazing reviews it'd had. People were tweeting about it and so I ended up downloading the demo on the PS3. I have to say, the demo is GB 1.4 in size and for that mass it contains very little actual gameplay, but it certainly convinced me I may actually be able to play the game. So I bought it the next day. And it was great. Really. I usually suck at action games, but the way they've implemented stealth in this game, it works so well. The graphics are beautiful, even though I have to admit I don't really see the scenery as I'm in Detective Mode most of the time (which makes the screen go all blue and x-ray-like, with some yellow and red dots here and there). The voice acting is superb, and there are so many extras there you just want to keep playing until sunrise. Yes, I play it only at night (hence why I suddenly finished the two other games; had to play something while waiting for it to go dark outside).

Also, I have to admit it is quite nice to see those achievement tokens popping up on the screen; a medal here, a trophy there... Even though they're more meaningful for boasting to your online gaming friends (of which I have none, as I don't play online), I like taking a glimpse now and then. Some of them have surprised even me; 'how on earth did I manage to get that one?'

Anyhoo, my hair's been cut and I feel like going back to a post-apocalyptic D.C., so Fallout, here I come!

Labels: gaming

Indeed. Went to the matinée of La Cage aux Folles today. My last visit. At least that's what I thought, until the end where I just knew I have to see it again. Unfortunately, the ticket system on the ATG website is pretty dire and simply doesn't want my fifty-five pounds, so it can fuck off. Anyhoo, I was very pleased to not notice anything particularly less energetic in their performance today as opposed to any of the...eight evening performances I have seen, which was a BIG plus! Lots of OAPs there, though, so they got more response than usual when The Best of Times came on (read: Sing-along time!)

Just need to utter a Happy Birthday to Reece Shearsmith (according to Wikipedia, which has been known to make up things in the past)--was just looking for info on Catterick when I stumbled upon his page. Yes, I am finally watching Catterick. At first I couldn't understand why I hadn't until now, but then it hit me; it first aired in 2004, when I hadn't quite moved to the UK yet, and then by the time the Scandie channels would have been able to afford importing it, I had moved to the UK and forgotten all about it. So far, two episodes in, it's great fun. And yes, it was brought on by the return of Shooting Stars yesterday. (I am usually very pleased with my Amazon Prime membership...next day delivery FTW!) (Although today they delivered only Catterick, which was dispatched after the two items I ordered the night before...it's the luck of the draw, I guess.)

In other news, I think a Nurofen capsule dissolved in a rather unfortunate manner earlier today due to the lack of readily available water, and my throat is now burning every time I swallow. Nice.

Labels: comedy, league of gentlemen, musicals, online shopping, personal, philip quast, roger allam, technology, theatre

G.I. Joe PSA - Mimimimimi. Wonderful.

Labels: humour, time wasting

Yep, I should probably 'kiddieproof' this blog, but I'm rebelling against those US-enforced parental lock thingies. Anarchy in your face!

Quick update on the dream front: The other night I dreamt that Jared Padalecki and Chad Michael Murray had joined forces and were fighting electricity for the benefit of humankind. Please bear in mind I don't watch Supernatural or One Tree Hill and actually had to look up their names to figure out who they were; I guess the power of the TV trail is tremendous!

The following night I dreamt about a new, revolutionary product called iLean. Probably manufactured by Apple. It was a gizmo you wore and which would beam info to the headquarters of iLean (again, presumably to the Apple HQ) every time you leaned on something or someone. You could actually earn up to £7,500 a year on this thing. I woke up feeling rather angry my new-found extra source of income turned out to be imaginary.

In between these dreams we went to the embassy in order to vote in the general election, which takes place in September back in Norway. I tried out a new party this time. Well, a new one for me, but as far as I know, the oldest one in the kingdom. I am worried about the right-wing parties, though, which seem to be getting a stronger grip on the population. There's a lot of hatred there. It's scary to see how they condemn right-wing election results in Austria and Denmark when the exact same thing is happening in their own country.

After having voted we went down to Canary Wharf to take in the view, eat at Jamie Oliver's brand new restaurant and then pay Waitrose a visit. We got home very happy and with lots of chocolate. I then realised I had managed to be in the sun long enough to sport a permanent clown mouth (well, hopefully it'll disappear within a week), and so spent the next two hours on the balcony trying to perfect the silly look by showing only my right profile to the sun. We had fun, anyway, doing our best to remember which British comedy shows we've seen (both before and after we moved here). A rather surprisingly large number of shows, I must say! Anyone remember Chalk? Written by the clever Steven Moffat (Press Gang, Coupling, Jekyll, some Murder Most Horrid and Doctor Who). I watched it because of David Bamber (naturally). He also inadvertently (and not literally) kicked my butt so that I finally noticed (and quickly became a huge fan of) The League of Gentlemen.

Speaking of britcom, I also started watching Peep Show the other day (hence the "cockmunchers" in the title). Fun and embarrassing at the same time. I don't often feel I have to look away because the situation depicted is increasingly excruciating to watch, but with this series it happens frequently. Probably also because it is filmed the way it is, so that it immediately feels more personal. With other shows I can just tell myself 'it isn't happening to me', but these guys are staring right at me, damnit!

Enhance your calm.

Labels: comedy, current affairs, david bamber, dreams, league of gentlemen, personal, TV

Enjoying this series immensely. It's rather mellow, but the characters really draw me in. Yesterday's episode was particularly exciting for a French & Saunders fan, as they were finally enjoying a whole scene together, just the two of them. Also, I have to keep telling myself Dawn French really isn't like Rosie in real life. It just seems so...realistic, somehow. Which I suppose is a compliment to her acting skills. If one is to take my criticisms to heart, of course (certain people shouldn't).

Fave quote from yesterday; between the Vicar (played by Patrick Barlow) and Caroline (one of the posher inhabitants, played by Jennifer Saunders):

- I'm just delivering a leaflet about the recital Veronica is giving next month.
- Oh, Veronica, your singer friend.
- Yes.
- Oh, John will love that, he was very taken with her areolas.
- Really...

Labels: comedy, TV

I am getting fed up of you now. This morning, all the seats in my carriage was taken by young and middle-aged men of all creeds, all pretending to be asleep to avoid the scornful looks they were given by the 20+ women having to remain standing. You keep going on and on about how much stronger you are compared to us, so why don't you get your lazy arses out of those seats and stand instead? You also keep moaning about women wanting both male chivalry and equal rights; tell you what: When we DO have equal rights (and that definitely includes getting paid the same amount as men for doing the exact same job), you can sit back down.

In other news, I'm actually not that cross. :-)

Labels: personal

I've just updated all the links on the right-hand side there. Apparently the BBC are cutting down on their comedy coverage (yes, I don't get it, either), so Wikipedia, here we come!

Anyway, now they should all work. I also added a couple I discovered recently (i.e. within the last year or so). Feel free to sling abuse my way.

Labels: comedy, TV

The people behind the killing of Baby P have been named. What a history they have.

I'm really losing faith in humanity.

Labels: current affairs