So here is a bullet point list of what Sock Monkey has been up to thank you:
I went t
o see the Tiger Lilies. Their last show 'The Seven Deadly Sins' was a bit pants but I was pleased to see that they were performing the songs from Shockheaded Peter. I love Shockheaded Peter and have seen it several times. They sang pretty much all of it, including Flying Robert, Bully Boys, Fidgety Phil and Harriet and the Matches. They also sang stuff I hadn't heard before, most notable was the one about the prostitute. And naturally everyone dies in a horrible fashion at the end of every song. Shockheaded Peter has now been shelved and it isn't staged anymore so this was a treat. V. V. Good. Gold star.
Next was an evening out at Frank Sidebottom's Summertime Special at the Lextington (my new favourite venue). Sam and I found this highly entertaining, "Oh yes we did, we really did. We did actually. " He came skipping on stage singing Mungo Jerry's 'In the Summertime' (but naturally the lyrics had to include references to his Mum). P absolutely hated it and spent most of the evening either outside smoking or inside looking unhappy. I was very pleased when he sang 'The Monopoly Board Song', and of course Little Frank was there too.
Slightly less low brow was 'Time and the Conways' at the National Theatre. It had lukewarm reviews but I liked it so there.
Much more excitingly I also saw Antony and the Johnsons! Hooray! How good was he? Bloody amazing t
hats how much. He played for about 2 hours, much longer than usual and he chatted to the audience a lot which I have not seen him do before.P and I splurged out on lunch at Gordon Ramsay's new(ish) restaurant The York and Albany and we can report that the food was very nice. The venue itself is lovely. Used to be an old boozer and they done it up laaavley, very light and airy. Its a hotel upstairs too.
I was supposed to go to my friend's book launch but it was on the same night as when I meet my personal trainer so instead of drinking free champagne and eating teeny tiny nibbles
I was running around Crystal Palace followed by a man on a bicycle. The reason I didn't re-arrange my training evening is because I ran the Race for Life 4 days later. Two of my workmates and I decided that it would be a splendid idea to run 5,000 metres around Crystal Palace Park, along with 2,000 other people in aid of Cancer Research. On a day when it was 26 degrees. We finished in half an hour, raised £1,000 and deserved our drink in the pub afterwards.P took me to the 125 Party. This was one of her friend's 50th birthday, her friend's husband's 50th birthday and their wedding anniversary all rolled into one. Hence the 125. God it was swanky.
Now then for
those of you who don't have the pleasure of living in London you won't know that we have a giant, purple, upside down cow-shaped theatre on the SouthBank this sum
mer. Udderbelly is a great venue. And outside they have astro-turf and a bar/food area. Its really pleasant. And in this green and purple pleasant land I saw Tina C. Yee Har! I love Tina C. Much more than her alter-ego Dame Ida Barr. Her show this year was called 'Complete and Utter Country'. P and Andrew were laughing so loudly the people in the row in front of us were laughing at them. She didn't sing the song "No Man's Dick is as Hard as my Life' but she did invite us all onto the stage to line dance at the end. We also saw Rhona Cameron there. She was rubbish but we all enjoyed the Pimms before, during and after.I also sat and watched some opera in the park. The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden are showing live operas on outdoor screens throughout the country. So 3 of us from work went trip-trip-trip billygoats gruff, (armed with a big picnic and wine) down the road to from our office to Canada Square to watch La Traviata. It was a lovely sunny evening. Before the live broadcast started we were able to watch Venus Williams demolish her opponent in the Ladies' Singles Semi-Final of Wimbledon. It was very good - much better than the arse the Met in New York made of showing Faust. The Barber of Seville is the next one in a couple of weeks.
Andrew & Jacques had a most civilised dinner party. Actually it was a very, very funny evening with a good mix of guests. Most enjoyable.
Tonight I'm off to the Vortex for some Jazz. P's friend Lianne Carroll is performing. Tomorrow we are being old gits by going to a matinee. We are seeing 'Duet for One'. Then we have tickets for 'Warhorse' (which is apparently quite difficult to get tickets for). Its P's birthday soon so I am taking her out for the day and for a nice lunch. In Paris. We are also going to Dublin for a long weekend and I'm meeting up with some friends in Brighton in a few weeks. I also have an unusual party to go to. My friend's car, Brad (named after Brad in the Rocky Horror Show) is 30 years old and she is having a surprise party for him. So big ol' barbeque at Angela's. Her parties are always a laugh.
P & I are also going to Ben & Jerry's Sundae on the Common at Clapham - this looks good. There will be a helter skelter, coconut shy, loads of ice cream (what with it being Ben & Jerry's) an herd of pantomime cows and live bands. Guess who is playing? Camera Obscura! hahahahahahaha
2 comments:
The Vortex is a horrible venue. Its like being in a shipping container.
Warhorse is shit. Don't believe the reviews. And the people who gave it a standing ovation must have had the electricity switched on in their seats.
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