I’ve got a bit of a hangover, so there’s no way I’m going to be able to come up with a perfectly-crafted comic conceit to go here like I usually do.
Let’s just get right into the classic sorryisaidthat.biz formula: a fake ad, then some gig dates, then some media recommendations… I’ve got some good recs this week, so stick around until the end.
A word from our sponsors
TONIGHT: Sunday 17th October 7ish - Groovie Grove, Hammersmith
MC Dave Lynch. Tickets £5.98 from https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/groovie-sundays-with-dave-tickets-190403641417
Grove Bar & Restaurant, 83 Hammersmith Grove, London, W6 0NQ
NEW GIG: Tuesday 19th October 7:30 (doors 6:30) - Lion’s Den, Shaftesbury Avenue
I didn’t mention this one in the last newsletter. £5 on the door. Venue becomes a night club after the show, if that’s your idea of fun.
https://www.lionsdencomedy.co.uk/comedycarcrash.html
Bar Rumba, 36 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 7EP
Wednesday 20th October 7ish - Groovie Grove, Hammersmith
MC Ed Mulvey. Tickets £5.98 from https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/groovie-grove-comedy-wednesday-tickets-178746735297
Grove Bar & Restaurant, 83 Hammersmith Grove, London, W6 0NQ
Monday 25th October 7pm (doors 6:30) - LOLipops Comedy, Kilburn area
This is a bringer - I need to bring an audience member to be allowed to perform. Please let me know if you are up for coming to this. It’s free and I’ll buy your drinks.
Carlton Tavern, 33 Carlton Vale, London, NW6 5EU
Tuesday 26th October 8pm (doors 7:30) - Angel Comedy RAW
Excited to be doing this one! Should be a great night.
Free, so get there early as it may fill up.
The Camden Head, 2 Camden Walk, London, N1 8DY - note that there are two Camden Heads that are comedy venues; don’t go to the one at 100 Camden High Street! I mean, it’s fine to go there, but I won’t be there on this night.
Thursday 28th October 8pm - Downstairs at The King’s Head, Crouch End
Classy venue, likely to be a good lineup with pro comics after me. Heads up: I’ll probably be wearing a suit to do this one, in case you’re into that kind of thing.
£5 in advance from https://www.wegottickets.com/location/1003 or £6 on the door
King’s Head, 2 Crouch End Hill, London N8 8AA
NEW GIG: Tuesday 2 November 7:45pm - TNT Comedy, Kentish Town
This is another bringer so I need someone who can commit to coming with me.
Torriano Bar, 71-73 Torriano Ave, London NW5 2SG
Ben recommends
The reason I have a hangover is that I attended a fancy literary party last night to celebrate the launch of my friend’s publishing house, Deixis Press. I helped to proofread the first couple of novels she has published and I recommend them:
Some Rise By Sin (Kindle £4.99, hardback £12.50) is a historical crime novel about 1830s grave robbers. Brilliant use of period slang and details of everyday life back then, coupled with a noir plot full of twists and turns. Like if Charles Dickens wrote Chinatown.
The Workshop of Filthy Creation (Kindle £3.99, hardback £11.50) is a horror novel based on the premise that the technology developed by Victor Frankenstein continued to develop. There is a scene in this that genuinely creeped me out in a way that I have only felt reading Thomas Ligotti or Alan Moore’s Providence.
Both of the above are from all good booksellers, but if you want a paper copy, I strongly recommend you buy the hardbacks direct from Deixis. They are nearly the same price as buying a print-on-demand paperback through Amazon but they look and feel much nicer.
I’ve now watched Dave Chapelle’s controversial Netflix special The Closer. The people making a fuss about how it’s transphobic definitely haven’t watched the whole thing.
Far Cry 6 is a lot of fun and I recommend it if you enjoy the series. This time around they have crammed in loads of different systems and things to upgrade. You can collect resources to upgrade your camp, your backpack-mounted special weapon, your weapons, your car... Some of the upgrade systems are a bit clunky and awkward, but after you’ve levelled up a few times you can pretty much ignore anything you don’t want to bother with.
The fictionalised Cuba you get to explore looks incredible:
As a feminist I was delighted that the enemy guards you brutally kill are now gender-balanced, rather than all men like in the previous games. I can’t tell you how progressive it felt the first time I sneaked up behind a guard and pressed the “stealth kill” button, only to realise that as the animation played out, I was slitting the throat of a woman, and not a man as I’d expected. Finally, some real progress against misogyny! I hope the next game offers some trans representation by letting you set a non-binary person on fire. “Don’t shoot, let them burn!”
The other great thing about this game is the pets you can have to help you kill women and men. This little guy is called Chorizo:
I like to order Chorizo to distract an enemy guard, while I sneak up to her and then shoot her right in the head at close range with a silenced pistol. So far witnessing all that death doesn’t seem to be affecting him mentally.
Squid Game is as good as everyone says. I have been watching the dubbed version like a basic bitch so I can play with my phone at the same time, and the voice actors they have are pretty good. If subtitles put you off, swallow your pride and try the dub.
I have to go to Hammersmith now. Bye!