With a bill full of comedians I know, I was able to work out the young man's name.
No wonder I struggled to find him on the net. I would never have thought to search for a clown...
Asher Treleaven
Sunday, February 26, 2006
I happened to be having drinks in Lush on Saturday, when I bumped into the fork/nose guy from Wednesday's Book Club waiting to go on upstairs at Monkey Business.
With a bill full of comedians I know, I was able to work out the young man's name.
No wonder I struggled to find him on the net. I would never have thought to search for a clown...
Asher Treleaven
With a bill full of comedians I know, I was able to work out the young man's name.
No wonder I struggled to find him on the net. I would never have thought to search for a clown...
Asher Treleaven
Friday, February 24, 2006
Thursday, February 23, 2006
The Award Winning Book Club at The Lowdown at the Albany
Yes, the accolades are rolling in for Robin and the Book Club. Guardian - Comedy Awards 2005 and The Time Out Comedy Awards
This week we were entertained by, not necessarily in this order, Robin Ince, Martin White - who played some old favourites, the Backstreet Boys, Toxic by Britney, and one of his own compositions.
The Trap - who did one of my favourite skits from their Edinburgh show where they do a routine, then do it backwards and it suddenly becomes funny. Howard Read, Joanna Neary - whose jazz singer was excellent. Natalie Haynes - who decided to punish us for not sticking up for her the month before when an American comedian used his routine to attack her and her love of Diagnosis Murder. She's right we should of heckled him. Personally I thought the guy looked too scary, so didn't dare speak up. So anyway no Diagnosis Murder books this week. Gutted.
Chris Neil - did a recap on Jodie Marsh's autobiography and blog, which since Ali was there for the first time was handy, as it got her up to speed. Tim Key - doing some 'poetry,' some of which was about the Mr. Men and I seem to remember it ending rather violently with one of them dead with a spade in his head. Poor Mr. Bump. Interesting. And Peter Buckley-Hill. Josie Long.
Michael Legge - standing in for Johnny Candon, whose on his honeymoon, and one guy whose name I missed, but who I am sure will be back next month as he fit in so perfectly. Ok his opener of sticking fork handles up his nose using a hammer, did make for squeamish viewing. (Actually I didn't find it that bad. All those years of ER viewing paid off.) But it was his brilliantly read "mills and boon" style sex scene, his own work, that bought the house down. The little actions he did as he went along added to the story telling. And the game of Snap that followed as Robin read from the sexed up Highlander novel by Karen Marie Moning and we shouted at any similarities was great stuff.
Thoroughly enjoyable evening again.
This week we were entertained by, not necessarily in this order, Robin Ince, Martin White - who played some old favourites, the Backstreet Boys, Toxic by Britney, and one of his own compositions.
The Trap - who did one of my favourite skits from their Edinburgh show where they do a routine, then do it backwards and it suddenly becomes funny. Howard Read, Joanna Neary - whose jazz singer was excellent. Natalie Haynes - who decided to punish us for not sticking up for her the month before when an American comedian used his routine to attack her and her love of Diagnosis Murder. She's right we should of heckled him. Personally I thought the guy looked too scary, so didn't dare speak up. So anyway no Diagnosis Murder books this week. Gutted.
Chris Neil - did a recap on Jodie Marsh's autobiography and blog, which since Ali was there for the first time was handy, as it got her up to speed. Tim Key - doing some 'poetry,' some of which was about the Mr. Men and I seem to remember it ending rather violently with one of them dead with a spade in his head. Poor Mr. Bump. Interesting. And Peter Buckley-Hill. Josie Long.
Michael Legge - standing in for Johnny Candon, whose on his honeymoon, and one guy whose name I missed, but who I am sure will be back next month as he fit in so perfectly. Ok his opener of sticking fork handles up his nose using a hammer, did make for squeamish viewing. (Actually I didn't find it that bad. All those years of ER viewing paid off.) But it was his brilliantly read "mills and boon" style sex scene, his own work, that bought the house down. The little actions he did as he went along added to the story telling. And the game of Snap that followed as Robin read from the sexed up Highlander novel by Karen Marie Moning and we shouted at any similarities was great stuff.
Thoroughly enjoyable evening again.
Monday, February 20, 2006
The World Stands Up - Clapham Grand
The Clapham Grand turned out to be a very grand setting for this show. We managed to get near the front of the queue, and so were lucky enough to get on of the few tables at the front of the stage. (Many more were stuck up in the balcony in normal seats.) As it was we had a "light box" round table, all very swish.
The programme The World Stands Up was being recorded for Paramount, so it's highly likely that there'll be some shots of me and Caz in there.
The MC for the evening was Hal Cruttenden though he wasn't actually being recorded himself. I don't know whether its was with the amount of time he spent on the stage warming us up or not, but certainly he probably got the biggest laughs of the evening. His natural voice is very close to Tony Blairs, slightly camp middle class. He made some very good jokes using this, without being overly political.
Rhod Gilbert - I got tickets for this, then found out Rhod was on the bill, so as you can imagine I was quite excited. When seats came free next to us we tried to persuade one of the production crew to get Rhod to sit next to us. We failed.
Anyway Rhod had the difficult job of being first on, before there was lots of beer consumage. It took a few acts for the crowd to really get going.
Stephen K Amos - I like Stephen. It was interesting to watch the audience following his jokes. He does a similar trick to Mark Watson, in that he begins his act using an accent. Some of us have seen him before and know that he is from London, but it was clear a large portion of this audience had not.
Susan Murray - Of the two women on the bill she was the better one. (Not difficult.) Though possibly the more noticebly nervous, her material needs some work. Rampant Rabbit material really is a no-no.
Alistair Barrie - Not looking anything like the picture on this link; he's shaved his hair off and grown a ginger beard. He was definitely one of the better comics on tonight. I'm keen to see him again in a proper comedy club environment.
Marc Theobald - After getting over the initial facial hair shock this guy was ok. This is the beginning of the onslaught of Americans and Canadians. It's a shame they didn't try to split the UK ones up a bit. It might have helped with the comedy fatigue which started about here for me. (The hangover from the night before was niggling away. And let's face it, this is a Sunday night, I was shattered.)
Jennifer Robertson - A canadian, who from what I can tell from the net, is known there for her comedy. I'm afraid she died on her arse here. She failed to change the Canadian references in her jokes; which had it just been the odd one would have been ok. But she was referencing things we neither knew nor could work out, and when it's a punchline that's a problem.
Sinck - smartly dressed with suit and hat, he was once a teacher apparently. He didn't seem to like kids much, so that's worrying...
And finally we had Seán Cullen - He's like a larger, less pretty, Canadian version of Noel Fielding. Mental, mad, surreal ramblings, with the need to occasionally put some into song. One time member of Corky and the Juice Pigs. Where as fellow Corky Phil Nichol has gone on to be known as the angry party animal of the comedy world, it seems Sean will forever be known as the Only Gay Eskimo. I enjoyed his set, but I can see he lost some of the audience due to his madness, and I don't think they knew who he was.
The programme The World Stands Up was being recorded for Paramount, so it's highly likely that there'll be some shots of me and Caz in there.
The MC for the evening was Hal Cruttenden though he wasn't actually being recorded himself. I don't know whether its was with the amount of time he spent on the stage warming us up or not, but certainly he probably got the biggest laughs of the evening. His natural voice is very close to Tony Blairs, slightly camp middle class. He made some very good jokes using this, without being overly political.
Rhod Gilbert - I got tickets for this, then found out Rhod was on the bill, so as you can imagine I was quite excited. When seats came free next to us we tried to persuade one of the production crew to get Rhod to sit next to us. We failed.
Anyway Rhod had the difficult job of being first on, before there was lots of beer consumage. It took a few acts for the crowd to really get going.
Stephen K Amos - I like Stephen. It was interesting to watch the audience following his jokes. He does a similar trick to Mark Watson, in that he begins his act using an accent. Some of us have seen him before and know that he is from London, but it was clear a large portion of this audience had not.
Susan Murray - Of the two women on the bill she was the better one. (Not difficult.) Though possibly the more noticebly nervous, her material needs some work. Rampant Rabbit material really is a no-no.
Alistair Barrie - Not looking anything like the picture on this link; he's shaved his hair off and grown a ginger beard. He was definitely one of the better comics on tonight. I'm keen to see him again in a proper comedy club environment.
Marc Theobald - After getting over the initial facial hair shock this guy was ok. This is the beginning of the onslaught of Americans and Canadians. It's a shame they didn't try to split the UK ones up a bit. It might have helped with the comedy fatigue which started about here for me. (The hangover from the night before was niggling away. And let's face it, this is a Sunday night, I was shattered.)
Jennifer Robertson - A canadian, who from what I can tell from the net, is known there for her comedy. I'm afraid she died on her arse here. She failed to change the Canadian references in her jokes; which had it just been the odd one would have been ok. But she was referencing things we neither knew nor could work out, and when it's a punchline that's a problem.
Sinck - smartly dressed with suit and hat, he was once a teacher apparently. He didn't seem to like kids much, so that's worrying...
And finally we had Seán Cullen - He's like a larger, less pretty, Canadian version of Noel Fielding. Mental, mad, surreal ramblings, with the need to occasionally put some into song. One time member of Corky and the Juice Pigs. Where as fellow Corky Phil Nichol has gone on to be known as the angry party animal of the comedy world, it seems Sean will forever be known as the Only Gay Eskimo. I enjoyed his set, but I can see he lost some of the audience due to his madness, and I don't think they knew who he was.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
The Paddingtons - Koko, Camden
We went along to see the Paddingtons at Koko on Sunday night. With Lucy and Rich managing to get us on the guest list, and Ali's Hull connections getting her and Matt in free. I'm afraid I wasn't well. I got the dreaded stomach bug that's going around the office, and so by the time the Paddingtons were on stage I wasn't entirely able to appreciate them.
I am convinced half of Hull had come down to show their support. In the pub beforehand, the Paddingtons table was heaving with Hull-ites. I guess it stood them well. Though not the strongest vocal performance, but they seemed lively enough. The crowd loved it. Kids today! Ripped shirts, moshing and all that.
You can hear a track here.
I am convinced half of Hull had come down to show their support. In the pub beforehand, the Paddingtons table was heaving with Hull-ites. I guess it stood them well. Though not the strongest vocal performance, but they seemed lively enough. The crowd loved it. Kids today! Ripped shirts, moshing and all that.You can hear a track here.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Frog - Sunshine Underground
We went along to Frog for the first time on Saturday as part of Lucy's birthday celebration weekend. It was a good night bar the initial queuing in the cold and the near rip off price.
*Note: the Frog flyer reads
£5 before 11pm.
£7 after, with flyer.
It doesn't at any point mention you need a flyer to get in for £5 before 11pm. Nor does it mention without a flyer you'll be charged £10. Luckily we found a stack of discarded flyers on the stairwell, so we all got in for a fiver. Checking out their website shows it should have said £10 without a flyer.
All in all it was a good night. They always have a band or two on around 1am. Tonight's band were Sunshine Underground. A bit Rapture, Radio 4 sounding. They were ok. I guess you can never have enough Cowbell.
*Note: the Frog flyer reads
£5 before 11pm.
£7 after, with flyer.
It doesn't at any point mention you need a flyer to get in for £5 before 11pm. Nor does it mention without a flyer you'll be charged £10. Luckily we found a stack of discarded flyers on the stairwell, so we all got in for a fiver. Checking out their website shows it should have said £10 without a flyer.
All in all it was a good night. They always have a band or two on around 1am. Tonight's band were Sunshine Underground. A bit Rapture, Radio 4 sounding. They were ok. I guess you can never have enough Cowbell.
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Belle and Sebastian - Hammersmith Apollo
Lucy and Rich came down for the weekend to celebrate Lucy's 30th. The highlight of the weekend was to be Belle and Sebastian and they didn't disappoint.
We managed to wander down to the near the front. As per usual the B&S crowd are a relaxed bunch. Mosh pits are replaced with twee dancing. Apparently a more lively crowd than Manchester or Sheffield, which is hard to believe. Londoners are notoriously boring and unmoving in their appreciation of live music.
They played around half of the new album scattered amongst the old stuff, with a few. They fit in really well, which I thought was surprising as the new stuff is very Glam Rock, and you'd think that it would stand out. It helped having heard the album a few times before the gig. I think some of the earlier gigs on this tour may have suffered for the album not being out. Though I did hear Stuart on the radio the other day say everyone had copies of it illegally and folks were singing along right at the beginning.
I am noticing with each gig, as the venues get bigger and bigger there are more and more "ordinary" audience members turning up. Gone are the days of the crowd being solely made up of obsessive B&S fans, which means there are the sort of audience members who natter and chatter all the way through the gigs, drunk and seemingly oblivious to the bands playing or those of us trying to listen. I am frankly uninterested to hear of your day at work or your ex-friend Sharon's exploits with Dirk. But there you go, rant over.
We managed to wander down to the near the front. As per usual the B&S crowd are a relaxed bunch. Mosh pits are replaced with twee dancing. Apparently a more lively crowd than Manchester or Sheffield, which is hard to believe. Londoners are notoriously boring and unmoving in their appreciation of live music.
They played around half of the new album scattered amongst the old stuff, with a few. They fit in really well, which I thought was surprising as the new stuff is very Glam Rock, and you'd think that it would stand out. It helped having heard the album a few times before the gig. I think some of the earlier gigs on this tour may have suffered for the album not being out. Though I did hear Stuart on the radio the other day say everyone had copies of it illegally and folks were singing along right at the beginning.
I am noticing with each gig, as the venues get bigger and bigger there are more and more "ordinary" audience members turning up. Gone are the days of the crowd being solely made up of obsessive B&S fans, which means there are the sort of audience members who natter and chatter all the way through the gigs, drunk and seemingly oblivious to the bands playing or those of us trying to listen. I am frankly uninterested to hear of your day at work or your ex-friend Sharon's exploits with Dirk. But there you go, rant over.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Birmingham Spring Fair
I tell you I'm barely in the office these days.
Birmingham NEC today. Not much to report apart from we saw these life size all star singing and dancing Gorillaz. Better than the cartoon versions anyday.
Oh and these mad goats, singing and dancing away.
Oh and on my way back I had the oddest/cheesiest chat up line used on me by a guy at the train ticket office. I asked for a single to Euston. And he asked if I was single. Then apologised since he could get the sack for a comment like that.
Strange Days.
Birmingham NEC today. Not much to report apart from we saw these life size all star singing and dancing Gorillaz. Better than the cartoon versions anyday.
Oh and these mad goats, singing and dancing away.
Oh and on my way back I had the oddest/cheesiest chat up line used on me by a guy at the train ticket office. I asked for a single to Euston. And he asked if I was single. Then apologised since he could get the sack for a comment like that.
Strange Days.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Nürnberg International Toy Fair
It's been all go recently. Well all Toys and go. I flew out to Nürnberg on the 5th, via Frankfurt, to the International Toy Fair. Having already done one Toy Fair at Excel a week and half before, it could be easy to get Toy overload. But the International Toy Fair is something else. Excel looks like a market stall compared to Nürnberg. I counted something like 16 halls. If you were to walk every aisle from end to end you would end up walking 22 miles apparently. I made a pretty good stab it.
As some of you will know I've been off the booze since New Year. I just wanted to prove that I wasn't an alcoholic. I decided my first beer should be in Germany. Now I do think by lasting over a month without any alcohol proves I'm not an alcoholic. The taking of a picture of the first beer I'm not so sure...
Our evenings were taken up with entertaining one of our US suppliers, and keeping them happy. This is the only excuse I have for us going to both a gay bar and a whorehouse all in the same night.
Yes you read that right a whorehouse.
In need of a drink we'd gone past one establishment with it's wares/whores pictured on the outside. Kakadu on the hand did not. It did however have red low lighting, sofas, red heart cushions and a man buttoning up his shirt whilst sitting next to a busty old lady.
Still undeterred we ordered drinks, whilst one of our group questioned the girl behind the bar about the curtained off areas and asked where all the girls were. They were out, but would be back in a little while. Some of our more naive members of the group were still not convinced that we were in a bar of dubious nature, that is until the old lady whipped out her breasts for the guy on the sofa to fondle. I didn't have a view of this from where I was stood, but got a running commentary from one guy in our group. Nice.
On the way out, someone, who'll remain nameless, "borrowed" a red heart cushion, which is now in her possession. I think the idea is to send it to our US suppliers as a Valentine surprise.
The Snowy weather...
We did have a pleasant stay, even if we realised on the final day the "old town" part of Nurnberg is also home to the "oldest profession." We had some lovely meals at a recommended restaurant called the Nassauer Keller.
With a doorway which is only 2 thirds of my height tall, leading straight into a steep stairway down into the cellar, it instantly charmed us. Everyone eating there seemed to be of another nationality, all trying to communicate with pointing, to try and work out the best meal. I had the BEST roast duck I have ever tasted. And huge to. And when it's all paid for you can't complain.
The final night we went out with a few suppliers, this time to the german equivalent of wetherspoons. I was determined to order the pancakes for dessert even though it was for a minimum of 2 people and no one else wanted them. (The lure of Mövenpick Ice Cream and Donald Duck shaped sweets were too much for everyone else.) I made what I thought was a valiant effort to eat my way through them. You can see mine and Bradley’s amazement/joy when they arrived.
Flew back into Heathrow via Munich this morning, we got up at 2.30am GMT, having gone to bed at 10pm GMT the night before. A lovely 4 hours sleep and a lot of waiting around in airports meant that when I got into work just before midday I was shattered to say the least.
As some of you will know I've been off the booze since New Year. I just wanted to prove that I wasn't an alcoholic. I decided my first beer should be in Germany. Now I do think by lasting over a month without any alcohol proves I'm not an alcoholic. The taking of a picture of the first beer I'm not so sure...
Our evenings were taken up with entertaining one of our US suppliers, and keeping them happy. This is the only excuse I have for us going to both a gay bar and a whorehouse all in the same night.
Yes you read that right a whorehouse.
In need of a drink we'd gone past one establishment with it's wares/whores pictured on the outside. Kakadu on the hand did not. It did however have red low lighting, sofas, red heart cushions and a man buttoning up his shirt whilst sitting next to a busty old lady.
Still undeterred we ordered drinks, whilst one of our group questioned the girl behind the bar about the curtained off areas and asked where all the girls were. They were out, but would be back in a little while. Some of our more naive members of the group were still not convinced that we were in a bar of dubious nature, that is until the old lady whipped out her breasts for the guy on the sofa to fondle. I didn't have a view of this from where I was stood, but got a running commentary from one guy in our group. Nice.
On the way out, someone, who'll remain nameless, "borrowed" a red heart cushion, which is now in her possession. I think the idea is to send it to our US suppliers as a Valentine surprise.
The Snowy weather...
We did have a pleasant stay, even if we realised on the final day the "old town" part of Nurnberg is also home to the "oldest profession." We had some lovely meals at a recommended restaurant called the Nassauer Keller.
With a doorway which is only 2 thirds of my height tall, leading straight into a steep stairway down into the cellar, it instantly charmed us. Everyone eating there seemed to be of another nationality, all trying to communicate with pointing, to try and work out the best meal. I had the BEST roast duck I have ever tasted. And huge to. And when it's all paid for you can't complain.
The final night we went out with a few suppliers, this time to the german equivalent of wetherspoons. I was determined to order the pancakes for dessert even though it was for a minimum of 2 people and no one else wanted them. (The lure of Mövenpick Ice Cream and Donald Duck shaped sweets were too much for everyone else.) I made what I thought was a valiant effort to eat my way through them. You can see mine and Bradley’s amazement/joy when they arrived.
Flew back into Heathrow via Munich this morning, we got up at 2.30am GMT, having gone to bed at 10pm GMT the night before. A lovely 4 hours sleep and a lot of waiting around in airports meant that when I got into work just before midday I was shattered to say the least.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Top 100 men, apparently
Ohmigod. I think someone has confused Good-Looking and Fit with Money and Money.
This is by no means the top 100 men.
I mean Pete Doherty is at number 18! Would not the very thought of him anywhere near you give you the heebie-jeebies.
Would anyone really touch Jose Mourinho if he weren’t loaded?
David Cameron at 92!?!
Who took part in this pole?
The insane?
This is by no means the top 100 men.
I mean Pete Doherty is at number 18! Would not the very thought of him anywhere near you give you the heebie-jeebies.
Would anyone really touch Jose Mourinho if he weren’t loaded?
David Cameron at 92!?!
Who took part in this pole?
The insane?
Nambucca - 1st February
Went to Nambucca, on Holloway Road last night to see some workmate of Carolines band play.
There were four bands. It was supposed to be free, but it turned out to be a fiver on the door. Not that I was bothered, since I'm still off the booze, and a fiver works out to be a cheap night for me.
The Sofa Club. The first band on they were quite good. There were 3 of them, all taking singing parts. Good and unusual vocals meant that songs didn't meld into one. You can hear some of their tracks here. I wouldn't be disappointed if I saw them again. A bit like Clinic crossed with something like the Delays, but less whimsical.
The Boyfriends. The band we are here to see. Have you heard of the Boyfriends? First band ever to play on the John Peel stage at Glastonbury. Trying to be The Smiths but ending up sounding like a poor Gene. I wasn't bowled over, but there was a hefty crowd in to see them who looked like they were enjoying themselves. Tipped for big things you can hear some of their tracks here.
The On/Off. Can't find these guys on the web due to their name. They didn't think it through. Very much like their music. A mixture of styles. One member looked and sang like a Green Day fan, one was dressed in a style that said mod, and the drummer, was well, a drummer. There were the popular influences of the day, bit futureheads, let's have them all singing together with their own style and accents. Bit punk. Bit all over the place. I mean it wasn't offensive, but not impressive either.
Komakino. We admittedly didn't stay for their whole set. It was a school nite and 11.20pm when they came on stage. A five piece from Derbyshire. They were possibly the best styled band of the night. Though no amount of styling will help them in the looks department. Ok I'm being harsh. They were ok. The singer had as Caroline rightly pointed out, (in a non-pc way), "Spazz hand." Spazz hand does seem to be all the rage with the young upstarts these days. If you aren't aware of Spazz hand it's where the singer finds it hard to hold the microphone properly, moving his hand into awkward positions, barely holding the microphone at all. It can look like there is a competition for who can bend their hand back the furthest. Some tracks can be found as always here.
Anyway there were posters up for the Sunday the 12th.
If you don't mind.
Reckon we might have to venture this way again.
There were four bands. It was supposed to be free, but it turned out to be a fiver on the door. Not that I was bothered, since I'm still off the booze, and a fiver works out to be a cheap night for me.
The Sofa Club. The first band on they were quite good. There were 3 of them, all taking singing parts. Good and unusual vocals meant that songs didn't meld into one. You can hear some of their tracks here. I wouldn't be disappointed if I saw them again. A bit like Clinic crossed with something like the Delays, but less whimsical.
The Boyfriends. The band we are here to see. Have you heard of the Boyfriends? First band ever to play on the John Peel stage at Glastonbury. Trying to be The Smiths but ending up sounding like a poor Gene. I wasn't bowled over, but there was a hefty crowd in to see them who looked like they were enjoying themselves. Tipped for big things you can hear some of their tracks here.
The On/Off. Can't find these guys on the web due to their name. They didn't think it through. Very much like their music. A mixture of styles. One member looked and sang like a Green Day fan, one was dressed in a style that said mod, and the drummer, was well, a drummer. There were the popular influences of the day, bit futureheads, let's have them all singing together with their own style and accents. Bit punk. Bit all over the place. I mean it wasn't offensive, but not impressive either.
Komakino. We admittedly didn't stay for their whole set. It was a school nite and 11.20pm when they came on stage. A five piece from Derbyshire. They were possibly the best styled band of the night. Though no amount of styling will help them in the looks department. Ok I'm being harsh. They were ok. The singer had as Caroline rightly pointed out, (in a non-pc way), "Spazz hand." Spazz hand does seem to be all the rage with the young upstarts these days. If you aren't aware of Spazz hand it's where the singer finds it hard to hold the microphone properly, moving his hand into awkward positions, barely holding the microphone at all. It can look like there is a competition for who can bend their hand back the furthest. Some tracks can be found as always here.
Anyway there were posters up for the Sunday the 12th.
If you don't mind.
Reckon we might have to venture this way again.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Bandslash - NME Article
For those who haven't seen it and I'm sure there are a few of you, here is the article in the NME on Bandslash. Basically Gay Male Porn for women using their favourite band members to complete the fantasy.
Nice one Lucy!
Nice one Lucy!
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