#183 High concept cheddar cheese
Bunnies. Baddies. Babies.
3 SEPTEMBER 2025
It’s September.
Back to school, everyone.
And in this instance, school means our brand new Improv Actor Training programme which started yesterday with thirty new ensemble members ranged across three cohorts in London and Southend.
So excited for all the things we’ve got planned for The Pretend Company.
Thank you so much for reading this newsletter and being a part of it.
Rule of one
[Music] Bunnies
There were bunnies that were jumping on a trampoline
And I just learned that they weren't real
If a bot can inhabit an unknowing rabbit
It might manufacture the way you've made me feeeeeeeel
[Film] Heads of State
Does a film have to be good, if it’s this much fun? The set up is pure high concept cheddar cheese (action movie star turned US president teams up with ex-soldier British PM to solve their own assassination attempt) and there’s a sequence in the middle where Jack Quaid takes on a group of armed henchmen whilst holding a CRT monitor that neatly encapsulates the delirious bat-shittery of it all.
[Film] Sorry, Baby
I’m sorry, I have to recommend a film of substance after that last one. This is beautifully written, directed and performed by Eva Victor and covers the heaviest of subjects with real compassion and insight. Not a film you watch to escape then, but a film you watch to draw close, face it and realise there’s hope.
Spotlight
Pretend Night is coming around on 17th September and features two acts that we’ve been wanting to book for the longest time. First, we have Teresa & Folusho, a brilliant up and coming duo who have been making waves in the London scene recently AND THEN we have Anxiety Club - an absolute super team comprising of three of the best improvisers in the UK - Charlotte Gittins, Briony Redman and Lauren Shearing. Not to mention, a Pretend ensemble for the ages - Liam and I are joined by Katy Schutte, Lee Simpson, James Taverner and Vera Chok.
My head is spinning just thinking about having so much improv talent in one room.
And if that wasn’t enough - the brilliant director/ performer Tom Mathias will be teaching a workshop called Your Theatrical Improv Batbelt: Stagecraft for Improvisers beforehand - as always, if you buy a ticket to the workshop, you get into the show above for free.
Radio contact
When I go away, Laura sends me periodic videos of Radio so I don’t miss them too much. Here is a particularly cute one - click on the screenshot to view.