#98 Astonishingly beautiful but so weird
Issue #98 Astonishingly beautiful but so weird
24th January 2024
Hello, wonderful person!
Hope your day is going well?
Welcome to my newsletter.
And it falls to me now to ask a favour. Are you in London? Would you like to see some great improv? The show I'm directing, Scumbags, an improvised play based on the works of the Coen Brothers, is debuting next week at the Hoopla Comedy Club.
And we need to sell some tickets.
As we're a new show, we don't have much instant name recognition and so ticket sales are a bit low. If you're intending to come, could I ask you to buy your ticket sooner rather than later because Hoopla have put a lot of faith in us and I'd hate to let them down.
ALSO, it's an incredible cast working in a fascinating genre. We're having oodles of fun creating wide-eyed innocents and criminal masterminds and then smashing them together to see what happens. I'm so proud of what we've achieved. We just need people there to see it. I'll link to each night individually below.
Saturday 3rd February 2024
Saturday 10th February 2024
Friday 16th February 2024
Saturday 17th February 2024 - also featuring me in the cast of Pagans (directed by the amazing Katy Schutte)
See you there?
Rule of three
[Design] The Folio Society
I've only recently discovered The Folio Society. They're an independent publisher who have been around since 1947 and, simply put, they make THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOKS IN THE WORLD. Every aspect of the process is considered - materials, binding, illustrations, typeface - the end result is invariably a work of art in its own right. I recently bought a complete set of Roald Dahl books and I love them to distraction. Take a look at what's on offer (but perhaps wait for a sale before you buy anything).
[Film] Poor Things
They hype around this film is (justifiably) huge so I won't add much. Just to say that Emma Stone's performance is on another level. You might think I've seen Emma Stone before and already know how excellent she is. But even then you will be underestimating just how magnetic, committed and profoundly disturbing she's prepared to be.
[TV] Scavenger's Reign
This was recommended by friend of the newsletter Noel Curry and I love it. It's about the crew of a starship who survive the partial destruction of their vessel, only to wind up on the surface of a planet with the most visually imaginative flora and fauna I think I've ever seen in a sci-fi series. When I watched it with Laura she kept gasping out loud and then muttering to herself "this is so weird, OH, that is astonishingly beautiful but it's so weird".
Spotlight
Tickets for From the Backline with Liz Allen sold out so quickly that she graciously offered to repeat the workshop on Friday 15th March. I sent out the details to the waiting list earlier this week and already there's only 2 tickets left. If you missed out first time, now's your chance to work with a true master of the art form.
Longform thoughts
You know what else works great for men and not women? The fucking patriarchy. You are a comedy teacher and you're NOT doing everything you can to support the comedy of non-men? Well, enjoy yourself, I guess. But don't call yourself a feminist, don't call yourself a liberal or a radical or anything else.
Loved this article from Deanna Fleysher (of Butt Kapinski fame) about the tyranny of Via Negativa. It really resonated with me as an improv teacher too. How do we infuse our pedagogy with generosity, joy and support rather than reinforcing the outdated notion that art is suffering?
Radio contact
Me and Radio down the pub.