7 JANUARY 2026

Hello, team.

Already a week into the new year and I’m the clichést of clichés.

I’m journaling, I’m doing body weight training, I’m going for canalside runs through the frosty dawn. It’s all happening.

But how much longer can I keep this up?

Forever.

Yes, this is 100% sustainable in the long run.

Thank you for asking.

Rule of three

[Games] 45 × 45
Before you click this link - I have to warn you - this game is incredibly addictive and may take up hours of your day. It’s simple - 45 categories of 45 words & phrases are laid out randomly on a giant scrollable webpage. Whenever you click two of the same category, they glom together into one entry. Using this method, your mission is to sort those 2,025 individual items into their 45 distinct categories. Good luck and see you on the other side!

[Meditation] The Way
As part of my movement practice, I’ve added 15 minutes of stillness to my day. It’s the first thing I do when I get up every morning. The Way is the app that I use to guide that time. I love it because it doesn’t offer you a choice of meditation. There’s one option and you just click it.

[Movie] Code 3
I’ve been watching A LOT of films over twixtmas, trying to catch up on all the end of year lists and recommendations. Code 3 was a real surprise to me. It’s about paramedics and it’s mostly set over one 24-hour period. I found it charming, uncompromising, bleakly funny and ultimately deeply moving. An absolute gem.

Spotlight

IMPORTANT NEWS - the brilliant Stephen Lee has agreed to teach for us at Pretend Night on 16th January. Stephen will be leading his transformative EAT THE EYEBALL workshop from 6pm, before the main show starts at 8pm. Tickets are £20 and you get a 50% off voucher to come and see the show afterwards.

Also, COME AND SEE THE SHOW. Gob-smackingly, we are very nearly sold out. Less than 10 seats left so click this link immediately if you want to see the following:

Atlantis Falls
Improv duo Charlotte Gittins (Austentatious) and Chris Mead (The Pretend Company) deliver sweetly disturbing, off-kilter love stories of horror and hope.

Three Grown Ups Sitting Round a Table
Ruth Bratt (Showstopper! The Improvised Musical), Lee Simpson (The Comedy Store Players) and Lauren Shearing (Austentatious) join forces for this first outing of Three Grown Ups Sitting Round A Table, an entirely improvised show with real props and real humans.

A WORLD PREMIERE from these incredible legends of improv.

The Pretend Ensemble
The capital’s premiere theatrical improv troupe transform audience suggestions into compelling, hilarious theatre discovered entirely in the moment, and never seen again.

Ensemble includes: Liam Webber, Katy Schutte, Stephen Lee, Jennifer Jordan and James Taverner.

Get tickets here

Longform thoughts

Other people have mastered the binding forces of the universe - physics, biology, chemistry - they’ve built structures that challenge the horizon, they’ve become acquainted with the tiniest sub-atomic particles.

Me, I just want to get better at telling stories in the moment.

Old flames sparking new fires in my first improv essay of 2026 - Sit.

Radio contact

Snug as a bug in a rug.