14 JANUARY 2026

Hello, everyone.

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room.

Last week, I recommended this word game, with a warning that it was super addictive and that I’d lost hours and hours to it. But many of you clicked the link anyway and that was when the emails & texts started pouring in.

Replies were split into two distinct camps:

1. This was so much fun.

2. You are a terrible person.

I highlight this mainly so that I can shift the blame to where it truly belongs, my old school friend Chris Lewis who sent it to me in the first place.

So let’s all agree that he’s the real monster here.

Thank you, Chris.

Rule of three

[Movie] Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair
I watched this sprawling four and a half hour version of Tarantino’s fourth film in an absolutely packed Prince Charles Cinema. It’s an astonishing achievement - particularly the restored House of Blue Leaves sequence which returns every arterial fountain and decapitation to glorious full colour. I’m by no means a QT fanboy but there’s an undeniable propulsive swagger and practical craft to this film that absolutely blew me away. But then again, perhaps I’m just recommending the experience of being in a cinema full of people again.

[Organisation] Bullet Journal
For the last decade, I’ve been using a digital To-Do list that segmented entries by project, task and energy level. While it was nice to have all my admin in one place - it meant I had 200+ tasks to choose from at any given moment. This year, I’ve started using the Bullet Journal method to concentrate on a few dozen tasks instead. Everything else is stored in a Future Log ready to be surfaced at the appropriate time. Central to the Bullet Journal ethos is the idea that digital task management is frictionless by design. By writing things down and physically moving them onto new pages, month by month, you’re intentionally introducing a level of friction that benefits you - keeping you task oriented and aware of what needs to be done. Plus your notebook can also be used as a habit tracker, journal, planner and doodle pad - it’s a brilliant modular system that I’m really enjoying. I’m going to use it for three months and then I’ll report back as to whether I’m keeping it or moving back to my old suite of digital tools. I’ll try ALL the self-organisational trends so you don’t have to - NEVER SAY I DO NOTHING FOR YOU!

[Album] Everybody Scream
Nice straight-forward recommendation here. Everybody Scream, the new album by Florence & the Machine, is bewitchingly compelling and luridly melodic. Check out the title track to see if you’re a fan. Thanks to Jen Hardy and Sam Marshall for the nudge to listen through from start to finish.

Spotlight

Two big new Pretend classes launched today.

Let’s do scenes with our very own Liam Webber will be eight weeks of blissful scene work - perfect for anyone who has mastered the basics and wants a proper improv workout in the Pretend style (theatrical, relationship-led improv). I can’t recommend Liam enough - having had the privilege of working closely with him over the past year - I’ll go on record as saying I believe he’s improv gold - I’ve rarely seen anyone as perceptive, warm and absolutely dedicated to his students.

Masterclass in Teaching Improv is a course that Katy Schutte and I came up with during the pandemic. It proved incredibly popular and, as an online offering, meant that anyone in the world could access it (depending on your tolerance for staying up late/ waking up early). I’m so excited that Katy has agreed to teach this course again with me. I’m proud of the content and know it’ll really help a lot of people take that scary leap into actually teaching improv.

As always, scholarship places are available for both courses. Please get in touch if you’d like to access this opportunity.

Longform thoughts

Whatever kind of improv you choose to focus on, do it knowing it’ll change the kind of performer you are and, probably, the kind of person you are.

Concerning 8-packs, internal organs and ice-cream - I talk about Wood, clay and the reciprocal nature of creation.

Radio contact

Radio, seen here slapping the sass outta Laura’s mouth.