often seen in the street without a hat

I know that people will have been on tenterhooks since the last time I posted, asking themselves just what ill-formed and obvious thoughts I've been having about what I've seen. Wonder no more.

( Best of Irish comedy. )

Then we saw Stewart Lee. Only a few tiny changes from the first time I saw him this year, but still pretty ace, of course.

( Riot Showgrrls Club. )
( Girl and Dean. )
( Rosie Wilby - I Am Nesia. )

Kristin Hersh was simply amazing.

( Amnesty Stand Up for Freedom. )
( Geraldine Hickey. )
( Peter Buckley Hill - A Futile Journey. )
( PBH and some comedians. )
( Honourable Men of Art. )
( Zoe Gardner's Fault. )
( 1000 years of German Humour. )
( Jon Richardson. )
( £7 comedy cabaret. )
( Terry Pratchett. )
( On Heat. )
( Richard Sandling. )
( Fullmooners. )
( Impressionism in Scotland. )
( The Book Club. )
( Robin Ince - Bleeding Heart Liberal. )
( Cinematic detour - Wild Child. )
( Debo. )
( Henry Rollins. )
( Gladder to be Gay. )
( Women and the Vote. )
( Lloyd Woolf. )
( Lynn Ferguson - The Plan. )
( Apes Like Me - Kate Smurthwaite. )
( John Gordillo. )
( Mike Wozniak. )
( Mark Thomas. )
( Tracey Emin. )
( Romeo and Juliet. )

Last Friday I braved the train chaos and went to Preston to see nerdcakes and Juno. I was panicking because of the train CHAOS and ended up getting us to the cinema about an hour too early. We were going to go to Chiquito's so that I could have fried ice cream, but apparently everyone else had that idea too, so instead I dragged Sarah reluctantly to KFC because every time that awful advert about mum's night off has been on recently I have wanted their chicken, or more specifically the skin from their chicken. Now that I have had it I won't want it again for several years.

( Juno )

On Saturday I went down to Manchester, where I had the nicest roast beef I have ever eaten in my entire life, along with roast carrots and beetroot and the best potato wedges of recent memory, and went to reclaim the night with irrtum. I was getting anxious about it, because as I have said I generally don't enjoy the marches, but this was really good, actually. They kept the chants going well enough that I didn't worry about it, and was able to join in as well. I didn't notice any negative reactions, and plenty of people clapping us as we went by. It had two sections - women-only march (including transwomen) at the front, and mixed supporters bringing up the rear. I think it was a really good way of doing it, and it worked well - about 400 people, I think they said on the f-word (where I also appear in severe profile in some pictures they posted). It was also shorter than London, and not as slow-moving, which is always a plus for lazy me. We marched past the very Spar where I went for help a few years ago after I'd been attacked, which also made the whole thing more meaningful for me.

We skipped the rally though, and went to see Margot at the Wedding instead. Then we went back to Rachel's and ate french fancies for supper and then for breakfast. In the afternoon we went to see My Blueberry Nights. ( Films. )

On Tuesday I went to a Fair Trade comedy thing with nerdcakes, who is great to go to comedy things with because she will cheer for things she likes even if no-one else does. I am always cowardly and wait to see if other people are making noise before venturing any noise of even moderate committal. This time she cheered for both Liverpool and Fair Trade fortnight, which are actually good things to cheer for.

( Just Fair Laughs )

Today I went to see Banter being recorded, which I really enjoyed. The series starts in April, and I'm not sure where this comes in.

( Banter recording )

It ended at 19.20, which meant that, despite an uncomfortably full bladder, I had to set off at top speed to Euston to try and catch the Last Train. I was successful, and in fact had to loiter while thinking of deserts, crackers and the like until they put up the platform.

Yesterday I went to A Seriously Funny Attempt to get the Serious Fraud Office in the Dock with stewpotc and lsugaralmond. It was tres good. Beforehand we went to a Thai restaurant for dinner, and Carrie and I were very brave indeed. We seem to have the same ultra-sensitive taste-buds, and the yellow curry we had was delicious but a little spicy for me. Really nice though. I might try and make it myself some time. Then we went to Hammersmith Apollo to find out more about exactly what it was we were outraged about. It's the campaign to get the Serious Fraud Office to reopen its investiagation into BAE Systems dealings with Saudi Arabia, of which more details are here. And they said that they'd raised about £40,000 to do the challenge, which is really good. "Do the challenge" sounds a bit like they're going to run a marathon dressed in a wacky rubber outfit, but I can't think of the proper way of putting it. Raising the challenge, probably.

Anyway. The first half was compered by Jo Caulfield, who I don't like terribly much anyway, and this was exacerbated by the bit in her blurb which said that she was an inspiration to would-be fmeale comics, and chose this quote from The Times - "Jo Caulfield is the sort of female stand-up who makes you feel better about female stand-up". Jo Caulfield makes me feel slightly worse about stand up in general. I suspect that they mean she tends towards quite a laddish style of humour, so she doesn't make the review think of icky women things. Huh. Anyway, she was bearable. Did her Argos thing, which I could have done without.

The second half was compered by Phil Nichol, who was largely imcomprehensible, and when he wasn't being incomprehensible, was very loud. I did not warm to him at all, though I did like his song, "The Only Gay Eskimo".

I can't remember what order most of these were in, but the acts were:

Simon Amstell (doing bits of his Edinburgh show, which I still enjoyed the second time around)

Ed Byrne (also very hard to follow when he started because he was speaking so fast. Did stuff about homophobes thinking that Hurricane Katrina was sent to kill The Gays)

Mark Steel (annoyed me a little bit by saying that once you found out that Isaac Newton was gay it made you think of him in a whole new way, and then illustrating that by making double entendres in a camp voice, but was pretty good apart from that)

Omid Djalili (was lovely and very funny, but kept slipping out of his accent before it seemed that he meant to)

Josie Long (pleased to see her, as I've heard a lot of people's opinions (mostly very negative) about her, and hadn't been terribly impressed by the bits I'd seen on youtube, but thought that probably wasn't a good way to find out about someone. I thought she was okay, and I think I might have enjoyed her a lot more in a smaller gig, when she was doing a longer set. Also, although I am also a big fan of enthusiasm, I really dislike it when people describe everything as "amazing" and "lovely" as if to show how special they are not to by cynical. But I would make a minor effort to see her again, I think.)

Mark Thomas (hurrah, funny and right)

Robin Ince (good, more about science vs creationsim in schools)

Stewart Lee (oh, lovely lovely man. Bits from Edinburgh about BB racism and the values of the Carphone Warehouse, which when I saw him before he continues with a bit about Russell Brand having to do an apology for racism on BBLB, and so I was a bit gleefully hopeful that he might do that here, but he didn't. Which was possibly because the next person was...)

Russell Brand (I really, really like his legs. I could happily watch them for a long time. I think he's quite funny as well, though his faux-naivety can be a bit wearing)

and then at the very end there was a surprise thing, and it was Bill Bailey! Which I was very excited about, even though it meant I missed my train and took up the very kind offer of a bed from lsugaralmond. Thank you again. I enjoyed the evening very much indeed, and at some point today I must dig out the postcard we were given and find out who my MP is and send it to him. I do know that he's tory, and I think he might be called Ben something, but I don't know his name. I have corresponded with him before (mostly about abortion) but through that writetoyourmp site.

After a train ride in which I tried my hardest to work and got through a chapter about something I understand very little of, but of which now have a dilligent set of notes, I walked across to Russell Square to meet Cee. On our way back to find coffee (a rare treat for us denizens of the backward North, I tell you) we were given two mini samples of deoderant. I don't think they were singling us out, but they were very useful in any case. I made the rookie mistake of hot chocolate and chocolate cake, but luckily Cee was able to balance it out. She has promised not to like Booker. I can't imagine it will be a difficult promise to keep, but then people are rather strange. Someone has commented to my JUMP! vid on youtube with the username SamaraBookerFan.

( The News Quiz! )

All in all, it is one of the best things I've ever been to see, and just brilliant. You can still hear it until Saturday through listen again. I'm so grateful to lsugaralmond for coming with me you can't imagine. She was also terribly kind and gave me not only a bed for the night, but Humphrey Lyttleton's autobiography, which is BRILLIANT. As is she. If I got to the News Quiz again, and I definitely want to, she is top of the list for companions. And I now know what time to queue from!

I went to see Stewart Lee in Morecambe with jekesta. alicamel didn't want to come, we didn't just abandon her cruelly or anything. We got successfully to the Platform (thanks in large part to my navigational talents, I think you'll find), and thne we bought tickets from people who weren't really keen on the concept. It's like they'd never really thought that this moment would happen to them. Then we went to the pub next door and bought drinks and food after ascertaining that they could be delivered within the 40 minutes we had to spare. They could, and the man also tried to sell us on Baileys chocolate cups, which is a shot of Baileys, delivered to you in a chocolate cup. We had noticed the sign for them while he was pouring coke, and he had clearly heard us exclaiming about the possibilities of such a thing. But Jen was driving, and I am still ill, so we did not. But I have remembered about them for another time. I had a steak, but very quickly realised that possibly I shouldn't be eating at all, so I kept eating for a little while just to make sure, and decidedperhaps best not. But no mishaps came from that, thankfully.

The Platform is the old Morecambe train station. It's really sad, as now they just have the one platform, although you can get to Leeds direct from it, which is quite good. But this one is huge and has a glass roof - a roof at all is just thumbing its nose at the new station - and signs for Bolton and Sheffield and adverts for new trains. The bit where people perform is just a large hall, with the acoustics, as Stewart Lee reamarked, of a train station. It's rather peculiar. There weren't very many people there, about fiftyish, maybe a bit more, and sat in small groups around chairs in a rather sad attempt at cabaret style.

The support act was a man apparently called Steven Carling, in which case it's a pity he never learnt how to pronounce his name properly so that people might know what it is and not have to go to Stewart Lee's website to found out. He was a SNOOKER COMEDIAN. He mentioned snooker at every conceivable opportunity, talking about naming hurricanes "Higgins" and the confusion that might lead to, pointing out that the problem with America is that it's never produced a world champion snooker player, unlike Canada, and then a man in the audience (who later proved to be a complete wanker, sadly), showed off all his knowledge of Cliff Thorburn, also known as "The Grinder". That bit rather passed me by, but I understood almost all that he said! He did a bit about Reservoir Dogs and how you shouldn't be ashamed to be Mr Pink because it's the highest scoring ball in the absence of Mr Black, even taking into account the thingy with calling any other ball a red if you need to. Which I totally understand. He said "you may be asking why I'm wearing a diving watch in a non-aquatic venue" and a man at the front put his hand up to offer an opinion. Steven Carling said it was the politest heckle ever. Then later he asked Bernard (for that was the polite heckler) what his favourite film was, in order that he could ignore what he actually said and say "Reservoir Dogs" and get a laugh, but Bernard's favourite film is Pulp Fiction, and no-one really laughed because of it being the same director and appearing more like a mistake than an actual joke type situation.

Do you know Stewart Lee? He was a double thing with Richard Herring in Fist of Fun and This Morning With Richard Not Judy (oh, and in the absence of Richard to do the things he normally does he says them himself or pretends the audience has and you can so tell which bits they are) and he co-wrote and directed Jerry Springer the Opera which made him the focus of a right wing evangelical Christian hate campaign and nearly landed him in court for blasphemy. So, he is funny, and intelligent, and Controversial, but in a proper making you think way rather than the new-fangled way of Being Controversial, which is an apparent euphemism for Being Shit in a New Way.

( You may well think he is actually shit, which is fine, and I'll cut it because it is offensive. Not even might be. But it's offensive deliberately and intelligently and in context. But since you weren't there for the context, you can skip this if you prefer. You may well have needed to be there. )

Thursday was a gooooood night, although unfortunately Ese was too ill to come, so it was just me and Rebecca. We ate at Pizza Express (£9, so with the metro fare it was about £11 for the whole night), who don’t let you have pineapple on your pizza. So I had parma ham, but I was thinking about pineapple the whole time.

Adam Hills was fantastic. So funny, so lovely. We were sitting in the second row, because we thought that the front row would be rather too exposed. Unfortunately no-one was sitting in front of us, but luckily he went to the other side of the audience to drag someone up on stage to do a James Brown impression. I’d not seen him before, but I read his column on BBC’s Ouch! site, and heard him to compering on some radio thing. I think.

At the end of the first bit, he reiterated what I’d heard on the radio, telling women that women’s magazines are full of shit and designed to make us feel bad about ourselves. Well, duh. It rubbed me up the wrong way. Partly it’s because whenever I hear men say things like that I always think that if it was a woman saying it, she’s be dismissed. Men (if they chose to do so) are not only not dismissed automatically, but gain points for being so thoughtful. And also his premise seemed to be that we didn’t know that they were telling us we were ugly to sell us things – we’re not stupid. Somewhat masochistic, yes, but not stupid.

In the second bit he talked a lot about Disney, and how they have policies about not allowing disabled children to have photographs taken with the characters, because it undermines their “happy” image. He talks about it in one of his columns as well, here. Disgusting. (Oh, and while on the BBC site he doesn’t name it, he definitely says Disney in his stand-up.) It was all so funny, (when it wasn’t horrifying), and he does cute accents. Mmmm, funny cute men.

At one point he called a woman’s husband who was meant to come to the show but had to work late. There was a frisson amongst the people behind me, who were really hoping that he would be Discovered in a Lie. He was, in fact, at work, and Adam Hills said that he could have a ticket for the show in Liverpool for missing this one. Bless.

He had a sign interpreter with him (but apparently no deaf people in the audience). When I saw Eddie Izzard he also used an interpreter, and it’s really cool watching the signs for different words. I did wonder about some things, like did the innuendo come across when he said “bang the person next to you…well, don’t bang them”, and whether the sign for “fanny” was different from the sign for “cunt”. I think UK sign language and Australian sign language are similar if not the same, but I know Ameslan is completely different.