The day started out well, with Shakespeare for Breakfast providing a comedy version of King Lear with a happy ending (don’t want to start the day feeling depressed, now, do we). Through the medium of TV shows such as Who Wants to be a Million-heir, Jeremy Kyle, or Britain is Valiant, the story of Lear was told with musical numbers, good acting and free croissant.
Next up was meant to be Mythos, but it was cancelled (dunno why). So instead, Sarah Bennetto tickets were purchased at short notice and I’m glad they were, as we were taken on a lovely journey of one woman’s trip to a party. At Clarence House. At the invitation of Prince Charles. In polyester. I wish I’d seen the Soundtrack Channel when it was around, and not just because Sarah would probably have been as engaging as a disembodied head in the corner talking about people’s texts (except the death threats and marriage proposals) as she was with us.
Ava Vidal was next but she too was cancelled due to illness (looks like she went to hospital with a bad eye according to Twitter – hope it’s better!). So giving up, meandered slowly to the Pleasance for Hamlet, the Musical. This was a slick production – though at the start there were just a couple of moments where the singing and live band felt slightly out of joint, but it was very minor – with classic Musical songs, some nice use of props and a faithful rendition of the plot well-acted by the versatile cast.
Got chatting to Helen Keen and Miriam Underhill, who were flyering outside the Gilded Balloon – what lovely people they are. Go and see their show, I’ve already done so (woah, two and a half weeks ago now). They will be thrilled to learn, should they find and read this (might happen), that the acts in the final of So You Think You’re Funny did not tell a single rape joke, or in fact any nasty jokes at all. Hooray! In fact, the first half was really good (one telling lots of puns Tim Vine style, which of course I like), although I think the one woman in the final should have stuck to non-“I’m a woman, let’s try and make a joke about my pubic hair” material; the second half was less good in my opinion; then Rufus Hound keeping us entertained whilst the judges deliberated was pretty awful (he was good up until then as a compere, and had a section on religion that was good, but was mostly just bad talk about the differences between men and women – go and see Baba Brinkman, Rufus); and then the judges awarded the act I’d liked pretty much the least. But I seem to be having that effect with comedy awards, so let’s just say awards and I have differing opinions. I think mine are funnier.