January 2011
6 posts
Scott Capurro & Andrew Doyle
The Hen & Chickens, London, 22nd January 2011 Whilst not outstanding, Andrew Doyle was a likable presence and had a few choice gags worth a titter. Nothing above the ordinary though really.
Scott Capurro, however, was extraordinary. His set was about the death of his mother. Not much room for comedy there, you’d think. And you’d be right. There were great, long sections where no...
Arsenal 3 Wigan Athletic 0
The Emirates, Premier League, 22nd January 2011
I’ve never laughed at an Arsenal player missing a penalty before. But at 2-0 up, against a lifeless, 10-man Wigan, when Van Persie blasted his penalty skywards, so little was the opposing threat that a laugh was quite appropriate. Van Persie went on to complete his hat trick minutes later, topping a stunning day’s work, a true return to...
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
This is an animated feature that, boiled down, is about a boy and his father’s difficult attempts and eventual success in communicating with each other. Sounds mawkish, worth avoiding. But Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs avoids all possible pitfalls with huge helpings of surrealism, non-stop bonkers action and jokes that appeal to both young and old. Loads of laugh out loud moments and...
Let The Right One In
Let The Right One In is a downbeat Swedish about vampires with the major protagonists two children aged under 12. That would normally be enough to turn me off. But this film’s bleakness, quality, believable and subtly played main parts, the downplaying of any flying children type stuff and it’s resemblance to Carrie was enough to have me gripped and grossed out on more than one...
Arsenal 0 Manchester City 0
The Emirates, Premier League, 5th January 2011
Without two of their most potent attacking players, Manchester City were only ever going to park the bus at The Emirates. But the extent to their lack of ambition could not have been predicted. In a 90 minute period which featured a lot of wasted time from the visitors, they managed zero shots on target. This from one of the most expensively...
High Society and Evolving English
The Wellcome Collection and The British Library, 3rd January 2011
A look at the use of drugs for recreational purposes since Victorian times, High Society had its moments. Images of Victorian opium dens, strange drug-taking paraphernalia and a timeline of the price and purity of cocaine at each of its stages of production were fascinating. But other exhibits, mainly the ones that concentrated on...
