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Wednesday 30 July 2014

Twitaceous Era 20: "Never fucked an elf!"

This week on my Twitter feed, I watch sport in my lunch break. Don't worry, it was men's gymnastics.

First Fatality Of Game Of Thrones Spot: Rob Ostlere at the Globe.
6:57 PM - 23 Jul 2014

So the only thing that'll topple @russelltovey in his pants off the top of my most popular reviews list features 7 naked men #faceofsurprise
3:17 PM - 24 Jul 2014



Have we seen the cast for the Royal Court's revue show next week? Some people might be a tad interested http://www.royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/the-get-out/?tab=3
3:25 PM - 25 Jul 2014

Monday 28 July 2014

Book review: Eleven

Plenty of comedians double as novelists, and it seems when he's not being a likeable Welsh stand-up, Mark Watson has been one of them. Not many of his books seem to be available on kindle yet, which may be why I wasn't aware of them, but Eleven is. It's a sort-of rom-com about Xavier, an Australian radio DJ with a guilty secret in his past that's made him move to the UK. Here he's now a late-night phone-in show host with a dedicated listener base of insomniacs who like to call him up with their problems, but who in his personal life has a strict non-intervention policy that sometimes sees him letting things slide that he perhaps should have done something about.

One time he chooses not to intervene is when he sees a local boy being bullied. While the story continues to follow Xavier and the not-quite-romance he strikes up at a speed-dating evening, we also flash to different parts of London, following the consequences of his action, or lack of it, across eleven people. So the child's mother, a restaurant reviewer, is upset and writes a particularly harsh review, which puts the chef in a bad mood and makes him sack the boy who washes the dishes, and so on. As sometimes happens with writers who also do comedy for a living there's a dark side to the novel, a kind of fatalism in which he uses his writer's omniscience to tell us the fates of many of the characters years from now; and there's a trace of contempt for his lead character. That doesn't, though, stop the story from being interesting and cleverly put-together, and it left me wanting to read more of Watson's books.

Wednesday 23 July 2014

Twitaceous Era 19: Legitimate theATRE

This week on my Twitter feed, a superhero show features surprises, but the superhero's identity is never one of them.

Now I want Tom Mothersdale to be the 13th Doctor #straightthroughnointervaltweets
9:13 PM - 17 Jul 2014

I still think Timothy Speyer is Matt Lucas accidentally stuck in character as the theatrical agent #intervaltweets
9:09 PM - 18 Jul 2014

Watching Arrow. DC superheroes are SO bad at disguises.
6:23 PM - 19 Jul 2014

Monday 21 July 2014

Book review: The Graves of Saints

The Graves of Saints is another of Christopher Golden's Shadow Saga novels, a series that started out as a trilogy but got revived and extended into an indefinite sequence. It's always felt more like a publisher's request than a story Golden was desperate to tell, especially as this vampire saga was revived just as the latest craze for them was at its peak. And although there's been some entertaining books in the series this one really fell flat for me. This time there's the leader of an old-school vampire coven who takes a personal vendetta out on the series' lead, Peter Octavian, as well as a number of demonic incursions around the world, the graves of decapitated saints becoming portals from hell dimensions. But the book took me weeks to get through because the story steadfastly refuses to get started until at least 70% of the way in. Much of it is about Octavian dealing with a personal grief and failing to spring into action, which makes for about as dynamic a story as it sounds. This book is pretty obvious setup for the next in the series, and seems to be partly about establishing a new breed of supernatural creatures to populate upcoming volumes, but on its own terms it's pretty disappointing.

Wednesday 16 July 2014

Twitaceous Era 18: Not being ghastly to women

This week on my Twitter feed, some production photos suggest a play I'm seeing tomorrow isn't as dry as expected.

Continuing my trend of seeing Curious Incident in every theatre it plays in. Might have to draw the line at Broadway though.
 7:19 PM - 9 Jul 2014

I heard the Prime seats hadn't made it to the Gielgud but looks like they're here now.
7:20 PM - 9 Jul 2014



For a moment there I was worried the little train wasn't going to make it round the corner #intervaltweets
8:46 PM - 9 Jul 2014

Wednesday 9 July 2014

Twitaceous Era 17: "Timmy The Dog Hates Mrs Thatcher"

This week on my Twitter feed, I come up with honest song titles for a Famous Five musical, and The Crucible starts at 7:30pm, and ends on Doomsday.

PHILIP RIDLEY KLAXON: https://www.arcolatheatre.com/production/arcola/ghost-from-a-perfect-place-by-philip-ridley
RETWEET 1 FAVORITE 1
4:42 PM - 2 Jul 2014

I'm enjoying all this Suede soundtracking the interval #intervaltweets
8:43 PM - 2 Jul 2014

The machines really are becoming more human, I swear the recorded train announcement just stuttered.
9:23 AM - 3 Jul 2014

Wednesday 2 July 2014

Twitaceous Era 16: Lesbian Wednesday

This week on my Twitter feed, a terrifying rumour turns out to be terrifying reality.


I was hoping "Billie Piper And Oliver Chris Flick Richard's Bean" might fill my theatre-free late August but never mind, July it is.
10:07 AM - 25 Jun 2014


Watched an episode of Orange Is The New Black, then my iPod played "Take Me Or Leave Me." Guess it must be Lesbian Wednesday.
FAVORITES 2
6:45 PM - 25 Jun 2014

It doesn't matter how good an actor you are, you can still be upstaged by some pasta sauce #intervaltweets
8:46 PM - 25 Jun 2014