Hi Diddly Dee, an Actor's Life for Me
"Those who agree with us may not be right, but we admire their astuteness."
Cullen Hightower
|
Sister Wendy, Second to None
I hope this works - this is the promo video for Postcards from God , which is the musical about Sister Wendy Beckett that I helped to develop. I'm one of the singers on the video - one of the actual singers, that is, not one of the lip-syncing nuns. The show opens at the Jermyn Street Theatre in January, and should be a lot of fun. |
|
|
4.12.06 11:16 |
|
|
Celebrity Stalking
Following in Li'lo's footsteps, I've been doing some celebrity stalking today. I walked into the post office just behind a man with blonde curly hair and biro on his neck. He chatted on his phone to somebody and I thought, 'ooh, he has a very nice voice. Familiar-sounding, too.' When we got to the counter to post our letters, I could then see his face and realised that it was Robert Webb, of Mitchell and Webb and Smoking Room fame.
Lovely. Shorter than I'd expected, but 'twas ever thus - I could do with losing a foot in height, really, to avoid disappointment when meeting celebrities.
 Lucy, I'm everso sorry but he managed to get away from me before I could give him your number. I'll be quicker off the mark next time.
|
|
|
4.12.06 14:43 |
|
|
ooer
Prompted by Oinker , I just did a psychometric test online. Regardless of whether or not you think these things are a load of rubbish, some of these statements are quite close to the bone. Ahem.
As a total aside, I was very impressed to note that they actually have actor/actress as a job choice - the first time I've ever come across that. I usually have to put media or somesuch wanky thing that doesn't really describe what I do at all. If you're interested in doing one of these for yourself, you can find the test here - it's a nice short one that only takes about 10 mins. |
|
|
5.12.06 15:31 |
|
|
Coram Boy
I went to see Coram Boy at the National last night. I intended to write a proper review, but I was awake too late and got up too early to be able to formulate anything coherent, so instead I shall just gabble madly about how wonderful it was. The staging is amazing and there are some fantastically chilling moments - in fact, I'd be a little wary of taking a 12 year old along to see it, which is the minimum age that the National recommends. It deals with some strong themes, including infanticide, in quite a graphic way, and I'm not sure that a 12 year old would appreciate this. There are dead babies. There are orphans. There is a teenage love affair. There is corruption. There is an onstage choir and orchestra. There is underwater swimming. I came out completely gobsmacked. The ending is, admittedly, somewhat saccharine - the play is based on a children's book by Jamila Gavin, and it ended far too pat and happily for my jaded tastes - but the cast and choir then sang the Halleluia Chorus as an encore, so all was forgiven. I came out with tears in my eyes and a feeling that I'd just seen one of the most exciting productions in ages. Seriously - go and see it.
|
|
|
7.12.06 12:02 |
|
|
Boyz in da Buggy
As I waited on the station platform last night, I became aware of a conversation going on between two young men, one on the eastbound and one on the westbound platform. After a bit of 'yo, 'sup homey?' kind of conversation, the one on my platform (Eastbound) threw a lighter over the tracks to his friend (Westbound), who had been busy searching his pockets ostentatiously and unsuccessfully. Westbound guy lit up and then crossed over the footbridge to bring the lighter back. They punched fists and did the 'yo, bro' thing once again. I prepared myself for a loud display of macho posturing and sighed inwardly. Suddenly, however, the cool facade dropped as Westbound guy grinned into the pram which Eastbound guy's partner was pushing. Eastbound guy suddenly turned into Proud Dad - 'Born 3 weeks ago.' Westbound guy carried on clucking into the pram as he said, 'Yeah, mine's about to turn 2. You'll love every minute.' Brilliant. |
|
|
10.12.06 15:58 |
|
|
Off The Rails
Off the Rails is a monthly comedy slot at the Railway in Clapham and I went along there last night. Yes, I went south of the river. It was scary, but I made it through and only got a little bit drunk - if anyone tells you anything to the contrary, he's lying. Ahem. So anyway, back to the comedy... The evening kicked off with Lee Bannard, who started the act by saying that he wasn't very well and looked like he was going to be sick at any moment. My partner-in-crime and I disagreed about this act - he really enjoyed it, while I had reservations about the performance. There was some good material and he did make me laugh, but I felt that the act was too scripted, certainly to start off with. He warmed into it, but I got the impression that he could do with some more experience. Good start to the evening, though. Next up was Joe Bor, who has an excellent line in observational comedy. Plus, he's cute. 'Nuff said. (What, you expect a rational review after I've been drinking gin all night and only had 5 hours sleep?) OK, seriously, he's very good - his act is slick, he's good with the audience and his material's funny. I was mercilessly ribbed by my companion, who spotted straight away that I wasn't immune to Joe's charms, but what's a girl to do when faced with a good-looking, talented and funny guy who states in the act that he's single? Sheeeesh. The next set held the first appearance of Simon Brodkin, a character comedian. I, along with quite a few people in the room, was unsure about this act. The character was a racist holiday rep, who delighted in making jokes about Alcoholic Assault night and the like. There were definite funny moments, but there were also quite a few points when he went too far. At one point he was heckled and, rather than moving on, he got stuck in a battle of wills which became really uncomfortable. It felt at the time like this was a lairy comic who didn't know when to give up, whereas in fact, on chatting to Simon afterwards, it transpired that it was totally about the character. He's a seriously good actor - bah, I am jealous. I think this act would probably have worked better in a larger room where the audience didn't feel so exposed; but it wasn't right for The Railway. Still, you live and learn. After a short break, the comedy returned with Matt Whiteley, who was, unfortunately, 4 or 5 pints down and underprepared. He had some good material, but he didn't make the most of it and seemed not to know which was his good and not-so-good stuff. He also has an arrogant stage persona which I feel alienates the audience. I'd like to see him when he's on form, as I'm told that when he is, he's good, but last night was not that time. Finally, Simon Brodkin reappeared as Lee 'Nelsy' Nelson, a nylon sports gear-clad chav character. It's a testament to how good his character work is that I honestly didn't have the first idea that he was the same guy that had played the holiday rep until I started talking to him after the show. The characters really couldn't have been more different - accents, verbal and physical tics, humour, the whole lot. I thoroughly enjoyed this character, who won the audience over right from the word go. He was chatty, lovable and knew absolutely how to work an audience, using material that had been gifted to him (Personal Finance Journalist haha), not just at the time of giving, but harking back and linking it in later on in the act. Brilliant stuff. Finally (yeah, I know I said that already, but this time I mean it), I must mention Adam Terry, who compered the whole evening. Very funny in his own right, he's a master of rolling with the punches and getting things going - the ideal host. He organises the Off the Rails evenings and if last night is anything to go by, then the next show will definitely be worth seeing. |
|
|
11.12.06 12:51 |
|
|
Great days...
My prep school was a Malory Towers kind of a school and we had a big old cedar (I think - biological identification isn't my strong point) tree in the grounds, which we all climbed. There were various routes around the tree, tried and tested by generations of little girls. When you first joined the school you were only allowed do the lower, easier routes, but as you grew older you could progress further up and teach the younger girls how to get to, for example, Dead Man's Drop. This was the highest point that you could get to and involved shimmying halfway along a branch, grasping hold of a small spur, swinging yourself around underneath the branch, hanging off it and then dropping to the ground. There were a couple of minor accidents while I was there - my friend Char gave herself a greenstick fracture in her arm by breaking her fall badly, and another girl caused quite a stir when she fell and appeared to have blood coming from her head. On further inspection it transpired that in fact it was pink paint, from where she'd got a bit overexcited in art class earlier on. We did a lot of climbing, in fact. In one of the dorms, known as Marble, there was a large marble (hence the name) fireplace. I seem to remember that we weren't actually allowed to climb on it, but of course we did. I was only in that dorm for a short time, when it became a convalescence room after most of the school was struck down with flu. I still remember the sense of glee, however, when I felt well enough to climb up onto the mantelpiece. Ah, what fun! I got into trouble quite a lot for talking after lights out. Strange, when I'm normally quite a taciturn sort of a person, but I was probably led astray. Yes, that would be it. Our punishment for being noisy was to be put on the Balcony, which was in fact a minstrel's gallery, overlooking the dining room. We would then be told to sit there for what seemed like hours, although I very much doubt that it actually was. Often there would only be one or two people on the Balcony, so we would be placed at either end and told to sit silently; I suppose we were probably meant to consider our naughtiness and be chastened by it. I found it rather fun, to be honest, and it was always a challenge to try and pass signals to your partner-in-crime at the other end without being noticed by the matron. Once you'd been put on the Balcony three times, you would be put into detention. I did quite a few detentions, and they generally took the form of doing lines. We would be given a dull piece of text and told to start copying; it depended on how naughty you had been as to how long you were kept there. After a while, writer's cramp would set in and your eyes would start going round in circles, but I think it's stood me in good stead for all the boring copy typing that I do nowadays to earn money. Once your time was up, you would hand the pieces of paper, covered in text, to the headmistress, who presided over detention, and she would rip it up in front of you and throw it in the bin. Not very green, but this was the mid-80s and nobody had heard of recycling in those days. Roller skating was a big thing when I was there. There was a concrete ramp which ran down to the playground, known as the M1 for some reason. The custom was to scramble up to the top of the ramp, then shout as loudly as possible, 'Clear the M1 and gangway!' before launching yourself down the ramp and either doing a fancy jump off the kerb onto the playground, or catching hold of one of the wooden stair supports half way down and swinging yourself around them. One day I did the obligatory warning shout and launched myself with gusto, just as the headmistress was coming out of the door to one of the classrooms, which was unfortunately at the bottom of the ramp. I crashed headlong into her and she still tells the story to this day.
|
|
|
12.12.06 11:22 |
|
[next page]
| My home page |
| Tall Stories |
| The free-for-all |
| Appreciation of the male form |
| Animal Crackers |
| Reviews |
| Mr Lover Lover |
| Mike |
| Ciggie |
| Disgruntled |
| Dr T |
| Moobs |
| Go Fug Yourself |
| oneword |
| Arty |
| Cheeky Cheeky |
| Bored |
| Daxy Baby |
| Lilac |
| Huw |
| The Navy Lark |
| Katja |
Blinks
Totty
Blog Crush Customer Support
Bloglist
| Guestbook |
| Archives |
| Contacts |
| Subscribe |
| About |
 |