On the evening of 7th June 1991, aged 16 and celebrating the end of my GCSEs, I visited Wembley Arena to see my first ever pop concert. A few hours later, I headed for home pretty convinced that I still hadn't been to a 'pop concert', because Pet Shop Boys' Performance tour was more of... Continue Reading →
This week, I was lucky enough to be able to preview an exciting new film ahead of its UK release on Friday. Appropriate Behaviour is a deadpan indie comedy written, directed by and starring Desiree Akhavan. Set in Brooklyn, it centres around one woman's quest to come to terms with the recent break up with... Continue Reading →
The first 2015 interview in my series on creative careers is an in-depth discussion with Idil Sukan, who is a photographer working in entertainment and the Creative Director of West London agency Draw HQ. She has been the official photographer at both the Edinburgh Festival's Fringe and the British Independent Film Awards. Her portfolio ranges... Continue Reading →
Monogamy. A great topic for a stand-up comedy show, don't you think? Rosie Wilby certainly thinks so, as that's what prompted her to create "Is Monogamy Dead?", a show about relationships, sex and infidelity. Not only is it based on observation and anecdotes, but there's also some actual survey data in there... plus, Rosie once... Continue Reading →
This week's Feminism Friday post is about an award winning comedian's new show - the intriguingly titled "Nineties Woman: from activism to relative apathy". Rosie Wilby has been busily tracking down the collective of women she produced a feminist newspaper with at York University in the 1990s, and she has created a show all about... Continue Reading →
I'd arranged to meet a friend one evening last week, but we hadn't made any specific plans when we put the date in our diaries. I'd not really thought about what we could do, so just assumed that an evening spent chatting over drinks was probably on the cards. However, my friend had a much... Continue Reading →
Getting stuck in traffic sucks. When a journey time doubles and the sat nav keeps sending you to more road closures, sometimes you just have to give in and sit it out. Passing the time in a car used to be a speciality of mine as a child, but waving at strangers isn't quite as... Continue Reading →
I can't remember how I first found out about the movie Bridesmaids. From the title and the poster I initially assumed it would be a hideously bitchy 'bridezilla' movie or a saccharine chick-flick, but all the comments I read suggested it was neither. A film about women that's genuine and, heaven forbid, rather funny? This... Continue Reading →
From the title of this post, I expect regular readers will wonder if this is yet another piece where I ponder whether my burlesque alter ego should be retired. This time, however, my worries are somewhat larger. Once the country has seen Christina Aguilera in the movie Burlesque, I fear that the good stuff may... Continue Reading →
Last night I watched the Family Guy episode "Quagmire's Dad" which is certainly the least funny episode of the show I have ever seen, and also definitely the most offensive. Nothing new there, you might think. Another adult cartoon losing its edge and going down the pan. Well, yeah, I thought that when Brian and... Continue Reading →