Bye bye 2015 and hello there 2016

It’s a new year and things are a brewin’.

More on that soon…

2015 was rounded off by a second outing of my new Lois of the Lane ‘Shake’ act at Properganda in Stoke Newington (which now happily involves a steak dog toy):

and another reading for Liars’ League for their Christmas event ‘Kith and Kin’:


Mp3 and text of the story, ‘Maryam’s Prayer’, by Abigail Lee, can be found here, a podcast of all the stories from the night can be found here and video footage of me in action – RIGHT HERE:

Seduced by an angel (or was he?) poor Maryam must risk the consequences and face the future with her new husband and unborn child…

Spooky Lies

October’s seen more story reading action from me for Liars’ League – this time, with tales of a spooky persuasion, as we lurch expectantly towards Halloween…

On the 13th, at their Signs and Omens event at the Phoenix, I read The Magic Slate by Pat Black and on the 16th, at the Brick Brewery in Peckham, as part of Lit Crawl, I read Coin Karma by Kate Franklin.

Here I am, mid Magic Slate:


Text, videos and mp3s of The Magic Slate, and all the other Signs and Omens stories, here,

Podcast of The Magic Slate and 2 other Signs and Omens stories here,

and videos of both The Magic Slate and Coin Karma, below:

When Terri buys a cheap toy at the corner shop to keep her son Ben quiet, what he draws on it will come back to haunt them both …

 

Sandra collects face-up coins and flips those that are face-down, for the next passerby to find. A reversal of bad fortune for good, a blessing from the Universe. Only, is she meddling in things she shouldn’t?

 

Enjoy, if you dare

Sweet Little Lies

Last night I found myself reading a beautiful story called ‘The Chip on your Shoulder’ by Imogen Hermes Gowar at the Liars’ League‘s ‘Boom and Bust‘ event at The Phoenix – my first bit of live spoken performance in godknowsHOWlong!

Despite the fact that it wasn’t a silent performance, the facial expressions were still out in full force.

Here I am, in action, with a big fat grin on my face:

and here is the video evidence:

(It’s definitely time for my tri-monthly hair cut…  LOOK AT ALL THAT HAIR!)

Be/Not Be

I fancied doing a bit of impromptu To Be or Not To Be-ing in my back garden a couple of months ago.

Learnt the speech in the morning then – BAM.

Here are the results:

Now to do it on stage…

Ed Fringe #Day2

Greetings from glorious Edinburgh!

I arrived with an hour to spare via the ever Mega Megabus last night and am well and truly settled in to my new home for the next few weeks.  How lovely is the view 30 seconds from my digs…?!

The plan is that I’ll keep this here news page pretty regularly up to date (more so than usual) with my Fringey goings on…

I had a grand tech run this afternoon at The Bongo Club and got the first glance at the flyers for my show, designed by Paul Garner. I am bouncing about rather excitedly/in a daze.

The promo video is all done and uploaded and you can view its wonder here:

Big thanks to Geoffrey Sautner for doing the biz.

The preview of Fabled at Theatre503 was a resounding success, with me sweating off pretty much all of my make up (stingy eyes owwwwww!) and I’m PUMPED to give it my all for everyone who comes to be Fabled over the next month.

In a moment of madness today, I thought I’d start doing an Edinburgh Fringe video diary. FIRST INSTALLMENT HERE.  Who knows how regular this will be!

In other news, I’m now booked to do Gypsy Hotel on the 15th of September and there’ll be plentiful amounts of cabaret dates throughout this month at the Fringe.  I’ve also gone and put my songs on MySpace.

August, here I come…

A Holloway’s Day’s Night

I’ve just come to the end of a long day’s sound editing on my computer and my brain is pretty fried, but I am determined to push a blog out before I collapse into bed.  Hmm… that sounds wrong.

The sound in question was a long overdue re-edit of my Lois of the Lane Air Guitar act which I’m going to be doing at tomorrow (today’s!) monthly Village Green Preservation Society night at The Betsey Trotwood.  Much happier with the act now – just got to find some time to rehearse it…

I’m back at The Betsey next Monday the 30th of May where I will be very pleased to be playing a couple of songs for John Hegley‘s monthly night.

The week after, on Saturday the 11th of June at 2pm, I’m going to be doing a one off performance of my show GLITCH in the Old Fire Station on Mayton Street (N7 6QT) for the Mayton Street Festival which is part of the Holloway Arts Festival.  It’s freeeeeeee!

Circuit went down really well the week before last and Iris Theatre have plans afoot to get it on again.  Here are some pictures of me as the malfunctioning musician android:



and here’s a snippet of my act:

Now, to sleep….

Headshots and Hayfever

Yes it’s that time again.

Making it for the Spotlight deadline, almost by the skin of my teeth, I’ve had some glorious new headshots taken by Kirill Kozlov.  I’ve uploaded my favourites to the gallery page.  Sarah Costley has taken some more great pictures of me too and they have also made their way to the gallery.  I took this opportunity to do a bit of code spring cleaning so the whole page should work more smoothly.  Along with this there are some more photos in the Production Shots section.  (So many pictures of me…)

On Wednesday of this week, May the 14th, we have the last Gawkagogo Freakshow in this round of shows, in which I’ll be Pig-Faced Girl-ing and clowning around.  Here’s the latest flyer:

It’s at Vibe Live, above the Vibe Bar on Brick Lane. It’ll be a superbly wrong evening’s entertainment.  (Go on. You know you want to.)

Almost lastly – there’s a podcast on Youtube about the Wooden Swordsman test I was involved in in March.  Here it is:

More information about the project can be found here.

Definitely lastly, and by no means least-ly – I’m going to be starting work on a new show imminently.  I have no idea what it’ll be, but I’m rather excited nonetheless.  Throw some money at me!!  Updates when I have ’em.

Lois of the Lane, Pig in the Mud, Firey Clowning and More!

Good grief, a whole heap of a lot of stuff has happened since I last posted on here.  Wearisome wi-fi woe has been holding me back on the update front, but now I am victorious (haha wireless router – I have tamed you!  Feel my power!) and ready to spill all sorts of beans and the like.

So, first up – Lois of the Lane, my cabaret creation.  She’s a smiley silent comedy girl with a penchant for a bit of ridiculousness.  The blurb so far:

Lois of the Lane – Nerd of few words.  Snazzy dresser.  Sharp mover.  Lover of fine music and fine unexpectedness.  Eater of cheese.  Wearer of eyebrow.  Purveyor of the most delicious bite-sized chunks of silent comedy this side of Vaudeville.  You have been warned!

Each of my acts, otherwise known as ‘Random Acts of Ridiculousness‘ are around 4-5 minutes long and comprise of much stupidity 🙂  I currently have 3, (very nearly 4) ready and raring to go, entitled ‘Opus One’, ‘The Box of 1,000 Dances’ and ‘Showdown’.

My first gig at the opening night of Red Dress‘ Supper Club: ‘You Little Minx’ on the 29th of June was a storming success.  This is me, mid ‘Box of 1,000 Dances’, photographed by Moira Lovell:

My next gigs will be at The Vaudeville Cabaret Club during the last 10 days of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.  When I have exact dates, I’ll post ’em.

I’m getting some ‘Lois of the Lane‘ promotional photos done, then there’ll be a whole re-vamp of my website to accommodate my new alter ego.  Lots and lots to do…

Next – The Gawkagogo Freakshow!

We had a fantastic time at the Glastonbury and Latitude festivals.  A constant stream of people, endless queues to get in and a bit of coverage on Channel 4 in the form of Carling’s Festival Postcards.   You can watch our bit in the show here:

Now it’s off to the Pleasance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with us and the micro carny tent.  Information and stuff here.  We’re on from the 18th – 27th of August, playing every 15 minutes from 7pm – 9pm and we are one of the 20 must-see acts at the Edinburgh Fringe.  You definitely must see us then.

While we’re up there, Paul‘s got another exhibition going at the Hula Juice Bar, Grassmarket.  Details here.

Lastly, Gawkagogo joined the Fire Tusk Pain Proof Circus at their spectacular gig at The Roundhouse on the 27th of July, as part of the ‘Circus Front’ season.  I had much fun clowning around as Hooters 🙂  Here be gallery:

 

(Actually, this is lastly – pictures from Glastonbury and Latitude:)

(Image above: courtesy of Sonny Malhotra – Reportage Photography.)


Muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuud!!

SHOWREEL!! (Amongst other things)

First up – my showreel is finally finished!  Huge thanks to my flatmate Jamie for having all the necessary cables and bits and bobs to set me on the right track.  The many long hours I spent sat alone in front of my computer have paid off and I’m very pleased with the final version.  So, come one, come all – witness the glory!

(I’m a bit over excited. Can you tell?)

Secondly, ‘Small Talk‘ has won some kind of award.  When I find out exactly what it was it’ll be put straight on my CV!  It was screened again on the 15th of February at the NFT as part of Eat Our Shorts.

At the end of this month, on the 23rd, I’m going to be part of Gawkagogo‘s ‘Damnation Alley’ at The Texas Chainsaw Travelling Horror Picture Show‘s 1st Birthday do at Electrowerkz.  I think there may well be some kind of facial hair involved 😀

Last week I was part of the 365 event at The Pleasance.  I found myself part of ‘Constant 2’ and ‘Ask The Experts’.

Before I go, here are some pictures taken at the Candy Box Burlesque Valentine’s Spectacular, courtesy of Cherry Bomb Rock Photography:

More pictures here.

(Did I mention that I’ve finished my showreel…?)