Making Tracks in Shoreditch, Design: Simon Fitzmaurice
It’s a comedy special for Pick of the Line this week, with a couple of other special events mentioned at the end of the listings.
There’s a buzzing comedy scene in the East London Lines boroughs, and this is only set to get busier with Edinburgh Fringe preview shows coming up over the next few months.
FRIDAY MAY 25
DONG – Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, E1 6LA
A hip-hop meets comedy evening – ‘hip-edy’, anyone?! Featured acts include Irish comedy duo Abandoman with their unique brand of improve hip-hop comedy, E4’s Cardinal Burns and Adam Bloom, with Fergus Craig as MC. There’ll also be videos, hip-hop dancers and DJ Big Ted.
7.30pm, £10
SATURDAY MAY 26
STAND UP COMEDY – The Hob, 7 Devonshire Road, SE23 3HE
Maureen Younger is your MC for Saturday evening at The Hob, a pub in Forest Hill renowned for its excellent comedy events. Joining her will be Rhodri Rhys, Stuart Black and Welsh comedian Lloyd Langford who you might recognise from BBC1’s Ask Rhod Gilbert.
9pm, £9
SUNDAY MAY 27
AMATEUR TRANSPLANTS: ADAM KAY’S SMUTTY SONGS – Croydon Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, Croydon
You might remember a song entitled ‘London Underground’ – a spoof about the Tube to the tune of Going Underground by The Jam. ELL tried to find a clean version of that song to link to on here but it’s full of swearing and would upset our supervising editor. Anyway, Adam Kay, one half of the team behind that spoof will be at Fairfield Halls in Croydon on Sunday for an evening of musical comedy.
7.30pm, £16
MONDAY MAY 28
JESTER JESTERS: DAY NIGHT – The Plum Tree, 54 Farringdon St, EC4A 4BD
If you’ve got Monday spare, you could do a lot worse than heading (very slightly out of the ELL boroughs, admittedly) to The Plum Tree for a full day of laughs from established and up-and-coming comics. There are five separate hosts, including Lucy Porter and Kaviraj Appaddo. There’s no entrance fee but donations to the Make a Wish foundation are welcomed.
11.30am – 11.30pm
Mother & child session 11.30 – 2.30pm
TUESDAY MAY 29
THE PAINTED GRIN – Benny’s Bar, 119a Bethnal Green Road, E2 7DA
An up-and-coming free comedy night run by comic Jayde Adams, who is also the MC for the evening. The line-up for Tuesday’s event mixes burgeoning talent with established acts including Peter White, Ivor Dembina, David Mills, Darren Walsh and Miss D.
8pm, free
WEDNESDAY MAY 30
BOB AND JIM’S EAST END PROMISE – Deansways, 44 Pollard Row, E2 6NB
A return to old-school music hall variety comedy, hosted by singing duo Bob and Jim. Guests include Gareth Morinan, Gerry Howell, Luke McQueen and the Wayward Sisters.
8pm, £5
Elis James at the Duke
THURSDAY MAY 31
COMEDY AT THE DUKE – Duke of Wellington, Dalston, N1 4BL
The Duke of Wellington in Dalston hosts this excellent comedy night which brings some of the best circuit comics to East London. It’s the last one before their run of Edinburgh previews begin in July. The superb line-up on Thursday features Elis James, James Acaster, Celia Pacquola and Bridget Christie and will set you back only £5 – an absolute bargain.
8pm, £5
OTHER EVENTS:
MAKING TRACKS is happening at Rich Mix in Shoreditch on Wednesday 30th May. East London Lines spoke to Katie Steed about the event and you can read a feature about it here. You can also buy tickets (with a special two-for-one offer) here.
SATURDAY 2ND JUNE:
FIELD DAY, Victoria Park, Grove Road, Bow, E3.
The line-up for this one day festival is spectacular, putting most other upcoming festivals this summer to shame –you can see Beirut, Baxter Dury, SBTRKT, Django Django, Friends and the triumphant return of Franz Ferdinand, amongst many others. Tickets are £45 but well worth it.
Have a listen to this week’s ELL Weekly podcast and you can hear a snippet of Baxter Dury performing at Camden Crawl earlier this month.
Spector will also be playing at Field Day, and ELL’s Olga Casablancas spoke to them at Field Day. Here’s a section of their interview:
