Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 469

Celebrity 19: Booking Frustration

So, 'Celebrity' heads into its second week, and suddenly the little show that opened without tryouts has sold out (although there will be a few returns each day – especially with the snow). The cast have transformed the play and are clearly having fun with their performances. Every night the readings vary enough for me [...]

Never Judge A Reader By His Covers

This morning, my local Tesco appears to have gone entirely automated overnight, with no staff on tills. Everything is now operated by card and machine – leading to the first really spectacular nicking spree I've seen, when a young man legged it from the store with a trolley of booze. The staff looked on, bored, [...]

The Short Story Gets New Life

With the rise of the Kindle and the iPad, a new breed of publisher is making short stories available for the price of a chocolate bar. The credit crunch is forcing publishers to think of new ways to reach the reading public, and one that's appearing in a number of new forms is the short [...]

London's Best-Kept Gastro Secret

When El Bulli, the world's most famous restaurant, closed for a year to give its creator a break, foodies all over the planet groaned – after all, more time would now be added to the two-year waiting list for tables. Who would have thought the next best thing would appear in a run-down area of [...]

Shirley He Can't Have Died?

Sorry to hear that Canadian actor Leslie Nielsen has died at age 84. I had the privilege of working with him three times, creating spoof scripts to launch the 'Naked Gun' films. (UK poster line: 'The comedy that goes off in your trouser pocket.') Although he was profoundly deaf and wore discreet hearing aids, he [...]

Bryant & May's London: The Cross Keys

This lovely old pub in Endell Street, Covent Garden is a Free House and one of a dying breed. Filled with music mementoes and knick-knacks, it attracts locals, trendies and the odd tourist. It's interesting to note that such pubs seem popular with the young, who don't always want sterile club bars or hotel cocktail [...]

Christmas Viewing

This winter there's simply too much to do in this city – and a lot of the good stuff is insanely expensive. However skating remains fairly cheap, and there are no less than 15 rinks in central London this year (including Somerset House, pictured), which means less crowding. There are also loads of Christmas markets, [...]

Nominate 'Celebrity' Before December 3rd!

If you'd like to help us raise awareness of our show and get it touring to an area near you, we need to lift our profile in London's 'Who-Shouts-Loudest' media. You can do this by clicking here, and voting in what's literally a 10 second process. For us, the important thing is to be represented. [...]

That 'Brit' Question Revisited

When I asked what it meant to be English, the question coincided with a patriotic piece in the Daily Telegraph talking about how a show like 'Downton Abbey' trounced 'American rubbish'. Except that 'Downton Abbey' is largely financed by NBC, who according to today's Variety balanced the deficit funding to the tune of around £7 [...]

High Profile