Last night, with two cold cheeks and two pound coins, I entered Top Secret Comedy Club’s Stand Up Comedy Night.
This unique night - just a stone’s throw away from Covent Garden Tube Station - is a cheap, relaxed, hilarious, and well, cheap (it has to be said again because I can’t quite get over the price) way to enjoy an eclectic mix of some of London’s local and finest up and coming Stand Ups. AN ASIDE ON THE CHEAPNESS: Top Secret Comedy Club is probably the best value comedy night that you will ever find in London. Or perhaps in the world. For a peachy £2, last night I got: 2 and a half hours of 7 top quality Stand Ups (out of 9! Unfortunately I missed 2), with 2 breaks for drinks and a beer at £4.20. Are they mad?? Is this some kind of extortion? No! The low price means the crowd is incredibly friendly (and on the young side), which makes the atmosphere very relaxed and accepting of whatever is happening on stage. Aside over, I can now get onto the acts: Archie Maddocks A contagious smile, Archie was a great opening act to win the audience on side. So likeable that he can make jokes about becoming creepy at a young age, and keep everybody on board, and totally relaxed in his presence. Robin Morgan A happy-go-lucky, looks-younger-than-he-is comic and father to a 1-year-old, Robin makes cheeky and cheerful jokes about the recent and upcoming milestones in his life. A genuine, friendly and warm character. Robert White Robert White is a character very different from what his name would suggest (-- I’m talking obviously about Reverend White in Cluedo. No? Anyone?). The combination of White’s dead pan one liners, comedy songs - for his upcoming cruise ship audition, eccentric look, and slightly nervous and gentle nature, all blend to create a hilarious, different and thoroughly funny set, that goes by in a flash. Elliot Steel Luring you into thinking that he has more life experience than he does, Elliot brings edge and confidence to the stage. Only 21, he talks with self-assurance and a relaxed coolness about his T-total, Marshall Arts-filled life in London, with some sweeter anecdotes on dating too. Tim Steel A force to be reckoned with, Tim gives a sharp, grumbling rant about the current post-Brexit, health obsessed, nutritious-bollocks-in-your-porridge world we live in. Interjected with perceptive impressions of people in society today, Tim knows how to entertain. Iain Sterling Reminiscent of when he was the commentator on Love Island, and after revealing that he’s forgot his material because of a few too many drinks, Iain makes up for it by being hilarious off the cuff, and interacts with the audience effortlessly. His talent of blunt, snappy Scottish commentary on people’s behaviour carried him through. Tom Ward A totally eccentric individual whose opening joke is that he looks like a member of Oasis who wants to join Blur; Ward is cool, confident, and effortlessly funny. A highlight of the night, and like Noel Fielding, Ward seems to able to say anything and people will eat it up. Images Source: http://thetopsecretcomedyclub.co.uk/comedians/
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A few months ago, someone informed me of a fact that has stayed in my head ever since. And I'm not talking about the rumour that there's a shop devoted entirely to cookie dough coming to a location near me sometime in 2018. I am talking about the astonishing fact, that ‘there are more Dentists, named Dennis, than any other name’.
My immediate reaction to this statement was twofold. First, I laughed. It's funny! Because they sound the same! And the idea of sitting down for a filling to the chirpy sound of 'just call me Dennis the Dentist!' to the tune of woody the woodpecker's laugh, is quite hysterical. My next thought was that it must be a coincidence. Because, the idea that someone would think it appropriate to go into a career in Dentistry, just because their name sounds a bit like the profession, seems to me absurd. Choosing a career path because of alliterative enjoyment, is again, reminiscent of our entirely fictitious friend woody the woodpecker. And surely, if anything, you’d want to avoid the constant reminder, of every patient you see reminding you of the joke. Hearing: ‘You’re called Dennis? And you’re a dentist? Isn’t that a coincidence! As well as absolutely hilarious!’ multiple times a day would drive anyone up the wall. But is it simply a coincidence? A few weeks later, the same someone who informed me of the fact, told me that it was a ‘thing’. Being attracted to things that sound like your name is an established and researched ‘thing’. That even has a name. (Which is Nominative Determinism.) There is yards (actually hundreds of yards) of information on the big wide web (some great summaries on Wikipedia of course)* about the theory, and by who and how and why it was founded – I won’t go into it all here. But in a nutshell, Nominative Determinism is the theory that people are attracted to occupations that sound familiar to their own name. Because of this, their career can be determined, to an extent, by what their name is. For example, if you call your child Dennis, he might end up being a dentist. If you call them Clover, they might end up creating a margarine business. Or if you call it Johnny Cash, he might be attracted to a career that earns a lot of cash.. Albeit bad and (semi) fictitious examples but you get the idea. But why is this fact so interesting? Why has it found a place in my head and set up camp? Well, much like when you read a book that you get entirely immersed in, or when characters in a TV series keep seeing the same thing spookily pop up in different places, once I had discovered that nominative determinism was a ‘thing’, I found myself spotting it everywhere. There was no escape. I have over the last few months noted down every example I have spotted. And it seems, like a chameleon, to fit in to the most ridiculously far fetched places. This is partly because, obviously, in some cases, I am forging some unnecessary connections between people's names and what they do or enjoy, when there are no such obvious connection. But that still doesn’t take away from the fact that the two things I find a connection between, say a person and their career, are not spookily related. Here are a few examples from my ongoing list: a) Wolfgang Reitherman – the man who directed the 1967 Jungle Book Film. The content of which is, literally, about a gang of wolves. b) Caesar the Hairdresser – A friend told me that he got his haircut by a French hairdresser of the name Caesar, which, I know is a stretch, (but imagine it spoken with a soft french accent) we both immediately thought sounds very much like ‘scissor’. c) There was a music teacher at my School with the surname 'Drum'. Now, I'm aware that there are a bunch of people whose names aren't related to their occupations, like Peter Parker our friendly neighbourhood Spiderman, Susan the builder** or John Bon Jovi the Singer. But there are some cases, in which the spooky connection between an individual's name and their occupation, ferociously jumps out at you. So simultaneously, I’m sorry and you’re welcome, for introducing this theory into your lives. You will spot it in a variety of places, and I promise, it will be both amusing, as well as a little frightening. At the end of the day, you won’t have control of where you discover it, and maybe, will soon find yourself being determined by your own name… …Rita. I’m assuming your name sounds something to the effect of ‘reader’.. AND IT’S ONLY JUST BEGUN. *I love Wikipedia and use it for about 90 seconds every day when I want to know things like when the first episode of Top Cat aired, or that Spoonerisms are called so because they were coined by William Spooner, or why things are always named after people called William? Or Henry? I might be referring to WH Smith but the point still stands. **A completely made up person. But if there is a Susan reading this whose profession is a builder then please do leave a comment. |
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