Theatre, comedy and cinema - The Rough Guide to London - page 417

29

Rich Mix 35-47 Bethnal Green Rd, E1 T 020 7613
7498, W richmix.org.uk; Shoreditch High Street
Overground. This charity-funded arts centre offers a
stimulating mix of new theatre, spoken word, comedy and
dance, with a strong emphasis on black and minority works
from the local area and around the world.
Roundhouse Chalk Farm Rd, NW1 T 0844 482 8008,
W roundhouse.org.uk; ! Chalk Farm. Camden's exciting
cultural venue in an old - round - engine repairs shed,
puts

! Elephant and Castle. With two theatre spaces, this
energetic theatre concentrates on new and young writers,
reinterpreting old classics and contemporary plays.
Ì Wilton's Music Hall Grace's Alley, off Cable St, E1
T 020 7702 2789, W wiltons.org.uk; ! Aldgate East or
Tower Gateway DLR. The world's oldest surviving music
hall, built in 1858, is a crumbling, hugely atmospheric
space, with barley-sugar wrought-iron columns holding up
the gallery, peeling walls and a stunning, decaying old bar.
It's a wonderful venue for innovative theatre, comedy,
poetry and variety as well as magic shows, cinema and a
variety of hipster events. Unmissable.

on cutting-edge theatre, performance art,

contemporary circus and spoken word performances.
Southwark Playhouse 77-85 Newington Causeway,
SE1 T 020 7407 0234, W southwarkplayhouse.co.uk;

COMEDY
From the big-name, big-theatre, big-ticket shows, to old favourites like the Comedy Store - at the heart of the alternative
comedy movement of the 1980s - or even shabby neighbourhood pubs hosting shambolic open-mic nights, you're never
too far away from a chuckle in London. Note that many venues only have gigs on Friday and Saturday nights, and that
August can be a lean month, as much of London's talent heads north for Edinburgh. See also Rich Mix (see above), the Soho
Theatre (see p.419), Union Chapel (see p.289) and Wilton's Music Hall (see above), all of which host excellent comedy
nights. Full listings appear in Time Out .

Amused Moose Soho 17 Greek St, W1 T 020 7287
3727, W amusedmoose.com; ! Tottenham Court
Road. Top-notch stand-up in Soho, and comedy courses
too. Every Saturday, plus other occasional nights, and
Edinburgh previews in July. Branches in Marylebone,
Camden, Islington and off Shaftesbury.
Boat Show Comedy Club Tattershall Castle, Victoria
Embankment, SW1 T 07932 658895, W boatshow
comedy.co.uk; ! Embankment. It's certainly a novel
venue - on a paddlesteamer, bobbing on the Thames
opposite the London Eye - and the comedy nights (Fri &
Sat, and 1st Mon of the month) frequently feature big
names trying out their TV material.
Camden Head 100 Camden High St, NW1 T 020 7485
4019, W camdenhead.com; ! Camden Town.
Consistently good, and very inexpensive open mic,
sketches and stand-up, every weeknight, in this friendly
Camden boozer.
Canal Café Theatre The Bridge House, Delamere
Terrace, W2 T 020 7289 6054, W canalcafetheatre
.com; ! Warwick Avenue. Set above a nice waterside
pub in Little Venice, this venue is home to the fast-paced

NewsRevue team of topical gagsters (Thurs-Sun).
Comedy Store 1a Oxendon St, SW1 T 0844 871 7699,
W thecomedystore.co.uk; ! Piccadilly Circus. Widely
regarded as the birthplace of alternative comedy, the
Comedy Store has catapulted many a stand-up onto
primetime TV. Improvisation by in-house comics and top-
notch stand-up bills; Friday and Saturday are the busiest
nights, with two shows, at 7.30pm and 11pm - book ahead.
Ì Downstairs at the King's Head 2 Crouch End Hill,
N8 T 020 8340 1028, W downstairsatthekingshead
.com; bus #W7 from ! Finsbury Park. Friendly, very
long-running north London comedy night where stand-up,
cabaret and new material from top comedians is played out
in a cosy basement. Thurs, Sat & Sun, plus regular other
nights.
Leicester Square Theatre 6 Leicester Place, WC2
T 0844 873 3433, W leicestersquaretheatre.com; !
Leicester Square. A kind of off-West End comedy space
that sees new performers, comedy theatre and some of the
edgier big names in current comedy - Stewart Lee, Doug
Stanhope, Bill Bailey and the like - performing new
material and warm-up gigs.

CINEMA
There are an awful lot of cinemas in London, especially the West End . The biggest are on and around Leicester Square,
including the Empire Leicester Square ( W empirecinemas.co.uk), a former Victorian variety theatre whose 1330-seat
main auditorium has a state-of-the-art soundsystem, and the 1700-seat Odeon Leicester Square ( W odeon.co.uk), a
favourite for celeb-packed premieres. These concentrate on Hollywood crowdpleasers and new releases, but there are a
few classy chains that show more offbeat screenings - check out the Picturehouse ( W picturehouses.co.uk), Curzon
( W curzoncinemas.com) and Everyman ( W everymancinema.com) websites for locations - and a number of one-off
independent cinemas. You can also watch films in lush surroundings at the hip boutique hotels Charlotte Street Hotel
(see p.356), and Covent Garden Hotel (see p.358), all of which offer packages linking classic movies in their bespoke