Graham Linehan’s stage adaption of The Lady Killers had high expectations to fulfill but still, somehow, managed to satisfy them. With a premium cast and, of course, solidly funny premise Lady Killers is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. But first, the set. There are few sets that, entirely independently of the cast, manage to get real […]
Leon Rosselson is a giant. For decades he has been quietly playing folk clubs, and gigs and was even played a real part in the post-war revival of folk music in the UK. For those who’ve not heard of him before his biggest brush with main stream fame is the […]
David Mentiply has been reading Just Boris: The Irresistible Rise of a Political Celebrity Back in 2009, City Hall blogger Adam Bienkov branded the Mayor ‘Boris the Boring’. This is perhaps not the first caricature that springs to mind when people think of Boris, but it actually turned out to […]
The Shard is beginning to grow on David Mentiply (warning: this post may contain sci-fi references). I’ve never seen the Thames tide quite as low as on Friday last week. It was slightly unnerving so I decided to take refuge in Tate Modern. This picture was taken from the terrace […]
Blink and you’d miss it, Joe Simpson‘s little gallery tucked away off Camden High Street has just finished today. As yo can see it was hiding in plain sight among the ubiquitous scaffolding and works that are forever going on in the area. Joe Simpson’s work that draws and plays […]
Those who follow Big Smoke will be au fait with Wolfgang Moneypenny’s campaign to run for London mayor. If not – shame on you – he’s the South London separatist calling for the reversal of gentrification and redevelopment projects, and for state funding for Dulwich Hamlet FC. Anything to lift […]
Penny-farthings, bread, and teapots – just some of the things David Mentiply saw on his big day out to the Museum of London and the Design Museum. Museum of London There used to be lots of these things wizzing around London. This tray of bread was spotted in the “Victorian […]
Frankland and Son at the Camden’s People’s Theater is a simple, perhaps simplistic tale. John and Tom Frankland are the (real life) father and son in question and are a likable pair, if a little too inoffensive. The play focuses on the Frankland’s family tree and the slow discovery of the past through […]
Kate Murdoch is an artist based in south-east London. She tells Big Smoke about the inspirations behind her work. Hello Kate. You’re first exhibition was back in 2007 in Deptford. How did you arrive at this point? Had you always wanted to be an artist? In 2007 I applied to […]
David Mentiply took one for the team and reviews a night on the town at London’s new Brew Dog pub in Camden. BrewDog already had a name for itself north of the border – it being Scotland’s largest independently owned brewery and a champion of ‘punk spirit’. That’s right, BrewDog […]
Never noticed this before. As strolling past Trafalgar Square I saw the statue of Charles the first....
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