December's Perfect Liars Club was fantastic - and again, the liar was not caught... See photos and reserve your tickets for January 12th. But until then, what do to? We at Perfect Liars Club love to feel as festive as possible over the Christmas season. Christmas carols! Tinsel! Reindeer! Alarmingly large tree in our house! Lovely days off and the whole city in which to have a delightful time! So... what should we get up to?

FESTIVE FUN AVAILABLE ALL THROUGH THE FESTIVE SEASON

I've already splashed out on tickets for the big Christmas Wonderland show at Tokyu Theatre Orb - it sounds like a festive extravaganza and it's on 16th - 25th December. Or if your festive traditions include a bit of Broadway, Rent the Musical, in English, is running at Tokyo International Forum 16-31st December. There are lots of illuminations to visit around town, which sound amazing. I especially like the sound of the Caretta Shiodome lights (5-11pm) which I'm planning to combine with a visit to this cool Ghibli clock at nearby Nittele Tower (be there 5 mins before 6 or 8pm for the clock action) - and maybe finish off the evening with a little G&T in nearby lovely Land Bar Artisan. There are also Christmas markets aplenty - I am most looking forward to Hibiya's German Christmas market backed by the German Embassy (so much so that I mistakenly went there this week - I now know it's open 16-25th Dec). Also, we are a rather excited about ice rinks (or if you want to be quirkier on the ice, there's a rooftop curling rink in Shibuya!). So that's all fun. But what about events that are only on specific days, I hear you ask? Your wish is my command. I'll even include some extra-Christmassy options for you. Have fun, Tokyoites - and happy holidays!

INDIVIDUAL DAY PLANNER 

Fri 16th Dec - Kick off the festivities with talks about food, elections and nanomaterials at Nerdnite tonight, or else head over to a Nakamekurositsu circus show (juggling/acrobatics/aerial things) at Setagaya Public Theatre's Theatre Tram at 7:30pm. Or go to Balls to the Wall Comedy in Roppongi. If you're feeling festive, the Tokyo Ballet is doing The Nutcracker. Finally, if you're a night owl and like Charlie Chaplin, head to Ginrei Hall in Iidabashi for a one-night-only, night-long Charlie Chaplin marathon. Starts at 11pm, finishes at 5:30am.

Sat 17th Dec - First head to the Christmas market at the UN Farmers Market. Then the Nakamekurositsu circus show is on at 2pm and 6pm (I'm going at 6) in Sangenjaya. Or see The Nutcracker.

Sun 18th Dec - The Nakamekurositsu circus show is on at 2pm only. And in the evening is the Gamuso comedy show in Asagaya. Or the last night of The Nutcracker.

Mon 19th Dec - Bunkamura has the Glory Gospel Singers if you are in the mood for some festive music tonight. Or on a rather different note, there's a free lecture at Temple University on zen Buddhism and sexual desire...

Tue 20th Dec - Tonight is the Tokyo launch of Space Cafe. Affiliated with the International Space University, this is a cool public event where you get to hear space leaders and prominent experts talk to you about awesome space things. I went to this regularly in Washington DC, got to hear from NASA people, and it was fantastic. Tonight, Elizabeth Tasker from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) will talk about JAXA's asteroid explorer mission, Hayabusa2, to find the origins of life. This should be very cool.

Wed 21st Dec - If you can manage to get tickets (I randomly did via Twitter), it's Time Out Tokyo's Love Tokyo awards this afternoon at 4. Then turn out for the final Good Heavens Comedy Show this year! There's also a Christmas Special Disney concert if you are in the mood for some festive Disney music.

Thu 22nd Dec - There's a shadow puppet and music show called Rendez-Li-Vous by 99 Roll tonight - while it's in Japanese, I'm assured that two of the three stories have  no words at all, so you can appreciate the bulk of it without knowing Japanese. (Put the website into Google Chrome/translate for more info). The musician, Daremo Shiranai, won a Cannes festival award for her song for the film "Nobody Knows".

Fri 23rd Dec - There's a big Christmas concert of music by the Ukraine National Orchestra including quite a lot from The Nutcracker at the Tokyo International Forum if you are feeling festive.

Sat 24th Dec - The same Christmas concert of music by the Ukraine National Orchestra is on today; this time it's at the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall. From today all through to January, see the movie Sing Street at Ginrei Hall. And tonight for the next week, don't miss some top class British Shakespeare: The Winter's Tale starring Judy Dench is screening in English at Ikebukuro's Cine Libre tonight and for the next week. 

Sun 25th Dec - Merry Christmas! This is my first Christmas in Japan. I am reliably told that today is about planning a Christmas date (because apparently Christmas is the holiday of romance in this city), eating KFC (because chicken has become the festive bird of choice in Japan), and devouring Christmas cake (which turns out to be sponge cake with strawberries and cream on it). I'll be visiting a Christmas market and going to the movies too. Hooray for holidays!

Mon 26th Dec - Tonight at 7pm Good Heavens is screening that festive classic It's A Wonderful Life, accompanied by various festive treats, free. They are putting it on by special request from us, it's the only place to see it on screen in Tokyo, and it's the perfect way to enjoy a traditional festive season. Don't miss it. We'll see you there.

Tue 27th Dec - It's new material at stand up comedy night tonight at Double Tall Cafe in Shibiya.

Wed 28th Dec - Tonight Apocrypha brings us a night of stories, discussion and beer. The theme of tonight's true stories being performed: 'blessings in disguise'.

Thu 29th Dec - Not much on today, so looks like it's time for you to check out Christmas Wonderland show at Tokyu Theatre Orb or Rent the Musical.

Fri 30th Dec - Finally we get to go to a Drunk Poets See God night, and we're excited. It promises music, poetry, stories and the like - and it's open mic if you feel like performing. Doors at 7pm at Bar Gari Gari. The theme: far away for the holidays.

Sat 31st Dec - HAPPY NEW YEAR! Want to go to some theatre pre-late-night-celebration? How about heading to Ikebukuro's Cine Libre to watch The Entertainer from the Garrick Theatre in London? Screening time not published yet... Also, look out for our Perfect Liars Club Best of Tokyo 2016 Awards which we'll be publishing today - exciting.

​See you next year, Tokyoites.

PS Plan far in advance

Obviously you need Perfect Liars Club tickets for January 12th. Reserve here. (note: 1500 in advance, 2000 on the door, both include a drink!)

If you are into comedy by world famous superstar comedians, make sure you get tickets for Eddie Izzard's show on Saturday February 25th! Probably wise to book sooner rather than later.

The coolest things to do in Tokyo in the next couple of weeks

I know you are counting the days til Perfect Liars Club on 15th December - the event of the season. But to pass those long evenings before it's time for that, here's a double edition of cool things for you to do in Tokyo (as I'm going on vacation)  - so here's what to do til I get back and Perfect Liars Club is upon us! Have a great time, Tokyoites!

Fri 25 Nov - It's the last Friday of the month so you know what that means: my favorite improv night, Improvazilla AND Drunk Poets See God open mic story/poetry/music night AND Dr Sketchy's burlesque drawing event. And as though the usual trio isn't sufficiently excessive for one night, Nerd Nite has decided to get on the bandwagon and is also on tonight. And someone just told me about This&That Cafe, a live art and live music night at Roppongi. For goodness' sake! Also it's the final weekend of the Tokyo FILMeX film festival - all films have English language subtitles.

Sat 26 Nov -  During the day today and tomorrow, Design Festa is a giant art event showcasing thousands of artists including lots of arty performances. In the evening, a new Japanese theatre company are performing a brand new musical, Kaso Jogi, which has English surtitles tonight only, in Nakano. Also, it's the penultimate day of the Tokyo FILMeX film festival.

Sun 27 Nov - My favourite art event in Tokyo is today at 4pm - head to PauseDraw for jolly companionable drawing games. And it's the final day of the Tokyo FILMeX film festival.

Mon 28 Nov - Feel like you just haven't heard enough about Donald Trump? Why not pop along to Temple University to hear their Director of Asian Studies on 'Trumpageddon and implications for Asia' this evening? It's free. 

Tue 29 Nov - Are you a hacker? (That's someone who makes and mixes technology, art, music, design stuff, general geekery, 3D printing and the like). The Tokyo Hackerspace has a free open house tonight in Itabashi, mostly in English.

Wed 30 Nov - As ever, Wednesday night means Good Heavens Comedy Club. Hooray!

Fri 2 Dec - The Gamuso comedy show is on tonight in Asagaya.

Sat 3 Dec - There's stand up comedy tonight at Vega Wine Bar in Ebisu.

Sun 4 Dec - The place to be tonight is Roppongi. Bilingual improv troupe Pirates of Tokyo Bay have their big 6th anniversary show tonight at SuperDeluxe and it's going to be big. Also tonight is Comedy SumoSlam where two teams of comedians battle to the death in an exciting topical news quiz. No, I'm not performing in this one - I'll be on vacation. But it will still be fab. 

Wed 7 Dec - Instead of the usual stand up comedy tonight, Good Heavens Comedy Club has an international comedy headliner, award winning Steve Bugeja from the UK. Don't miss it (or if you do, he's on again on Friday)!

Thu 8 Dec - Go see short films at Good Heavens this week - it's the second edition of the cool little indie film event, Shorts on Tap: London Calling. 

Fri 9 Dec - The second and final opportunity for you to see international comedy headliner, award winning Steve Bugeja from the UK.

Sat 10 Dec - Tonight it's the launch party of the 3rd edition of the Tokyo Poetry Journal. The theme is poetry's relationship with music, so expect both - and note that the main language is English.

Thu 15th Dec - It's the best night of the month - Perfect Liars Club. Make sure you've reserved your tickets because this sells out and it is amazing. Plus we have particularly cool performers. (I say that every month - but you won't be disappointed this month!)

PS I wrote an article about English language theatre for Tokyo Cheapo. Here it is.

Greetings from Tallinn. Usually I write about all the cool things I did in Tokyo over the past week but in fact I've been in Estonia for work, so I've done no fun things at all. Oh, except for Saturday when I went to the Ebisu Cheese Festa (and found it so busy and stressful I failed to get any cheese); to Kinokuniya books in Shinjuku again (for some delightful English language book browsing), and to Bill's in Ginza (for some absolutely delicious dining)... Despite my absence (and my imminent absence next week on a second work trip!) I have still selflessly identified all the best things to do in Tokyo next week, especially for you, dear reader. Enjoy while thinking of me slaving away and missing all the fun. I'll be back for Improvazilla next Friday though!

Coolest things to do in Tokyo this week

Fri 18 Nov - Tokyo's only other storytelling night (aside from lovely Perfect Liars Club) is Apocrypha and the theme tonight is Doubt. It's at Bar Gari Gari. Should be a good night.

Sat 19 Nov - Another NTLive play, The Hard Problem, screened from London, kicks off its week-long run tonight at Le Cinema Bunkamura in Shibuya - it's on at 6pm. Enjoy. Also tonight is the launch of another film festival, Tokyo FilmEx, which showcases emerging Asian directors and very helpfully has English subtitles on all its films: hooray! Here's a description of the films and here's the schedule. Some sound rather fantastic. It's on for a week, til next Sunday.

Sun 20 Nov - The Gamuso comedy show is on in Asagaya tonight.

Mon 21 Nov - In the mood for some US politics? Head over to Temple University tonight to hear a panel of political thinkers (including two from Forbes magazine) talk about 'Race and Realignment: How will the Democratic and Republican parties reformulate after 2016?'. It's free but you should register at the link.

Tue 22 Nov - Tonight it's stand up comedy new material night in Shibuya.

Wed 23 Nov - Top comedy night Good Heavens Comedy Club is back tonight in Shimokitazawa.

Thu 24 Nov - Pecha Kucha is back at SuperDeluxe in Roppongi tonight. This show now happens all over the world, but Tokyo is the original. Expect short, cool talks in English and Japanese by architects, designers, and other arty type people. This is a really cool event.

Fri 25 Nov - It's the last Friday of the month so you know what that means: my favorite improv night, Improvazilla AND Drunk Poets See God open mic story/poetry/music night AND Dr Sketchy's burlesque drawing event. And as though the usual trio isn't sufficiently excessive for one night, Nerd Nite has decided to get on the bandwagon and is also on tonight. For goodness' sake! Really wish people would spread these over the whole month! But yes, four excellent options for you to enjoy.

Don't forget to reserve your tickets for Perfect Liars Club on 15th December - and if you'd like to tell a story at the show, email us asap! We have one more spot.

Last week was all about comedy, film and books. I had a fantastic time at my performing debut at comedy sumo slam. This event, by Standup Tokyo, happens around once per month and other than Perfect Liars Club, I think it's one of the best comedy nights in town: it's in the style of a news quiz like Have I Got News for You or Mock the Week, and involves two teams trying to be funniest about topical issues. It is quite hard to do - how I missed the days of enjoying it from the audience rather. But on the other hand - it was hilarious.

I also had a little cinema extravaganza. I wasn't sure I was going to admit to having seen Bridget Jones's baby... but actually it was surprisingly hilarious. Presumably the Japanese subtitles don't convey the humour, or maybe it was very British - I noticed the rest of the cinema looking on in bemusement as I chuckled and roared with laughter... The next day I raised the cinematic tone by going to see Becky Sharp at the lovely National Film Centre. That place is a hidden gem. Shame the films on for the rest of the year are not in English (but if you speak German, Russian, Polish or French, you're all set!)

And finally, I discovered Kinokuniya Books in Shinjuku. I feel ridiculous because I'm sure everyone else has already discovered it, but it's the best English language bookstore for new books that I've found in Tokyo. It's modern and unremarkable in design. It doesn't have a cafe. But... it has a whole glorious floor of books in a wide range of categories. Excellent fiction selections. A decent English language magazine collection. Oh and lots of English language manga too. As a book lover, I felt a wave of relief as I've been in bookshop withdrawal for months (despite walking past the beautiful, plentiful, but not very Englishful bookshops of Jimbocho en route to work every day!). There was a French author book signing while I was there (they have smaller collections of other language books) though it wasn't very busy. Join with me in calling for Kinokuniya to bring more English language authors to do some book readings and talks in this lovely store!

Fri 11 Nov - Tonight is your last chance to see the NTLive London play of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime screened at Le Cinema in Bunkamura, Shibuya. It is outstanding. Also tonight, NTLive presents a week of the brilliant play Warhorse in Toho Roppongi and Nihonbashi. Finally there's a new comedy night, Balls to the Walls comedy in Tokyo Sports Cafe in Roppongi.

Sat 12 Nov - During the day it's Cheese Festa in Ebisu. There will be seminars, tastings, free samples, and lots of cheese to buy. Tonight Le Cinema at Bunkamura starts screening another NTLive London hit play, Man and Superman starring Ralph Fiennes. It runs until Thursday. Click here for cinema info.

Sun 13 Nov - Swing by Bookmarc store in Harajuku between 6-7pm for a photography book signing with Ed and Deanna Templton (and beer). 

Mon and Tue 14-15 Nov - There's nothing special on Monday or Tuesday. Maybe these should be your NTLive nights!  Warhorse is on at 12:30pm at Toho Roppongi Hills and 7pm at Toho Nihonbashi; Man and Superman is at Le Cinema Bunkamura at 6pm.If you like excellent British theatre, you're spoilt!

Wed 16 Nov - Tonight the regular Good Heavens stand up comedy night is being transformed into a roast for veteran Tokyo comedian Vinay Murthy - he will be being duly mocked by a range of local comedians on the occasion of his 40th birthday.

Thu 17 Nov - Tonight Stand Up Tokyo brings us visiting UK comedian Stuart Goldsmith. A veteran of Edinburgh Fringe, and famous for his podcast, the Comedian's Comedian, he will be at Good Heavens bar. Get your tickets in advance! This is likely to be excellent. If you fail to get tickets there's also stand up comedy tonight at the Hobgoblin Shibuya.

Fri 18 Nov - Tokyo's only other storytelling night (aside from Perfect Liars Club) is Apocrypha and the theme tonight is doubt. It's at Bar Gari Gari.

Oh, and Brooklyn is being screened at Ginrei Hall, my favourite movie theatre, all week.

Don't forget to reserve your tickets for Perfect Liars Club on 15th December - and if you'd like to tell a story at the show, email us asap! We're still casting it.

Perfect Liars Club last night was absolutely hilarious if we do say so ourselves... the four suspects told incredible stories. The audience was on fire with amazingly shrewd questions. We demanded answers (and a limbo dancing demonstration). But in the end the audience failed to spot the liar... it was Tim Hitchens, the British Ambassador to Tokyo. Hilarious. Read all about it and see some photos here. If you would like to perform or know someone who would be great, here's how. And if you want tickets for the next show on December 15th, reserve them here.

Other than that, since my parents spent their first week doing standard Tokyo sightseeing, their last weekend required second level sights with added quirk: Shimokitazawa for second hand kimono shopping and random shop pottering, Kagurazaka for crepes and strolling, Improvazilla for an awesome improvised zombie musical, the amazingly good Italian restaurant Elio Locanda, and finally, (alas) karaoke. All good fun. I literally spent the next 3 days recovering! We also went to the lovely Canal Cafe in Iidabashi and enjoyed pizza while watching people in rowboats. Such a beautiful waterside location. (And right next door to lovely Ginrei Hall where we saw the charming British movie A Royal Night Out in English - it's on til November 11th.) Are there any other waterside locations like this in Tokyo? Answers please! 

Great news for theatre lovers: if you still haven't seen the NTLive screening of the British play A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime it's on all this week, 5th - 11th November at Bunkamura. I think it's the best NT Live production I've seen. Here's the full listings for November - three shows. Also this week from UK theatre, Branagh Theatre Live is screening A Winter's Tale starring Judy Dench, screening at Toho Nihonbashi. It's tricky to find the right links but looks like it's on 7:20pm on weeknights and 12:20 over the weekend. There's also a treat for classic US film fans this weekend at the National Film Centre.

Fri 4 Nov - Tonight there's the Gamuso comedy show in Asagaya. Tonight at the National Film Centre, from the UCLA Film Archive, see classic film Force of Evil. You also have tonight or tomorrow to catch the Japanese version of the UK's Royal Ballet, Romeo and Juliet.

Sat 5 Nov - During the day at the National Film Centre there are three different films from the UCLA Film Archive: The Toll of the Sea, Becky Sharp, and Matewan. All in English. There's the Vega comedy show in Ebisu but most excitingly, don't miss Comedy Sumo Slam in Roppongi - this topical comedy gameshow is my favourite comedy night in Tokyo - and this month I'm performing in it. Eeek! Wish me luck and laugh loudly. 

Sun 6 Nov - It's the final day of the UCLA Film Archive run at the National Film Centre. Today you can see Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean; Mickey One; and The Connection.
 
Mon 7 Nov - Have you noticed there's almost never anything on Mondays in Tokyo? Maybe tonight's the night to see ACurious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime? Or, ahem, Bridget Jones' Baby... Just saying.

Tue 8 Nov - It's stand up comedy new material night tonight in Shibuya.

Wed 9 Nov - The weekly Good Heavens comedy night is tonight!

Thu 10 Nov - There's a special Pecha Kucha night tonight but it looks like it might be more in Japanese than usual... 

Know of a great event we should include in this listing? Let us know by email or on Twitter.