It's most rude of me to spend lots of evenings at book clubs, drinks, dinner parties and the like over the past week, but panic not: I did manage to squeeze in some fun activities in Tokyo.
Spoken word
The spoken word event of the week was without question the English language rakugo performance at the Footnik pub in Ebisu. A British pub might have felt an unlikely venue for a funny, subtle, fascinating and entirely charming rakugo performance, but the place was full to bursting, and the performance was amazing. Rakugo is the Japanese traditional form of storytelling and if you haven't seen it yet, keep an eye out for more shows. If your Japanese is up to it, there are performance halls in Asakusa, Shinjuku and Ueno. I also went to another Comedy Sumo Slam, which was fun as always. Note, I also had a meeting with someone about bringing the Washington DC space cafe to Tokyo. Space fans, watch this space!*
* Inadvertent but excellent pun. Thank you.
Theatre
I haven't managed to go to much theatre in Tokyo so far thanks to my inadequate language skills, but last week the Tokyo International Players performed Big River, the Huckleberry Finn musical, and it was really worth seeing. Great performances, engaging story, and a much-needed balm for my theatre withdrawal symptoms. They're holding auditions for Macbeth in June.
Day tripping
I had a lovely day in Kamakura. Our route: got off the train at Kita-Kamakura, and did an 80-minute walk/hike through surprisingly woody woods to the big Buddha. It was big. From there was a stroll down to the seaside, a walk/paddle along the beach, and back to the station past some charming shops and cafes. Very nice indeed.
What's on in the coming week: Brit About Town picks for 27 May - 3 June
Fri 27 - Two fun events tonight. Your only decision is whether to go to Improvazilla (which I love!) or Dr Sketchy's alternative art burlesque drawing session (which I haven't been to yet, but plan to!). Both excellent choices...
Sat 28 - There's a free comedy night at Vega Wine Bar in Ebisu. Never been there. Might check it out.
Sun 29 - If you foolishly missed Wednesday's stand up comedy visiting headliners, looks like there's still tickets to see a double header of Phil Nichol and Yuriko Kotani. I am extremely excited about this.
Mon 30 - This appears to be your night of rest. Though if anyone knows of a cool event I've missed, email me!
Tue 31 - It's stand up comedy new material night in Shibuya
Wed 1 - If you're really in the mood for brand new stand up comedy, come to a new comedy night at Good Heavens in Shimokitazawa where your very own Brit About Town, Layla, will be doing her very first ever stand up set. It's only three minutes. You can laugh encouragingly for that long, can't you? And I'm sure the others will be great.
Thu 2 - Pecha Kucha night is probably the coolest night I've been to in Tokyo so far (maybe). Arty people talking about cool projects they're doing to change/beautify the world. Get there early if you want a seat, but if you don't mind standing, they'll squeeze you in.
Fri 3 - Excited that Washington DC's Nerd Night is coming to Tokyo! For fun talks about physics and space in a cabaret setting, don't miss it.
Spoken word
The spoken word event of the week was without question the English language rakugo performance at the Footnik pub in Ebisu. A British pub might have felt an unlikely venue for a funny, subtle, fascinating and entirely charming rakugo performance, but the place was full to bursting, and the performance was amazing. Rakugo is the Japanese traditional form of storytelling and if you haven't seen it yet, keep an eye out for more shows. If your Japanese is up to it, there are performance halls in Asakusa, Shinjuku and Ueno. I also went to another Comedy Sumo Slam, which was fun as always. Note, I also had a meeting with someone about bringing the Washington DC space cafe to Tokyo. Space fans, watch this space!*
* Inadvertent but excellent pun. Thank you.
Theatre
I haven't managed to go to much theatre in Tokyo so far thanks to my inadequate language skills, but last week the Tokyo International Players performed Big River, the Huckleberry Finn musical, and it was really worth seeing. Great performances, engaging story, and a much-needed balm for my theatre withdrawal symptoms. They're holding auditions for Macbeth in June.
Day tripping
I had a lovely day in Kamakura. Our route: got off the train at Kita-Kamakura, and did an 80-minute walk/hike through surprisingly woody woods to the big Buddha. It was big. From there was a stroll down to the seaside, a walk/paddle along the beach, and back to the station past some charming shops and cafes. Very nice indeed.
What's on in the coming week: Brit About Town picks for 27 May - 3 June
Fri 27 - Two fun events tonight. Your only decision is whether to go to Improvazilla (which I love!) or Dr Sketchy's alternative art burlesque drawing session (which I haven't been to yet, but plan to!). Both excellent choices...
Sat 28 - There's a free comedy night at Vega Wine Bar in Ebisu. Never been there. Might check it out.
Sun 29 - If you foolishly missed Wednesday's stand up comedy visiting headliners, looks like there's still tickets to see a double header of Phil Nichol and Yuriko Kotani. I am extremely excited about this.
Mon 30 - This appears to be your night of rest. Though if anyone knows of a cool event I've missed, email me!
Tue 31 - It's stand up comedy new material night in Shibuya
Wed 1 - If you're really in the mood for brand new stand up comedy, come to a new comedy night at Good Heavens in Shimokitazawa where your very own Brit About Town, Layla, will be doing her very first ever stand up set. It's only three minutes. You can laugh encouragingly for that long, can't you? And I'm sure the others will be great.
Thu 2 - Pecha Kucha night is probably the coolest night I've been to in Tokyo so far (maybe). Arty people talking about cool projects they're doing to change/beautify the world. Get there early if you want a seat, but if you don't mind standing, they'll squeeze you in.
Fri 3 - Excited that Washington DC's Nerd Night is coming to Tokyo! For fun talks about physics and space in a cabaret setting, don't miss it.
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