Live comedy catch-up

Just thought I’d make a quick post to document my last two comedy shows of the year. Last Thursday I was at The Lowry’s Lyric Theatre to see John Robins perform his latest comedy show, ‘Howl’. I’d had the ticket since the beginning of January and when I bought it, the only ones still available were on the back row of the lower circle – the furthest back I’ve sat in there!

‘John Robins – Howl’ at The Lowry.

When I was at the Edinburgh Fringe back in August, he was doing two shows – ‘Howl’ and a ‘Work-in-Progress’, so I decided to go to the WIP since I knew I already had a ticket for ‘Howl’ later in the year, and guessed that it would probably contain more stuff that wouldn’t end up in the main show. The Lowry show was in two parts and ran for about an hour and a half, and I was pleased to discover that whilst I recognised a bit of the material from Edinburgh, the majority was new to me. I thought he was really good… it’s a weird kind of show because it focusses a lot on mental health and dealing with alcoholism, so although it was quite dark and heavy in places, it was also pretty powerful and really funny, and I think the balance he struck was spot on.

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Half Term & Reunion Plan C

Over half term week starting at the end of October, Mum and Chloe came up to visit, and they arrived by train on the Sunday evening – a bit later planned because Chloe had originally forgotten her coat, and had to go back home to get it before returning to Tamworth to get the train with mum! On Monday, it was quite rainy, so I drove us all over to The Trafford Centre where we had lunch, and had a bit of a look around the shops. The next day was a bit drier, so we went into Stockport – mum had mentioned that she’d never been into the town on her previous visits here, so I gave them a bit of a walking tour, through some of the new developments to the Underbanks, the Market Hall and Produce Hall.

Chloe and me outside the Produce Hall in Stockport.

When Brandon came up to visit back in February, we all went to Junkyard Golf (where mum won!), so with Chloe here we decided to try another crazy golf venue in Manchester city centre – Treetop Golf. I’d found it by accident whilst doing a Google search – it’s basically above the Printworks, but the entrance is hidden away on Dantzic Street, away from the main bit. But I was really impressed with how they’ve done it. The theming is really good, and feels so much bigger than Junkyard Golf. Also, because we arrived early, we were able to go round both courses for the price of one, so we ended up spending a good couple of hours there.

Me, Chloe and mum at Treetop Golf.

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