Moments before landing myself on stage I was in my seat, minding my own business, and suddenly I’m yelling “porno” at the top of my voice. I had guessed the charade a couple were acting out on stage.
I’ve come along to Thom Foole’s house party in the Old Queens head in Islington. I was promised an evening of clowning, comedy, storytelling, and party games…. they weren’t lying.
The venue for the evening of revelry was a private room upstairs in the pub. Balloons crowd the stage lying next to an inflatable bed. The atmosphere is lively. Everyone was handed a raffle ticket on the way in. Mid-way through the evening a ticket was drawn and the lucky number won a bottle of fizz for their table.
As you can probably tell, the evening is immersive. If you don’t fancy being picked on, called up on stage, or any form of audience participation – then this evening isn’t for you. Which is a great pity as it’s pretty funny to watch people squirm.
In between mischief, comedy acts take to the stage. The evening I joined I saw five acts, mostly musical comedy. I always find comedy is subjective, but my stand-out favourite for the evening was the first act, Hurt & Anderson. With quips about waking up in Morden (a fear for anyone who venture south last at night on the Northern line) and the trials of Tinder set to a pretty catchy melody it was easy to see why they had the crowd in stitches.
This one house party you want an invite to! Luckily, you can see for yourself, Thursday 1 September at 8pm – go fashionably late at your peril, the party goers at Thom’s are good at time keeping.
Thom Foole’s House Party at The Old Queens Head, 44 Essex Road, London, N1 8LN.
