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10th March 2010
A free weekly ezine featuring the best events in London

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Illustration by Julie Khan

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Cultural Quality Control: a free, weekly ezine featuring the best gigs, theatre,art, clubbing and comedy in London.

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Hussein Chalayan

22nd February 2009
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The Indian Wants the Bronx

7th February 2009
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The Unexpected Items

13th February 2009
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Macbeth

20th February 2009
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Friday 2nd

Listening Post

'Listening Post' is split into seven separate scenes, each one displaying uncensored samples of text lifted from live internet chatrooms. Constantly shifting, this work highlights both the beauty and the spontaneously sprawling aspects of the internet, and, indeed, of much of the modern world. read on

where:
Science Museum
Exhibition Road
SW7 2DD
when:
10am - 6pm
what:
Art, Science, Museum
cost:
Free
 

Mary Goes First

A festive slice of social satire at the Orange Tree this Christmas sees a revival of Henry Arthur Jones' social-climbing farce, which is sadly as fresh and relevant today as it was in 1913. It belongs to a rich tradition of class-obsessed satires which includes Spoonfed favourites To The Manor Born and Keeping Up Appearances. Mary Winchello and... read on

where:
Orange Tree Theatre
1 Clarence Street
TW9 2SA
when:
7.45 - 10pm
what:
Comedy, Theatre
cost:
From £9 to £25

Saturday 3rd

Design Cities

A major new show at the Design Museum examining the development of contemporary design through the contributions of seven important cities. From the 1851 Great Exhibition in London to Adolf Loos in Vienna in 1908, the Bauhaus in Dessau in 1928 and Le Corbusier's Paris of '36. Then on to Charles and Ray Eames in LA in 1949, Milan in 1957 and Tok... read on

where:
Design Museum
Shad Thames
SE1 2YD
when:
10am - 5.45pm
what:
 Museum, Design, Fashion, Architecture, History
cost:
£9; £7 (Concessions); £5 (NUS)
 

Peter Pan

Hmmm. Leslie Grantham returns to panto this Christmas as Captain Hook in the Beck's celebrity-studded version of Peter Pan. Hopefully there'll be no repeats of his online finger-sucking exploits behind the scenes... he could do himself a nasty injury with that hook. (Although it's alleged he dressed up as the self-same character during the ori... read on

where:
Beck Theatre
Grange Road
UB3 2UE
when:
7 - 9.15pm
what:
Pantomime
cost:
From £15 to £23

Sunday 4th

Turning the Season

Just a bit wacky, or totally brilliant? A bit of both, we think. This winter The Wapping Project is celebrating the Season, darling: the Great British countryside, tweeds and twelve-bores, mallards, polo, debs and racing. And good god, are they going the whole hog! There's a hundred bird houses filling a tree, an installation of porcelain deer ... read on

where:
The Wapping Project
Wapping Wall
E1W 3SG
who:
Frederikson Stallard+Samuel Spenser+Martin Scanlan+Jules Wright+Eilis O'Connel
when:
10am - 6pm
what:
Art, Gallery, Photography, Performance Art, Installation
cost:
Free

Monday 5th

The Barbie Stand-Up Show

The Barbie Stand-Up show might sound like a load of dumb blondes mincing in front of a mic but you'd be wrong -  this is beautiful girls being funny and often giving shockingly honest insights into to their careers and life in London. Comediennes come from all kinds of backgrounds such as banking, lap-dancing, glamour-modelling and fashion-modelling... read on

where:
The Star of Bethnal Green
359 Bethnal Green Road
E2 6LG
who:
Thea Montgomerie-Anderson+Billy Lasar+new acts
when:
6.30 - 9pm
what:
Stand Up
cost:
Free
 

Pole Dancing Taster

Team Spoonfed recently decided, we really need a pole in the office. For fitness, and entertainment value. That aside, the team at Polestars are the pros when it comes to pole dancing, burlesque and can can lessons. The pole dancing taster offers you a glimpse of what the world of spinning, twisting and arching of backs is all about. Not only for the... read on

where:
Zoo Bar
13-17 Bear Street
WC2H 7AS
when:
7 - 9pm
what:
 Dance Classes
cost:
£20

Tuesday 6th

Body Worlds

Gunther von Hagens' 3rd Body Worlds exhibition kicks off its world tour at the O2 Arena, with the usual accompanying gawps, gasps and mild controversy. On display are a whole host of human bodies, stripped of their skin so that you can view the internal organs, and then arranged in a range of poses. read on

where:
O2 Arena
Millennium Way
SE10 0AX
when:
10am - 7pm
what:
Science, Education
cost:
From £8 to £14
 

The Family Reunion

The centre-piece of the Donmar's T.S.Eliot festival is this extended run for his haunting tale about a young man returning to his ancestral home for his mother's birthday. He confides a dark secret from the outside world to his aunt, only to learn the family is itself haunted by demons. Spooky, poetic and completely gripping, The Family Reunion is among... read on

where:
Donmar Warehouse
41 Earlham Street
WC2H 9LX
when:
7.30 - 9.40pm
what:
Thriller, Classic
cost:
From £13 to £20

Wednesday 7th

Complicit

Kevin Spacey assumes his Director's Hat once again at the Old Vic for this brand new, contemporary satire/thriller about a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who suddenly falls foul of the authorities and finds himself facing a dilemma of his own creation, in front of the Supreme Court no less. It's Bush's America and suddenly the truth seeking, liberty... read on

where:
The Old Vic
103 The Cut
SE1 8NB
when:
7.30 - 9.30pm
what:
Melodrama, Thriller
cost:
From £14.50 to £42.50
 

Tesco Disco

Featuring a nocturnal art salon, live performance and truly unique electronic soundscapes, terminal fashionistas TescoDisco aim to make Wednesdays a special sonic and visual experience. With a different theme each month; different curators will showcase works that upholds the night's manifesto: the creator being a true artist; producing works of honesty... read on

where:
Hedges & Butler
W1B 4QB
who:
Tet Yep+Kitten+Chris Flatline+Emily Strange
when:
6pm - late
what:
 Punk, Indie
cost:
£6; Free before 8pm

Thursday 8th

Alexis Dubus: A Brief Ruddy History of Swearing

It's big AND it's clever. Fables, facts and funnies about our favourite four-letter friends. This show went down incredibly well at Edinburgh this year and won the 'Three Weeks Editors' Award' for Top 10 Edinburgh Fringe Experiences. read on

where:
Etcetera Theatre
265 Camden High Street
NW1 7BU
when:
7.30 - 10.30
what:
 Sketches, Stand Up
cost:
£8
 

Onederland

From Chesney Hawkes to Ini Kamoze, Onederland every Thursday at Trafik celebrates the glorious music of one hit wonders. Expect a smart selection of rare groov oddities, disco classics and obscure indie pop at this switched-on, laid back bar.
read on

where:
Trafik
331 Old Street
EC1V 9LE
when:
7pm - 2am
what:
Pop
cost:
Free

Friday 9th

Thank XXXX for Funny Business

Thank XXXX for Funny Business brings you four of the London circuit's best comedians on one billing. These people will have you laughing so hard, you''ll think that you've been subjected to the same gas the Joker uses in Batman.
read on

where:
Comedy Cafe
66 Rivington Street
EC2A 3AY
who:
Bob Mills+Joe Bor+Martin Davis+Tom Craine
when:
8 - 11pm
what:
Stand Up
cost:
£10
 

Edward Burtynsky: Australian Minescapes

Edward Burtynsky's highly detailed and razor sharp photography has garnered him an international reputation. His works generally focus on places where human activity interrupts the existence of nature: quarries, industrial refineries and shipyards, for example. This exhibition at Flowers East consists of images of mines in Western Australia: the balance... read on

where:
Flowers (East) E2
82 Kingsland Road
E2 8DP
when:
10am - 6pm
what:
Art, Gallery, Photography
cost:
Free
 

Kimono Krush

The Duchess of Pork and Al Dente, the 'naked stuntmen' behind Sugarlow, take over at the Royal Vauxhall for a night of well chosen music including '60s girl groups, '70s disco, '80s NY no wave, '90s indie and up-to-date electro. DJ duo Readers Wifes are resident guests and being as it's in the tavern, you can expect all manner of surprise cabaret, guest... read on

where:
Royal Vauxhall Tavern
372 Kennington Lane
SE11 5HY
who:
Readers Wifes+Shanghai Surprise+Al Dente+Duchess of Pork
when:
9pm - 3am
what:
Electro, Disco, Indie
cost:
£4

Saturday 10th

Chuckle Club Anniversary Special

Now in its 23rd year, the Chuckle Club is the second oldest comedy club in London, next to the Comedy Store. Held in the LSE student bar, it consequently has the cheapest drinks you will find at a comedy club and it attracts some of the biggest comedians on the circuit too. Eddie Izzard and Al Murray have appeared in the past and recent billings in... read on

where:
The Three Tuns (LSE)
WC2A 2AE
who:
Milton Jones+Simon Munnery+Stewart Lee+Eugene Cheese
when:
8.30 - 10.45pm
what:
Stand Up
cost:
£12; £10 (concessions)
 

Man Make Music

After a couple of years throwing parties around London, ManMakeMusic settles down for the winter at The Last Days of Decadence.  The night has a reputation for forward-thinking, bass-heavy music and an open-minded attitude to programming, two things carried over to the new residency. Over coming months you'll be able to see a variety of top-class DJs... read on

where:
The Last Days Of Decadence
145 Shoreditch High Street
E1 6JE
who:
Sketchy+Another Amit+Noel Mas+Soul Jazz Soundsystem
when:
8pm - 2.30am
what:
Techno/minimal
cost:
£8; £6 before 10pm; Free before 9pm
 

Sin City

Grab your Jack Daniels wife beater and that bottle of Southern Comfort and head down to the Phoenix if your feeling a bit of rootin-tootin country action. Playing some of the best Southern Rock and country tunes ever to crawl out of Nashville, this is more fun than a Motorhead convention. read on

where:
The Phoenix
W1G 0PP
when:
9pm - 3am
what:
Rock, Country
cost:
£5

Sunday 11th

Darwin

Charles Darwin's voyage aboard HMS Beagle was one of the most significant journeys undertaken in recent times. It was via the Beaagle that Darwin was able to visit the Galapagos Islands and from there begin to form the basis of what became his theory of evolution. 2009 represents 200 years since Darwin's birth, and that - combined with the Richard Dawkins... read on

where:
Natural History Museum
Cromwell Road
SW7 5BD
when:
10am - 5.50pm
what:
Museum, History, Science, Nature
cost:
£9; £6 (concessions); £5 (children)
 

Too Much Is Not Enough

Gosh, they're a greedy bunch over at Transition Gallery. Apparently 'Too Much Is Not Enough' - I mean, will they never be satisfied? Probably not. Anyway, 'Too Much Is Not Enough' is the title of their first exhibition of 2009 and features work by five contemporary artists, including Sarah Doyle and Cathy Lomax. It's all about exploring fame, fans and... read on

where:
Transition Gallery
8 Andrews Road
E8 4QN
when:
12 - 6pm
what:
Art, Gallery, Painting, Sculpture
cost:
Free
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