Mama Said Knock You Out

George Scharf has been likened to Charles Dickens in his ability to portray the vivid details of life in Victorian London. However whilst Dickens churned out the novels and is still a pretty big deal, almost nobody has heard of poor old Scharf, who died in poverty in 1860.

On display at the Sir John Soane Museum is an exhibition of watercolours, prints and drawings by Scharf that will attempt to restore his place in the national conscience. This style of work is always going to be compared to Hogarth and in this case such a comparison is more than justifiable.

Brand new monthly brought to you by Tomb Crew, Deadly Rhythm and a whole wealth of other bass motivated individuals.

Expect to hear a forward thinking selection of fresh tracks from the UK funky frontline, dubstep ditches and bassline barracks.

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of revolutionary Russian writer Nikolai Gogol the Lyric presents a new version of his classic anarchic adventure, The Overcoat, by Gecko theatre, the acclaimed company behind last year's The Arab and The Jew.

Gouranga are back, the house and techno protagonists who've been slipping you their mixed bag of electronic sub-genres for nigh on three years.

After a storming launch at Lightbox with chief wrong 'un Mr Tim Sheridan, they bring you one of the finest techno outfits of our times; the Swedish duo whose productions capture the elegance of classic early '90s techno; Minilogue. They will absolutely blow you away with their live show in the glittering confines of the Lightbox, while in room two, Y I deliver a stark and heavy contrast to the main room smoothness.

RoTa is Rough Trade Shop's afternoon showcase of their favorite live acts. Which means, a carefully hand picked selection of the best acts trying to break the scene.

Rough Trade is a label which commands massive respect, having been the natural home of such outsider acts as The Fall, The Smiths and The Libertines. Their current stable includes the Arcade Fire, Horace Andy and The Strokes.

Throwback operates on a brilliant concept: bringing together the originators of a particular musical genre and the contemporary artists whom they have inspired.

This edition pairs up German space rock innovators Cluster with London-based experimental orchestra Chrome Hoof. The former are wrinkly and contemplative Krautrockers, whilst the latter deal in a wild melange of what can only be described as exuberant disco-prog-metal-acid-funk. This will be one of the most thrilling collaborations to be seen on a London stage this year.

Two AM and Faith join forces to throw an almighty party at Egg tonight.

Faith celebrate turning 10 in the basement, and heading up party proceedings will be Rocky, Diesel and Ashley Beedle of X-Press 2 performing a special 5 hour 6 deck 3 mixer bonanza.

They're joined by Faith residents Terry Farley, Stuart Patterson and Dave Jarvis while Kidology have got The Pursauders in to keep things cooking on the terrace.

Nadja is a duo of Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff from Toronto, Canada making music that encompasses experimental/drone, ambient, shoegaze, and doom metal.

Since 1997 when she became a patient at a day centre, the widely acclaimed performance artist Bobby Baker has been keeping a diary.

Pages from this diary are now on display at the Wellcome Collection, and provide a fascinating insight into the workings of the creative mind.

A fiery and slightly creepy mix of Joy Division, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Guided By Voices, O Children have been causing a ruckus since emerging on the Shoreditch scene about a year ago.

Tonight sees them returning to the site of their flooded-out first gig, heading up an incredible line-up that also includes post punk superstars-in-the-making Wild Palms.

Wildbird Theatre bring an innovative new show to the Playhouse. Written by Chris Lee, Fall of the Peacock Throne tells two parallel stories: of the invasion of Persia by Alexander the great in 333 BC, and of the moment in 1953 when the CIA and the British backed an anti-democratic coup in Iran in order to preserve their oil interests.

Danish kings of the freak out and surf guitar, The Good The Bad are 3 guys who party out like a band in a Tarantino movie the split second before some bad asses bust in and shoot up the place.

Tonight they will be at their gloriously trippy best tonight at Monto Water Rats. Don't worry though, men with guns won't be showing up.

Joanna McClelland Glass's play about growing old makes its UK debut following an acclaimed run in Australia with the same principle cast, including Michael Craig as the cantankerous judge at the heart of the story.

Focusing on the initial distrust between a famous, worldly old judge and his naive young secretary, and their eventual firm friendship, this is a masterful study of aging, and relationships.

What a peculiar show this sounds like! Art, comedy and archive all rolled into one amusingly titled extravaganza. After showing at the Ceri Hand Gallery in Liverpool, Mel Brimfield's Waiter, Waiter, There's a Sculpture in My Soup comes to the Pump House Gallery in Battersea Park.

The exhibition consists of a series of works exploring the overlap between comedy and performance art. So, there's black and white illustrations documenting Barbara Streisand's rise to fame, artefacts celebrating the cabaret of Peggy Googleheim, and an opening night performance apparently incorporating experimental piano works by Les Dawson.

You know that bees die when they sting someone right? Well that's not exactly the whole story. It seems that after death they become ghosts trapped in a purgatory of regret and remorse, only freed when someone buys honey and proves that their death was not in vain.

Oh and Ghost Bees are also an indie/folk band from Canada who are pretty good.

Awesome line-up, featuring dance music legend Andrew Weatherall, Sean Johnston, James Moss, Rad Rice and Dave Congreve. Expect a diverse range of house, techno and electro with some new material making an appearance.

The Boardroom DJ collective will also be performing a unique live meeting and creating some spaced out, dark and dubby sounds.  Not bad for a freebie.

Finger in the Pie are a visceral, physical theatre troupe blending puppetry, dance and the best traditions of German and British vaudeville to create visually spectacular, nerve-shredding theatre.

Their version of Sweeney Todd is grisly, sexy and hectic. Expect to flinch with real distaste.

After the major retrospective at Tate Britain in 2008, Francis Bacon is pretty much everybody's favourite twentieth century painter. So the timing of this exhibition at Kings Place Gallery is pretty much spot on.

On display is a series of portraits of Bacon taken by Francis Giacobetti, whom Bacon met and befriended while the two were living in Paris.

The photographs on show are both a depiction of Bacon the man, and an homage to his artistic style.  Blurred, sparsely lit images in reds and black allude to the darkness in Bacon's art, and, one infers, his heart.

Unlike some of the high-concept, low-skill gimmickry exhibited in Jay Jopling's spaces, Fred Tomaselli produces beautiful, intricate paintings of birds and butterflies. Each image is full of dazzling detail and covert symbolism.

Tomaselli has a solo show right now at the Mason's Yard branch of White Cube.

Whoa dude! Check out the line-up for Amused Moose's Comic Relief fundraiser: Big Brother's Big Mouth's Jack Whitehall, Stephen Merchant needs little introduction, Capital Radio's Greg Burns, C4's Mark Dolan, BBC presenter Kirsten O'Brein, Chortle New Comedian of the Year 2008 Holly Walsh, Funny Women winner Andi Osho, and Hackney New Act of the Year finalist Gareth Richards. Not bad...

Fall to your knees and worship at Shoreditch's temple to binge drinking; that's right, BOOZEface is back with a vengeance and a raging thirst for debauchery.

A fiendish feast which leans heavily on the key weekend ingredients of booze and bass, tonight's edition is - as usual - presided over by some damn fine musicians and DJs, including the simply excellent purveyor of all things good - Trol 23 (Disco Shed).

Brand new monthly underground dance party at superfly intimate Vauxhall venue The Lightbox, named after the 10,000 LED lights that cover the walls.

Cadence residents are Sweet and Vicious - the husband and wife duo who host the infamous cyber-based Kitchen Party, The Fix (Yeah:No Recordings) - a dance act who supported Booka Shade on tour, and Alison Marks - the first female DJ to win Muzik Mag's mix tape comp.

Well, this sounds totally brilliant. Record label and promoter Upset the Rhythm has joined forces with Peckham art space Auto Italia to present a weekend of live music and arty goings on.

There's multimedia art things by some of London's leading names, including Amanda Dennis, Katie Guggenheim, Rachel Pimm and Olivier Castel, plus two days of great live music.

Legendary singer Jonathan Richman of The Modern Lovers fame has always been a bit of a weird one. On one hand the guy pretty much predicted punk rock by a few years, but his child-like persona makes him a little difficult to fathom.

Tonight he's at Bush Hall, expect moments of godlike genius, wild romanticism and abject chaos as always.

Legendary party starters and the people behind Notting Hill Carnival's best dance rig, Sancho Panza's Matt Brown and Jimmy K-Tel are digging up the basement again at East Village this Saturday.  Joining them and playing back to back will be Rebel Waltz' Stu Patterson and Murray Richardson not to mention walking dance encyclopaedias Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton from DJHistory.com hosting the upstairs lounge.

Each and every Saturday, Fabric is the biggest rave going on at the biggest club in the UK. Resident DJs Terry Francis and Craig Richards are huge names in themselves, sought after by every other promoter in the land. Fabric's colossal crowd and staggering sound system, combined with her jaw dropping door receipts, help to ensure these guys are invariably joined by the biggest names in dance music. A night at this club is never less than inspiring, with three rooms of the very sharpest, freshest house, minimal techno and acid noise.

Two movies from The Paper Cinema, who use lanterns, puppets, film and live music to create a unique 'live film' experience. A show that pushes the boundaries of two dimensional entertainment.

The Carnival des Phénomènes is always a good bet for variety and comedy acts.  Held in the lovely small stage room of the Wilmington Arms, you can expect anything from storytelling to character acts and magic. 

Because of all the organisers' busy schedules, this will be the last Carnival ever, so tonight will be an extra special gig with The Story Pirates performing lots of pieces from their upcoming Edinburgh show, plus many more special guests from the comedy. music and burlesque world.

Live At The Chapel has been running on the first Saturday of the month since June 2007 when Simon Amstell, Russell Howard, Simon Munnery, and Steven K Amos put on a stonkingly good performance for its debut.

Serial miserablist returns to Royal Festival Hall for a one off special gig showcasing songs off his new album Beware. The shock is that whilst the dark heart remains, this is now his most ambitious and whisper it...upbeat...album.

War weary heroes return triumphant to their home only to find their women have grown hard and cynical. A new battle commences, presided over by two brilliant, sharp-tongued friends who consider themselves above love.

De-doo, de-doo, de-doo, de-doo, de-doo, de-doo, de-doo, doo doo doo, doo doo doo.

Yes, it's The Antiques Roadshow theme tune in writing - doesn't work that well does it? Oh well, not to worry