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Fill your week with life-drawing classes, bingo sessions on a boat, dance-themed film clubs and Stanley Kubrick exhibitions! Here are 31 ways to make your week fabulous.
Things to do
An Audience with Lord Logs, Culpeper, TONIGHT, £30. Join Mark Parr, aka 'Lord Logs' for an introduction into cooking over fire at this rooftop workshop.
The London Spelling Bee, Book Club, Tue, £7. An adult only spelling bee where contestants have to tackle words spanning the Queen's English, Oxford Dictionary content, and slang and street talk from Urban Dictionary.
The Mark Makers, Three Eight Four, Wed, £25. An evening of still life drawing with expert tutors. Have a go at fun drawing exercises and improve your technique. Tickets include a pack of materials and light refreshments.
Benebingo, The Good Ship Benefit, Wed, £7. Join Dolly Slatemen onboard the Benefit boat for an evening of comedy bingo that even boasts a cockney singalong round. There’s plenty of makeup to be won, and a snazzy makeover to be bagged for one lucky winner.
Impossible Instant Nights, Lights of Soho, Wed, free. Join pro photographers at these monthly talks to discover new skills that are perfect for instant photography. Free, with drinks sponsored by Bulldog Gin, but RSVP by email is essential.
Mr Men and Little Miss Mini Museum, Gallery@oxo, Thu, free. The colourful children's characters celebrate their forty-fifth birthday this year, and to mark the occasion, hundreds of Mr Men and Little Miss pieces of memorabilia will be on display at the exhibition designed at a child's scale.
Etsy Pop-Up, John Lewis, Thu, free. 20 makers will be selling their wares, giving visitors the chance to pick up everything from plant pots, vases, jewellery and notebooks to handmade vessels, mobile phone covers and pretty little paperweights.
…or check out more events happening in London this week.
Eating and drinking
Herb Lab Supper Club, Pond Dalston, Thu, £34. A herb-themed supper club hosted by designer turned cook and health enthusiast, Sepideh Ardalani. August's event sees herbed-up burgers on the menu, along with frozen flowery chocolate for dessert.
Ruby and Pickles, The Joker of Penton Street, Thu, £27.50. This fledgeling supperclub promises to give dishes from the world over an Indian twist. Their Mediterranean summer feast will see guests tuck into vegetarian (and many vegan) dishes from Italy, France, Turkey and Morocco, with a pickle of the month to accompany them.
Mr Hyde National Burger Day, Canada Street, Thu, £16. Mr Hyde will be hosting a party at Hawker House for 3,000 of their readers. 18 tasty traders will be dishing up meaty goodness, with a £16 ticket includes tipples and shots.
Jude’s Ice Cream Burger Pop-Up, St James's Park, Thu, prices vary. Even veggies can celebrate national burger day with these sweet alternatives from Jude's Ice Cream. Head to St James's Park to get your hands on toasted brioche buns filled with delicious flavours and topped with nuts.
…or check out the latest restaurant reviews.
© Ebru Yildiz
Live music and nightlife
Margaret Glaspy, Moth Club, Tue, £8.50 adv. California's latest ray of sunshine is beaming over in the shape of guitar-toting singer Margaret Glaspy.
Carradine's Cockney Sing-A-Long, Wilton's Music Hall, Tue, £10, concs £8, standing £5. Join Mr Tom Carradine on the Ol' Joanna as he presents timeless ditties drawn from the Music Hall era, World Wars One and Two, the West End stage and traditional popular songs from across the decades.
Logic, Koko, Tue-Wed, £15. Def Jam's latest rap prodigy arrives to drop tracks from his recent debut album 'Under Pressure', a showcase for the rasping rhymes that have already earned him comparisons to Eminem.
The Temper Trap, The Lexington, Wed, £18. The Australian pop-rockers are back for a burst of anthemic choirboy pop in a decidedly U2/Coldplay vein.
PopHorror, Royal Vauxhall Tavern, Wed, £5. Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Vauxhall… This gruesome new series at the RVT sees pop hits dismembered by a twisted troupe of cabaret stars, led by ‘punk-horror-drag’ performer Baby Lame.
Dan Deacon, Roundhouse, Wed, £20. The bespectacled, classically-trained electro wizard from Baltimore gives his upbeat weird-tronica an airing.
…or take a look at all the live music events in London this week.
Film
Rooftop Rhumba, Roof East, Tue-Thu, £15. Rooftop Film Club have teamed up with Pineapple Studios for this series of dance-themed flicks. Guests can get down before, during and after the films that include 'Dirty Dancing', 'Magic Mike', 'Step Up' and 'Bring It On'.
Or at the cinema...
Swallows and Amazons ★★★★☆ The classic tale of plucky kids foiling skulduggery at the Lake District is good clean family fun.
Tickled ★★★★☆ A journalist investigates the bizarre world of competitive tickling in this brilliant doc – and it's not all giggles.
David Brent: Life on the Road ★★★☆☆ Ricky Gervais brings his cringeworthy creation to the big screen, with mixed results.
Lights Out ★★★☆☆ David F Sandberg adapts his terrifying short horror film into a much less scary feature.
…or see all of the latest releases.
© Manuel Harlan
Theatre
Groundhog Day, Old Vic, all week, £21-£90. Tim Minchin follows 'Matilda' with a musical version of the Bill Murray classic.
Allegro, Southwark Playhouse, all week, £25, concs £20. Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1947 musical finally makes it to Europe.
Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, National Theatre, all week, £15-£45. The National Theatre of Scotland's raucous production finally makes it to London.
…or see our theatre critics’ choices.
© Peter Macdiarmid
This week's best new art
Daydreaming With Stanley Kubrick, Somerset House, Mon-Wed, £12.50, concs £9.50. A host of contemporary artists, filmmakers and musicians showcase works inspired by Stanley Kubrick.
Mark Wallinger: Self Reflection, Freud Museum, Wed-Thu, £7. We’re constantly being told how self-obsessed we are. The selfie has become the emblem of first-world shallowness; we’re all self-entitled; there’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’ etc. So here’s an opportunity to reflect on what the idea of ‘self’ even means.
Samara Scott: Developer, Pump House Gallery, Wed-Thu, free. Battersea park’s mirror pools are looking a little queasy. Young English artist Samara Scott has filled the two ponds here with swathes of swirling fabric and an almost stomach-turning array of coloured dyes for what she calls ‘liquid paintings’.
…or see all London art reviews.
And finally
Win... VIP passes to FutureFest plus one night at Mondrian London or a culture trip with Bombay Sapphire
Grab... to a steamy silent disco under Waterloo Station
Book… these gigs while you still can
Best of the blog
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