Chris Hansen’s blog

This has been a laid-back week (except for the tax drama). The highlight of the week was yesterday, when HWMBO and I went to Hammersmith to dine and attend the stage show of I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, or ISIHAC as it is more fondly known.

I got there first and waited from HWMBO at the entrance to the Piccadilly/District Line station. We managed to miss each other but by the miracle of mobile telephony we finally met and went to a Mexican restaurant just around the corner from the Apollo Theatre. We were the second couple to sit down to dinner, but by the time we left the place was heaving. If you are going to the Apollo and can show them the tix, you get free garlic bread. We shared a plate of tacos and various salsas, and washed it down with sangria–which I must add was delicious. Then I had a bacon and chicken tortilla with rice and salad. Odd combination for a Mexican restaurant, but it was delicious. HWMBO had a seafood tortilla, which he wasn’t as happy with. It had cockles in it, and later on, in the theatre, he asked me whether it was safe to eat them, fearing Hepatitis A. I said it was unlikely he’d get it from cooked cockles, and that seemed to calm him down.

Then to the Apollo. There were 3550 people in attendance, which the producer said was the largest live audience ever to see ISIHAC. We then participated in the largest kazoo ensemble ever (the previous Guinness Book of World Records had 2500 or so) and were photographed in the act. For those who have never heard ISIHAC, kazoos often play a large part in the show.

Then we had the show, and it was great. Barry Cryer, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden, and Jeremy Hardy, all (barely) kept under control by Huymphrey Lyttelton, the 86 year old chair of the show. We shouldn’t forget the ever-fragrant Samantha, the scorer, who was supposed to attend but who was four times delayed by her gentleman friends.

I should add that I misread Row Z as “Row 2”, and thought we would be up front. HWMBO and I were dismayed to find that we were in the very last row, at the top of the theatre. We could see and hear everything that went on, just from a very great distance.

There was, of course, a game of Mornington Crescent, which we enjoyed immensely. At the end there was an encore which involved us all playing our kazoos, and when he had finished, someone brought Humphrey his trumpet (he was and is a spectacular jazz trumpeter, see his Wikipedia entry and his personal website) and he went to town. Next month he will be 87 years old, but he played as if he had the lips of a 25-year-old. It was wonderful!

Getting home wasn’t as pleasant. The entrance to the Underground is through a subway under the road, and the entrance is very narrow. We waited patiently and finally got to the station and home.

Today I had some blood taken for my twice-yearly diabetic and heart checkup. We will now see if my eschewing of caffeine has had any effect. Even if it hasn’t had any effect on my blood sugar, I think I feel slightly better for it and will probably continue with decaf and non-caffeinated cola. Lunch at the church drop-in, then gym (where I again saw and forgot to ask him whether he’d gotten his phone). HWMBO went out with his former workmates tonight, so I dined alone and am now waiting for his return.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 4th, 2008 at 08:14 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.