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Happy New Year!

Hi there, all my fellow poets! 

I wish you all a Happy New Year and all the best for 2010!

Alain

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Spoken Word Gigs This Month

The following is an as yet incomplete list of my spoken word open-mic gigs over the next month.  If you're around please come along to listen or perform. 

Sunday 29th November 2009
Wormworld
The Foundy
84-86 Great Eastern Street
London
EC2A 3JL
Host: Vis the Spoon
Showtime: 9:00pm
FREE ENTRY

Tuesday 1st December 2009
Y Tuesday at the Poetry Club
Three Kings Public House
Clerkenwell Close
London EC1
Hosts: Ceri ...

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Poolroom Poetry

I love snooker and pool, so I've written some poetry on some great snooker players and matches in history.  I know it's kind of a specialist subject but I hope you like them anyway.
 
Enjoy,
 
Alain English
 
Rocket Ronnie O'Sullivan
 
Ronnie's a legend
Ronnie's a survivor
He's gonna fight you all the way
 
Oh what a thriller
Oh what a wild time
Watching O'Sullivan play!
 
When ...

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Panto Schedule

Hi folks,

Here is the schedule for my public panto performances of Chaplin's "Aladdin". I am playing Abazazar ,the wicked magician and I am in one of around twenty troupes touring the country with this show. The list is not comprehensive, bookings may be added later and we do a lot of school shows that are not open to the public. If any of you are available, come and see us. I will be combining per...

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Emotional Poetry

This is some poetry I have written on some of the darker and more obsessional aspects of having Asperger's Syndrome. It is no secret that many of us on the syndrome, despite liking human contact, find it easier to form obsessions as opposed to relationships. I am not a stalker, in the sense that I purposely hurt or harass individuals. But I am obsessional, as we all are I suppose, and the only ...

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Employment Poetry

Some poems I have written about being in and out of work.  I feel they are relevant to these troubled times and I can imagine a lot of people can relate to them.  Hope you like 'em.

I Need to Work
 
I need to work, to give my soul
Employment, find a useful role
That pays me money, pays the rent
And covers all my bills, I've spent
A fortune living on the dole
 
It's not enough, I don't feel whole
This Lon...

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Unholy Occupation

Hi folks,

A few months ago, I submitted a poem up here called 'Room Available in Bow'.  The responses the piece generated seemed to indicate the idea needed a bit of a rethink.  So, here it is, a few months later, a new poem on the same subject, called 'Unholy Occupation'.  Enjoy!

Unholy Occupation

I'd like to tell a story and vent out my frustration

For my flat's been taken over, an unholy ...

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"The Passing of Aunt Grace"

 
New show: "The Passing of Aunt Grace" with From the Soul Productions on at the Courtyard Theatre, Shoreditch 13-18 October 7.30pm (except Fri 16). Tickets cost £14, £10 concessions. If you're interested in coming to see it, email tickets@thecourtyard.org.uk and give them your name, the amount of tickets required and the date and they will confirm your booking. See you there! Alain
 
 

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New Gigs

Hi guys,

Tomorrow night on Friday 4th September I will be featuring at the Full Moon Performance Party in Balham, hosted by wonderful Catherine Brogan. See the link here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=109980221298#/event.php?eid=109980221298#wall_posts

And on Saturday I will be appearing at the Dark Mills Festival in Collier's Wood, doing a spooky combination of theatre and spoken word: http...

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Upcoming Gigs

 
Monday 24th August 2009 8:00pm -10:00pm Vibe Bar, Old Truman Brewery, 91-95 Brick Lane, London E1 6QL. It's the Monologue Slam. I'm competing in the three-minute round - doing the famous 'inches speech' from the film "Any Given Sunday" as Sir Alex Ferguson!  Tickets £5 online from http://www.monologueslam.com or £7 on the door.

Survivor's Poetry Thursday August 27th 7.30pm at Tottenham Chanc...

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Farrago London Grand Slam

A night featuring London's poetry slam champions battling it out for two places in the BBC Radio 4!

Poetry Slam semi-final draw.

There will be three rounds. The first starting at around 7pm will include all the poets. The second, starting around 8:30, will have a minimum of 10, the final round a minimum of five.
 
The poets confirmed so far who are slamming!
 
Tomas Adejumo, Ray Antrobus, Le...

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US/UK Extradition Treaty Debate in Parliament 15 July 2009

Background to the Debate
 
I first heard about the Gary McKinnon case after I picked up a copy of the Daily Mail, which was running a campaign to prevent him from being extradited to the UK.  Gary is a Scotsman and lives in North London in Enfield and is a computer genius obsessed with UFOs.
 
Seven years ago, Gary hacked into 97 NASA and US military computers looking for evidence of little gr...

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"Glory of Gothenburg" (2003)

GLORY OF GOTHENBURG (2003)
 
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DONS 1903 -1983
 
Over twenty-six years ago, on the 11th May 1983 Aberdeen Football Club won the European Cup-Winner's Cup at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden.  Their opponents were the mighty European giants Real Madrid.  The game is considered to be the greatest night in the golden age of Aberdeen Football Club. 
 
The club had...

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"The Codfaither" (2001)

STUDENT SHOW (2001)
 
Prologue
 
On September 2000, I matriculated at Robert Gordon's University (RGU).  I had taken a degree in Publishing Studies and this was to last four years of my life.  I had given in to my parent's idea to go to university before attempting an acting career.  Although university studies would take up a lot of my time, I was not going to forget about my theatre in a h...

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Theatre School (1996)

The following blogs will be a series of memoirs on three theatre shows I did in Aberdeen.  The shows, while not among my best work, have great personal significance for me.  
 
Although I am now also a performance poet theatre has been and will remain an important part of my life.  There are times when I rail against ever having gotten involved in it, and I regret sometimes not taking other more...

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New Show: Poem Incarnating Theatre: Incisions and Excavations

 
 
This is a new show where I will be playing Jack the Ripper...

Incisions and Excavations has brought five poets, three directors, twelve performers, a visual artist and a composer to the operating table for the creation of an immersive and magical hour of site-specific theatre within one of London’s most atmospheric museums.

Their patient: poetry. We invite you to hold a stethoscope u...

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Two Plays For Gaza

Two Plays For Gaza @ The Hackney Empire 21st May
 
This gala presentation of speakers and theatre was presented at the Hackney Empire as a benefit for the Gaza Music School and Stop the War Coalition.  It was done in the best intentions but there were some significant flaws that detracted from the quality of what was on show.
 
The first half ran really quickly, the audience being greeted pr...

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Random Book Reviews

"Kingdom Come" by JG Ballard
 
I first came across JG Ballard through the TV show "Doctor Who".  It was a review in "Doctor Who Magazine" about the video release of a 1987 story called "Paradise Towers", where the Doctor visits a dilapidated high-rise apartment block and reconciles the feuding inhabitants to unite against the return of it's murderous architect.  The review had an interesting pic...

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Thames Variety Branch Meeting 20/05/2009

Hi guys,
 
This afternoon at 2pm on Wednesday 20th May 2009 I attended the Thames Variety Branch meeting of Equity at Equity's base in Guild House Upper St Martins Lane, near Covent Garden.  The Thames Variety Branch represents performers working in and around London.
 
I went to the meeting in an attempt to find out about support and funding for performance poetry.  A member of Arts Council E...

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Protest Report

On Saturday 16th May 2009, I attended a pro-Palestinian march in Trafalgar Square and listened to a few of the speakers there.  It was organised by a number of groups including the Stop the War Coalition and the Palestine Solidarity Committee.  The march had actually begun in Malet Street at 12pm, but I caught up with them just as they came down Charing Cross.  I have attended a few of these event...

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tick...tick...boom!"

tick..tick...boom! 
Written by Jonathan Larson
Directed by Hannah Chissick
Starring Paul Keating, Julie Atherton, Leon Lopez
Date: May 15 2009
Venue: Duchess Theatre
 
Review and Retrospective by Alain English
 
I first heard of the Notes From York series back in Christmas 2008.  I found out about it through the Internet and studying the theatre scene for something to go and see.  I tho...

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Memories and Dreams of Soho

Memories and Dreams of Soho by Alain English

Memories and dreams of Soho,
London's centre, full of colours.
Once a place of violent protest,
Rioters streaming through the markets,
Now a den of dreamy angels,
Fancy free inventing wonder.

Their illusions make me wonder
At the teaming streets of Soho,
Full of ravers, punks and angels,
Startling me with swinging colours.
Traders line the many markets,
Charming a...

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Joker Performance

Hi WriteOutLouders,

Here is the video upload of my Joker performance at ADLIB in March.  It's kind of dark and creepy but I hope you like it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5-WRT848zQ

Alain

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"Breaking the Chain" book review

"Breaking the Chain Abuse, Revenge and Redemption: The True Story of a Damaged Childhood" by Andy McQuade
 
A Book Review by Alain English
 
I first met Andy McQuade a few years ago.  It was a brief encounter at the Lion and the Unicorn Theatre in Kentish Town.  I had gone to see a performance of Pushkin's "Little Tragedies" staged by Act Provocateur in which a friend of mine from Aberdeen, S...

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Soho Streets

Hi folks, this is the theatre show I am doing at the Soho Theatre:

Soho Streets by Theresa Shiban, directed by Suzanne Gorman

22-25, 29-30 April; 1-2 May 2009

6:15pm and 8pm
Matinees 25 April and 2nd May 3pm

Tickets: £12 (£10)

The show takes place on the streets of Soho. To book a place, check out http://www.soho-theatre.com/pl1696tickets.html for details.

See you then, folks,

Alain

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Gigs March 15th - 19th (Open-Mics I am doing next week)

Hello again everybody,

Here is a list of the open-mics I will be doing over the coming week. I am also at Survivor's Poetry tonight, by the way. See previous note for details.

Monday 16th

A Spoonful of Poison at the Legion, 348 Old Street, Shoreditch. Hosted by the legendary Vis the Spoon!!! Acts Sign up from 7pm. Evening kicks off at 8pm. Free entrance to the gig for all-comers. A good turn-out at t...

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A Painful Gift

"A Painful Gift" by Chris Goodchild
A Book Review by Alain English
 
I first came across Chris Goodchild over a year ago at a poetry event called Survivor's Poetry.  This regular event was created by people with experience of the mental health system.  Hearing about my Asperger's, the host introduced me to Chris Goodchild.
 
Chris lives in London as a teacher of Alexander Techni...

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Next Week's Gigs (March 10th -12th)

A relatively modest three gigs for next week. Here goes:

Tuesday 10th: Poetry Unplugged. 8pm Poetry Cafe, 22 Betterton Street Covent Garden London. Night starts at 8pm. £4/£3 entry. Hosted by Niall O'Sullivan. Another open-mic but a hugely popular one. Must get there early this time!!

Wednesday 11th: Glitterbest, the Jago Art Gallery Bar 77 Redchurch Street London E2 7DJ. Free admission to this open...

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March Gigs

Gigs for next week are as follows:

Saturday 28th February: Gaza Benefit for Cheeky Maggot Productions. This takes place at the Cockpit Theatre in Northwest London - see Notes for details. Show starts at 7.30.

Sunday 1st March: AD-LIBS ENTERTAINMENTS MUSIC, POETRY, SPOKEN WORD AND OPEN-MIC NIGHT: This is at the Comedy Cafe in Shoreditch - nearest tube is Old Street. £5 entry before 8.30 £7 thereafter...

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Rain Man Interview

"Rain Man" by Barry Morrow, adapted for the stage by Dan Gordon, premiered at the London Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue in London on 28 August running until 20 December 2008.
 
Autism London got an interview with Adam Godley, who plays Raymond Babbit, the autistic character in the play and the "Rain Man" of the title.  Adam is a highly experienced stage and screen actor who has made stage appear...

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Aberdeen Gig

Hi folks,

I will be planning to attend a gig in Aberdeen the week I am up.  It's at Books and Beans Cafe and the event is called Dead Good Poets.  It runs from 6.30 - 8pm.  Don't think I'll use any make-up but just do a couple of pieces.

Here is a link to the event: http://www.booksandbeans.co.uk/events.html.

See some of you Deen-Dwellers there then.

Alain English

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Scotland Gigs 23rd and 24th February

I have two gigs in Glasgow on the last week on February. Here are the details:


Monday 23rd February

The Glasgow Slam
Rio Cafe Glasgow
27 Hyndland Street
Glasgow
G11 5PT

I am doing a ten-minute spot here with Robin Cairns as compere. For poetry that's intense, dark and funny, you could do a lot worse...

Tuesday 24th February

Red Raw
The Stand Comedy Club Glasgow
333 Woodlands Road
Glasgow
G3 6NG

Doing comedy i...

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Gigs 15-19th February

Hi folks,
Taking a night off performing tonight to focus more on my writing.  I have work tomorrow then a 5-day gig stretch beginning Sunday.  Here we go then...
 
Sunday 15th February:  London's Free Open Mike Night @ 7pm the Queen's Head 15 Denman Street London W1D 7HN.
 
Monday 16th February: Spoonful of Poison @ Legion in Old Street.  Coming in late to this one as I am seeing a short play the Royal...

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Gaza Fundraiser Cockpit Theatre 28th February

Benefit Gaza, Cockpit Theatre, Feb 28th 2009

Cheeky Maggot Productions hosts:
Benefit Gaza
Unity for the Innocent Victims of War
The Cockpit Theatre, NW8 8EH
Sat Feb 28th, 2009
Foyer events- 6.30pm
Show starts at 7.30pm-10pm, with a 20 mins interval
Tickets £15,concessions £12
Advance booking strongly recommeded

An evening of poetry,music,comedy, magic and entertainment from around the world...

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