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38 brilliant things to do in London this week

Written by
Stephanie Hartman
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Grab a great burger and raise money for charity at a cookout at Climpson's Arch, watch a skateboarding documentary and hear from the film's producer at Dalston Roof Park, or head to the Tate to see some sensational pop art at the end of the week. Here are all the coolest ways to spend your days! 

Things to do 

The Turner Twins at Mr Fogg’s, Mayfair, TONIGHT, free. The intrepid Turner Twins swap mountain climbs and rowing expeditions for the comfier surroundings of Mr Fogg's Mayfair bar, giving guests the chance to hear about the harshest environments they've experienced on their travels.

Cycle Speed Dating, Look Mum No Hands!, Tue, £15. Take speed dating up a gear and go on 15+ short dates with cycle-minded Londoners. After the event cyclists will receive an email with their matches.

Drink This/ Make That, The Hill, Wed, £15 + booking fee. This new series of boozy workshops combine two of London's favorite past times: crafts and cocktails. Tickets include a 'cocktail of the night' as well as all the materials needed to get involved with the activity. 

InStylerama, Dinerama, Wed, £15 + booking fee. An evening of food and fashion at the Great Eastern Street hang out. Expect lots of free fashion and beauty experiences alongside DJs and the usual great grub Dinerama offers.

The Crick Crack Club Presents: The King of Lies, The Forge, Wed, £10. Inspired by Raflk Schami's book ‘Damascus’ story teller Clare Muireann Murphy continues the narrative of ‘The King of Syria’ who, obsessed with deception, holds yearly lying contest in court, cutting of the heads of those who fail to tell him a new lie.

Raising the Bar London, Various, Wed, free. Conceived by a group of students and young professionals (who clearly could organise a piss up in a brewery) the inaugural London event will see thirty notable speakers, including Aaquil Ahmed and Denis MacShane, give talks on a wide range of topics in twenty of the capital's bars.

Filmageddon Film Quiz, Prince Charles Cinema, Thu, £6. This is a film quiz on a blockbuster scale – their monthly events test the knowledge of hundreds of movie fans at a time and even take place in a cinema, with video questions projected onto the massive screen. 

Rad Science, Lik+Neon, Thu, free. For their second installment exploring the mad-cap world of radical science, Hero of Switzerland present another body of weird and wonderful illustration.

Carnaby Style Night, Carnaby Street, Thu, free. More than a hundred of Carnaby’s shops, restaurants and bars team up for an evening of fashion and free stuff. New to the event for this season is a series of trend talks headed up by Carnaby’s Style Panel, featuring LFW designer Richard Nicoll, OTHER co-founder Matthew Murphy, Ben Sherman CEO Mark Maidment and Pretty Green’s design director Pat Salter.

…or check out more events happening in London this week.

 

The Five Star Burger

 

 

 

 

Eating and drinking

The Five Star Burger, Climpson's Arch, Wed, £20 limited adv, £22.50 adv, £25 on the door. Following last year's smash-hit burger bash, chef Tom Hunt returns to Hackney with a second helping of his charity fundraiser at Climpson's Arch.

Club Lola, Secret London location, Wed, £25. This new supperclub offers a casual, friendly evening of excellent food at Lola's home in Brixton. 

Bayou Banquet, The Vaults, Wed-Thu, price varies. Slap Ya Papa run brilliant New Orleans food and music events, so their takeover of the Vaults Kitchen should be sensational.

Oktoberfest Camden and Canary Wharf, multiple venues, Thu, fee-£60. Londoners are preparing to welcome this particular German invasion with open arms. Both Camden and Canary Wharf will be hosting this huge Bavarian tent as 50,000 Oktoberfest fans celebrate over four weekends.

…or check out the latest restaurant reviews.

 

 

 

 

 

Comedy

The Jeremy Corbyn Night, The Forum, TONIGHT, £15, £12 low waged or unwaged. Arthur Smith hosts this big comedy gig in support of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. On the bill are political comedy heavyweights Jeremy Hardy and Mark Steel, plus Sara Pascoe, Ava Vidal and Francesca Martinez.

Refugee Crisis Fundraiser, Comedy Café Theatre, TONIGHT, £10. A bunch of funny folk join forces for this comedy benefit gig, which is raising funds for the London to Calais Convoy action group, who are sending volunteers, food, clothes and supplies to refugees in Calais.

Greenwich Comedy Festival, National Maritime Museum, Wed-Thu, £15-£24. The consistently superb Greenwich Comedy Festival (possibly our favourite London comedy fest) is back for another year, setting up camp in the grounds of the beautiful National Maritime Museum, and the line-up is so so good.

Tom Ballard – Taxis and Rainbows and Hatred, Soho Theatre, all week, £10-£15. Angsty Australian Tom Ballard took such a bizarre taxi ride one time that it inspired this whole show. He's an easygoing comic, sneaking a strong message about attitudes towards gay people into his light-hearted tales.

…or check out all the critics’ choice comedy shows.

 

 

 

 

 

Live music

Flyte, Sebright Arms, Tue, £10. This thoroughly talented and charming London foursome combine all the best bits of latter-day Mystery Jets and Theme Park: undeniably quirky, left-leaning, synthy indie with the odd angular guitar. 

Little Simz, O2 Academy Islington, Wed, free. Masterful in her ability to assimilate every conceivable rap genre, the frighteningly talented Little Simz is finally garnering some well-deserved recognition riding the recent wave of trap music.

Shura, Electric Brixton, Thu, £15. A showcase gig by the on-trend and hotly tipped young R&B singer from Manchester.

…or take a look at all the live music events in London this week.

 

Friday I'm in Love: The Common People Prom

Mark Box

 

 

 

 

Nightlife

Friday I'm in Love: The Common People Prom, Electric Ballroom, Tue, £20-£25. Belt out your favourite pop anthems with help from celebs and a live band.

Week Night Dance Club, Pop Brixton, Wed, £6.95. Dancing and partying don't have to be purely the stuff of weekend-long, brain-battering benders, y'know? This ace new night celebrates the power of the midweek as a prime time to party.

Gospeloke, Queen of Hoxton, Thu, £6-£10. A full-on fun karaoke night themed around gospel music, complete with a full gospel choir.

Gaz's Rockin' Blues, St Moritz, Thu, £9, £7 before 10pm. A hugely popular long-running weekly night – filled with rock 'n' roll history – that explores the best ska, blues, reggae and jive every Thursday.

…or see all the parties planned this week.

 

Irrational Man

Irrational Man

 

 

 

 

Film

All This Mayhem Screening + Q+A, Dalston Roof Park, Wed, £5 early birds, £8. A rooftop screening of fantastic skateboarding documentary ‘All This Mayhem’ followed by a Q&A with former Bootstrap tenant and producer of the film, George Pank.

Classic Matinee Screenings & Ballroom Boogie, Regent Street Cinema, Wed, £11, £1.75 seniors, £7 under-16s, £10 unemployed & students. The matinee season is a great way to introduce yourself to the recently reopened Regent Street Cinema, whose history stretches back to the screening of the first moving picture by the Lumière Brothers back in 1896.

Or at the cinema...

Legend ★★★★☆ Tom Hardy is on stunningly good form playing 1960s East End hard men the Kray twins.

Irrational Man ★★★☆☆ ‘Irrational Man’ harks back to the likes of Woody Allen's ‘Crimes and Misdemeanors’ and gives us Abe (Joaquin Phoenix), a philosophy lecturer who arrives to teach at a small East Coast college preceded by his reputation for eccentricity and womanising.

…or see all of the latest releases.

 

 

 

 

 

Theatre

#Hofest, multiple venues, Mon, Thu, £10-£35. Brilliant contemporary choreographer Hofesh Shechter stages his own festival this autumn.

A Brimful of Asha, Tricycle,  Tue-Thu, £14-£20, £12-£18 concs. Ravi Jain and his mum Asha argue entertainingly about arranged marriage. 

Oresteia, Trafalgar Studios, all week, £10-£49.50. The Almeida's devastating 'Oresteia' transfer to the West End as powerful as ever. 

Tonight I'm Gonna Be the New Me, Soho Theatre, all week, £10. Performance duo Made In China put their own relationship under the microscope in this uncomfortable new show. 

…or see our theatre critics’ choices.

 

 

 

 

This week's best new art

Marcus Coates, Kate MacGarry, Wed-Thu, free. The British artist presents his new film ‘A Question of Movement’ commissioned by Siobhan Davies Dance in collaboration with dance artist Henry Montes.

The World Goes Pop, Tate Modern, Thu, £16.00, £14.00 concs. Over 200 works by artists from Latin America to Asia celebrates the many faces of pop art.

BMW Tate Live: Paulina Olowska, Tate Modern, all week, free. A two-week installation and a site-specific theatre performance staged within Tate Modern’s collection.

…or see all London art reviews.

And finally

Win... an overnight stay at South Bank's A Room for London or two tickets to the European premiere of 'Casa Valentina'

Grab... £12.50 tickets to a ‘B&H Handbook’ tasting evening with Bourne and Hollingsworth - includes three cocktails

Book... these gigs while you still can

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