Things to do in London on a Friday night

Tief

• Critics choice

This consistently great night always sees intimate rave den Corsica Studios heaving, as the guests and resident DJs throw down some seriously deep and seriously great house vibes, stirring in various techno, disco and bass elements, creating a delicious semi-illicit rave atmosphere which the punters dig again and again.

London Literature Festival 2013

• Critics choice

This annual festival brings together international, world class poets, authors and speakers representing the spectrum of creative disciplines for more than a week of talks and events. For 2013, celebrated biographer Claire Tomalin presents five lectures on literary icons such as Thomas Hardy and Jane Austen, and best-selling authors including Barbara Kingsolver, Audrey Niffenegger, Lionel Shriver, James Salter and William Dalrymple read from and discuss their work.

Jonny Woo: Wonder Woo-Man

• Critics choice

London’s tranny superstar par excellence follows ‘International Woman of Mr E’, his 2008 show about his New York spell of drag ’n’ drugs, with this stonking story-of-my-life set. We move from Medway Towns youth and nine-to-five purgatory to alt-drag rebirth and transatlantic success, the latter not always of the predictable kind (‘you don’t expect to be thrown the Mary-Portas-doppelganger curveball…’). Woo’s got it all: a succession of awesome looks from ‘slag casual’ to tranny Olympian; a tongue-twisting way with words in the finest traditions of English nonsense-speak; a captivating singing voice, especially on the subject of booze; the ability to chattily charm an audience without stinting on queerness; he even plays the spoons. As narrative, the show’s choppy – the whole NY experience is skated over – but frequently surprising. Overall, a great introduction to an outstanding 21st-century talent.

Nina Conti – Dolly Mixtures

• Critics choice

Outstanding ventriloquist Nina Conti has long been a circuit favourite, but her excellent BBC Four documentaries have introduced her to a whole new audience. Conti's puppetry is so convincing you almost forget she's controlling the monkey, until you remember she's got her hand up its arse. In her new show she introduces new characters including her daughter, handyman, gran, oldest friend and a stray dog, with plenty of veering from the script.

Something in the Air

• Rated as: 4/5
• Critics choice

Olivier Assayas’s ‘Something in the Air’ is a swooning and swirling but always level-headed study of the lives of a small group of suburban Parisian teenagers in the years soon after 1968. An ensemble drama with a pleasingly light touch, it looks back with warmth and candour at the lives of these young people as they confront their beliefs, their loves and their ambitions head-on.

Friday Night Freakshow

For a fourth year, the twisted showcase of the best dark and delicious variety old London town has to offer returns to the wonderground. Shocking, hysterical and downright weird, some of the finest performers from the alternative cabaret circuit and the darkest recesses of the comedy world come out to play. Presented by Time Out Live.