30 brilliant things to do in London this week

Go to a talk about tattoo history at the Museum of London, get involved in a drunken debate at the Balham Bowls Club or get merry without the debate at London Beer Week. Try something new today with our pick of the week's goings on. 

Things to do 

Tattoo London: Under The Skin, Museum of London, TONIGHT, £10 Meet London's leading tattoo artists at this late event featuring discussions on contemporary methods and an illustrated talk by tattoo history expert Matt Lodder. The Museum's 'Tattoo London' exhibition will be open for twilight viewings and live music and an after-hours bar will keep visitors bopping into the evening. 

SuperLabs!, Cartoon Museum, Thu, free, Don your superhero capes for an evening of possibilities for adults and children alike. Scientists, engineers and artists will teach you how to walk on water, see through walls and many other ways to defeat your arch nemesis! Age 3+.

Yoga at St Stephen's, St Stephen with St John, Tue, free, Go to work feeling refreshed after a free, early morning yoga class at St Stephen's church in Westminster. Yogis will even be served tea or coffee following the class in order to feel new levels of heavenly.

The Man Who Branded London: Edward Johnston Talk Series, London Transport Museum, Tue onwards, £10, The first in a series of talks that celebrate 100 years since the iconic lettering of Edward Johnston helped to shape the brand of London transport. 

Bardeblah, Balham Bowls Club, Thu, free, Combining intelligent debate, a group of opinionated players and some good humoured fun in a local boozer, Bardeblah is an intellectual game centered on contemporary political and social issues.

An Evening with Stephen Poliakoff, Bloomsbury, Tue, £6-£10, An evening with outspoken BAFTA-winning playwright Stephen Poliakoff who is joined on stage by Geoffrey Colman, the Head of Acting at the Central School of Speech to discuss Poliakoff's long career.

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

Eating and drinking

London Beer Week, Various London locations, All week, £10 Drink up a storm at this event by the makers of London Cocktail Week. Buy a £10 wristband and receive £3 beers and £5 boilermakers (beer and bourbon) at locations including Hawksmoor Spitalfield's bar, Howl at the Moon, the Hops & Glory and many more. 

Mother Clucker, Cat & Mutton, All week, from £5 This week is your last opportunity to check out the Mother Clucker residency at the Cat & Mutton. Their usual menu has been expanded to include wings, mac & cheese and much more. Get strutting!

Capish?, Hat & Tun, Wed-Fri, from £5 Feast on NYC style subs at this pop-up by street food champions Capish? Try steak sandwiches (£8.50), indulgent lasagne rolls (£5) or their classic meatball hero subs (£7). 

Frenchie, Covent Garden, ★★★★★ A London sister restaurant to the original Parisian outpost. Whilst many of the dishes share similar themes to the original French venue, this new Covent Garden outpost uses brilliant British produce.

Jaz & Jul's, Islington, from £2.80 ★★★☆☆ For those preferring liquid refreshment, check out this vegan, organic hot chocolate stop. Go for simple 'Madagascar' (61% cocoa) or an 'Orangeytang' with orange, cardamon and cinnamon.

…or check out more of the latest restaurant reviews.

Comedy

Stand Up for Shelter, Eventim Apollo Hammersmith, Wed, £32.50-£44.75. Annual benefit gig for a very worthy cause. This year, the line-up features Dara 0 Briain, Nish Kumar and Milton Jones.

James Acaster: Work in Progress, The Invisible Dot Ltd., Tue, £8, £7 concs. Superb stand-up and four-time Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee James Acaster workshops new material.

Nina Conti - In Your Face, Criterion Theatre, Thu, £15-£25. In tandem with cheeky partner-in-crime 'Monkey', London stand-up Nina Conti resurrects the dying comic art of ventriloquism.

 …or check out all the other comedy shows in London this week.

  

 

Live Music and Nightlife

Richard Hawley, Eventim Apollo, Tue, £27.50. Sheffield's prime psychedelic balladeer, mate of Jarvis Cocker and collaborator with the Arctic Monkeys is back after his Mercury nominated 'standing at the sky's edge' with a new LP.

Anderson .Paak, XOYO, Thu, £15.50. After a series of immense vocal performances on Dr Dre's 'Compton' album, this rising star has broken out with a rep for incredible live shows. See him if you can. 

Money, Village Underground, Mon, £11. A band of poetically minded Mancunians who write beautifully woozy, atmospheric, heart-on-sleeve indie songs. Money released their great debut album 'The Shadow of Heaven' in 2013 and follow-up 'Suicide Songs' is out now.

Swim Deep, The Dome, Wed, £14. The Birmingham indie boys showcase their dance rock reinvention at a big London show after serious success with their debut album 'Where The Heaven Are We?'.

Your Mum's House, The Nest, Thu, £7, £5 before midnight. Not for the faint-hearted, this weekly jaunt is a 'dress up 'n' get messed up' night of mayhem and mischief, with a soundtrack of bassy house, hip hop, old school bangers, trap, R&B and UK garage.

Surge Presents: Health Poverty Action Fundraiser, The Nest, Mon, £5 adv. A mixture of grime, bass, dubstep, garage and jungle in support of charity 'Health Poverty Action' which tackles the causes of poverty in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The Yonce Experience, XOYO, Mon, £5 adv. The very best of Beyonce all night long with Martin2smoove, Andy P and Djelley.

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

 

 

Film

BFI Cult: Event Horizon, BFI Southbank, Thu, £11.75, £8.35 concs. An ambitious slice of Sci-Fi horror, that whilst previously has been dismissed, is slowly being rediscovered. Directed by Paul W S Anderson.

Duke Mitchel Film Club, The Phoenix Artist Club, Tue, Free. A long-established, free monthly event that showcases weird, lost exploitation oddities, bizarro trailers and other film-related fun. 

Or at the cinema...

Deadpool, ★★☆☆☆ This latest installment of the Marvel franchise comes with an interesting back story that sparked a nerd frenzy after test footage was leaked online. Now comes the film, starring Ryan Reynolds as foul-mouthed, R-rated Deadpool. Don't take the kids.

Triple 9, ★★★★☆ A gang of dirty cops plan a heist in this superb, star-packed thriller starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Aaron Paul and Woody Harrelson. Directed by John Hillcoat.

…or see all of the latest releases.

 

Theatre

Norma, London Coliseum, Wed onwards, £12-£99. Marjorie Owens gives a stunning performance as Bellini's druid priestess in this 1831 opera.

Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds, Dominion Theatre, all week, £29-£99. Fans of Jeff Wayne's 1978 prog opus will love this cheerily excessive stage version. (Which includes holograms of Liam Neeson).

The Encounter, Barbican, Tue onwards, £42. Simon McBurney and Complicite shred the fabric of time and space with this awesome new show.

…or see our theatre critic's choices.

 

This week's best new art

 

Masahisa Fukase: Ravens, Michael Hoppen Gallery, Tue, free. Fukase is a photographer best known for focusing obsessively on his wife. However after she left him, his attention turned to ravens, as a symbol of grief at the breakdown of the relationship.

 

Tori Wranes: Drastic Pants, Carl Freedman Gallery, Thu, free. With an array of prosthetics and props, Norweigan artist Wranes creates performances that are often as funny as they are haunting.

 …or see all London art reviews

 

 

And finally

Win... a five night Colombian Holiday for you and a friend or a coffee-soaked trip to Florence and tickets to the London Coffee Festival

Grab... tickets to the Rocky Horror Show at the New Wimbledon Theatre for £10 with no booking fee

Book… these gigs while you still can

 

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