Skip to main content

Strictly Come Tweeting (29.09.18)

So, we reach week two of Strictly and the voting starts in earnest.

There were a lot of dances to get through tonight what with it being so early in the series; so much so, I reached a point about two-thirds in where I couldn’t for the life of me work out which celebrities we hadn’t seen yet. Despite being a long evening I still enjoyed myself, although this enjoyment was sullied by some of Craig and Bruno’s bitchy feedback to Susannah in particular.

While I know Craig tends to work in sound bites and will usually give his negative comments first closely followed by the positive, when he only has time to say one thing, I don’t know why he’d go for something completely soul-destroying and unconstructive and often confidence shattering. Both he and Bruno are choreographers and the dance world can be an acid-tongued business, but surely with all their experience they’d know a scathing comment goes a long way toward making a non-dancer want to give up; I know I would.

As ever, I tweeted along to tonight’s show; here's what was said:

6:33PM: They're all going home this week; they don't live-in.

6:35PM: One day the judges will choreograph their entrance.

6:38PM: Kevin's rehearsal hair's back.

6:45PM: Making them run up a staircase after dancing adds insult to injury.

6:47PM: He just referred to himself in third-person. Unsurprising.

6:50PM: I feel sorry for the person who has to empty the spit-valve.

6:59PM: Gorka's come as Aladdin.

7:02PM: "Craig's critique's as mindful of the stage of the competition as ever", he said sarcastically.

7:03PM: Oti Mabuse's name is best said to the tune of Radio Ga Gs.

7:04PM: Hands up who's thinking of The Commitments.

7:12PM: As ever, the lighting design's excellent.

7:15PM: Kate's addicted to dancing. I'm addicted to lemsip and other paracetamol-based drinks

7:17PM: Apprentice roof-thatcher; not a dying industry at all.

7:19PM: One thing i can state as fact; @glyndoggett will have bought the single Cotton Eye Joe. No doubt about it.

7:26PM: A little Gershwin. Love it.

7:28PM: Constructive criticism from Craig once again; he should become a mentor.

7:30PM: Some people aren't natural dancers, but they're improvement still deserves acknowledgment.

7:32PM: A note on feedback, Craig and Bruno; when you can tell someone's being hurt by what you're saying, reel it in.

7:36PM: Nice of Lee to put on his favourite tracksuit bottoms for us.

7:44PM: Danny John-Jules looks good just standing.

7:51PM: I sang 'Somewhere' at my drama school audition. A few years later, I snuck into the office to read my notes: "Nice voice, zero stage presence".

8:00PM: His performance was fab, but I'm still trying to understand Dr Ranj's outfit.

8:12PM: Every so often, I remember they film #Strictly in the same room that was once The Overlook Hotel. https://twitter.com/David_Ephgrave/status/1046115620071378945

8:19PM: Bruno's having flashbacks. https://twitter.com/David_Ephgrave/status/1046117385240018947

8:28PM: There goes my labyrinthitis.

Popular posts from this blog

Shakerpuppetmaker.

Have Parker from Thunderbirds and Noel Gallagher ever been seen in the same room? The resemblance is uncanny. So much so, I think something’s afoot. If my suspicions are correct, I've stumbled across a secret that will blow the music and puppet industry wide apart. In the mid-60s / mid-90s at least. It doesn’t take long to see the signposts. There’s the similarity between the name of Oasis’ first single, Supersonic, and Supermarianation, Gerry Anderson’s puppetry technique. The Gallagher brothers would often wear Parkas . Live Forever was clearly a reference to Captain Scarlet and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants to the size difference between Noel and his bandmates. The more you think about it, the more brazen it gets. It’s fishier than Area 51, Paul is Dead and JFK's assassination put together. The only glitch to the theory is scale . According to Wikipedia, Anderson’s marionettes were 1’10” and Gallagher is 5’8”. How does he maintain an illusion of avera...

Comedy That's Worth a Letch.

Today, I nipped to Letchworth to meet with illustrator (and one-time - two-time - comedy poet) Mushybees, to discuss an event Mostly Comedy will act as surrogate parents to as part of Letchworth’s Arts Takeover in a couple of weeks. Months ago he got into contact to see if we’d be up for co-organising a comedy stage as part of Letchworth’s weekend of arts-based attractions in July; something I’d provisionally said yes to, before things got hectic in the lead-up to Edinburgh and we didn’t take it any further. Despite not getting down to the nitty-gritty straight away, we managed to pull a line-up together in a back-and-forth of emails yesterday, leading to me getting Glyn’s blessing and us deciding we’d officially go ahead with it (whatever ‘officially’ means in this context). In reality, it’s not complicated: from 12pm until 6pm-ish on the 22 nd July, Glyn, Mushybees and I will host four Edinburgh previews from four acts (including me), before Nor...

Stevenage: A (Tiny) River Runs Through it.

If ever a river was mis-sold, it’s the Roaring Meg in Stevenage. I just walked past it on my way to the retail park that has taken its name. They’re similarly uninspiring. The river is less of a roar and more of a dribble; cystitis sufferers produce greater flow. The retail park is soulless. What was once a thriving enterprise is nearly devoid of atmosphere, save an underlying essence of emptiness and despair. With a Toys R Us. When it was first built I was excited. Back then, the thought of a bowling alley, an ice rink, a Harvester and a Blockbuster Video within a small surface area was enticing. I celebrated many birthdays on site. There was an indoor cricket pitch there for a while where I once had a joint party with a friend. Why someone with an almost pathological fear of sport would agree to such a venture is beyond me, but I did it. Now, there’s very little at the Roaring Meg of note. The river would be a metaphor for the shopping ce...