Race like a leftover rocket through this week with some carefully chosen cabaret. With zip, zero and zilch ado, here are our Zingers for this week.
Zinger Of The Week: This Is Jonny Woo @ Soho Theatre
Over the last decade, alt-dragster Jonny Woo has scrambled to the top of the cabaret tree with some aplomb. We loved his singing at this year's Alternative Eurovision and his superlative compering at the Boom Boom shows in the Old Vic Tunnels. This supreme showman has redefined boundaries and still has plenty to say. His testimonial show will be at the Soho Theatre until Saturday 12 September.
Monday's Zingers
Lick your lips - the Velvet Tongue is back at Bar Kick with more open mic malarkey. Mixing the licentious with the literary, the bold and the brave will be sharing the stage with guest poets and the likes of burlesque wordsmith Rubyyy Jones.
What’s that coming over the hill? It’s forces sweetheart Cookie Monstar playing Life’s A Drag at converted downstairs loos the Cellardoor.
Tuesday's Zingers
Now is the Ukulele Cabaret's Winter Of Discontent, made glorious at the Lincoln Lounge by Tricity Vogue and guest stars the Men Of Banking plus double act Groblah Thugbucket and Grimley Toadspleen.
There’s an Office Party to end all office parties at the Pleasance presented by Duckie vet Christopher Green (aka Ida Barr aka Tina C) and La Clique’s Ursula Martinez. We previewed it here.
Wednesday's Zingers
There's a rare Zone 5 Zinger tonight with one-woman show and past Zinger of the Week Waiting For Stanley taking to the stage at Enfield's Dugdale Centre. Leela Bunce takes the audience back to a 1945 train station platform as she patiently waits for her husband to return from the front while imagining what has happening to him on his way home. It continues until Saturday. More information here.
There's nothing more tempting than the forbidden. And bacon butties at 2am. But, unlike bacon butties, tonight's Forbidden Cabaret is limited to 100 people and comes courtesy of the burlesque king Chaz Royal. Should you be lucky enough to bag a ticket, you can practice your forelock tugging at Madame Jojo's.
Great cabaret and good causes go hand in hand tonight at Floridita as they hold a special charity performance of their regular cabaret evening. Acts including The Globe Girls and ace burlesquer Sophia St. Villier will be raising funds for the Lord Mayor's Appeal which this year is helping out Bear Necessities.
Thursday's Zingers
There's a new order and a joy division over at Madame Jojo's favourite Bete Noire with the show now split into two halves. The first half includes the jolliest juggler in town Mat Ricardo but stick around for the deliciously dark musings of the EastEnd Cabaret after the break.
Everything is relative but we doubt your relatives are anything like Aunty Myra. This new show at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern from northern star Myra Dubois is her stab at a kids' show featuring puppets, songs and many disappointed and/or horrified inner children. Over 18s only.
Friday's Zingers
We’re still not quite sure how something can be new and long-running but the Decades floorshow at Proud Cabaret sounds like good, educational fun for all the family (as long as that family is the Manson Family).
Cafe de Paris’ La Reve pulls another great line-up out of the bag with a top-notch bill featuring Dusty Limits, Mat Ricardo, Polly Rae, Pippa the Ripper, Piff the Magic Dragon, Katharine Arnold and Beatrix von Bourbon.
We doubt the members of the Monetary Policy Committee would concur with the title of The Peacock Cafe's Oh What A Lovely Recession! but amid the 80s/90s/00s retro-pop, lucky punters get an eyeful of some burlesque. Think of it as "The Last Days Of Decadence" for Thatcher's children.
Saturday's Zingers
The Wam Bam Club, La Reve's Saturday sibling, has a traditionally eclectic and electric night lined up for its punters with naughty-but-nice Ria Lina, the never-less-than-hilarious Scales Of The Unexpected, clue's-in-the-name Ruby Deshabille and the aloft-and-alluring Katherine Would.
Go barmy with Amy Lamé at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern's Duckie tonight. Tell her we sent you.
Dust down that lab coat and goggles from Halloween and go all experimental out East at the Stratford Circus as their Saturday Scratch brings together a tentful of new circus acts. While you're at it, grab a helmet: "past shows have included flying bicycles above audience heads". Gulp.
Sunday's Zinger
There's comedy, burlesque and mindreading at the Comedy Pub's Carnival Of Freaks. We're guessing that that doing some amateur mindreading during the burlesque acts will not be terribly difficult.
