Things To Do In London: Tuesday 6 January 2015

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Take a behind the scenes of Southbank Centre

Listings

PRINTMAKING: A new exhibition opens at Barbican Library today by the Printmakers Council, exploring the art of printmaking through disciplines including woodcut, linocut, etching, aquatint, lithography, screenprint, lens based and digital methods. Free, just turn up, until 28 January

THEATRE TOUR: See behind the scenes at the National Theatre on Southbank. Backstage tours give the public a chance to see preparation for the shows, including rehearsals, prop and costume-making — all happen on site. £8.50/£7.50, prebook, 10am/12pm/5pm

OLD PALACES: Take a free guided tour of the Old Palaces of Somerset House, once home to the likes of Anne of Denmark, Henrietta Maria and Catherine of Braganza before the building took on its current incarnation. Access to Strand Lane Baths is included in the tour. Free, tickets are available on the day only from the Information Desk, 12.45pm/2.15pm

FESTIVE FAREWELL: The Geffyre Museum bids farewell to Christmas today with an event in the garden (dress warmly) with traditional burning of the holly and the ivy, carol singing, stories about Epiphany and a taste of mulled wine and Twelfth Night cake. Free, just turn up, 3.30pm-5pm

SOUTHBANK CENTRE TOUR: If our earlier suggestions haven't satiated your curiosity for seeing parts of London backstage and behind the scenes, head to Southbank Centre to see parts of the building which are normally off limits to the public including artists' dressing rooms to the Royal Festival Hall stage, and including views of the Thames. £8.50/£7.50, prebook, 6pm

OXFORD CIRCUS: Trails of the City lead a guided walk around Oxford Circus in which you will come across a secret tunnel, a toilet becoming a posh bar, an over-sexed sculptor, a murderous doctor and a royal processional route connecting one palace which was never built to another which was demolished. £8/£6, meet outside Oxford Circus station, 6.30pm

KING PONG: Head to The Book Club in Shoreditch to indulge in a spot of ping pong. There's a £35 drinks voucher up for grabs for the winner, and £15 for the runner up. If you come away with a new-found love for ping pong, you'll want to know about this. £5 to enter, just turn up, 6.30pm

COMEDY: Bec Hill starts a short run at the Soho Theatre with her 2014 Edinburgh show, about how she'd never won an award. It won an award. £10-£15, prebook, 7pm

LIVE MUSIC: Guitarist and singer-songwriter Shonu performs songs from his latest studio album along with bassist and multi-instrumentalist Alan Thomson, guitarist Paul Bond and drummer/percussionist Tom Hooper at The Forge in Camden. £12, prebook, 7.30pm

BLOOD: Today’s opportunities to donate blood are at Brewers Hall in the City, Abbey Centre in Westminster, Lambeth Town Hall in Brixton, and the usual donor centres. See site for terms and conditions. Scared of donating blood? Watch our video.

Find more London events in our Free & Cheap events listings.Want to see your event in these last-minute listings? Email us at hello@londonist.com at least 48 hours before the event, and we will consider it for inclusion. Note: due to high volumes of email, we can’t always reply.


Good Cause of the Day

Sign up now to take part in Vertical Rush in March, Shelter's challenge which sees participates running up the 932 steps of Tower 42 as quickly as possible, and getting sponsored to do so. We did it. Twice. It's one way to take your New Year's fitness resolution to new heights. Sorry.

From The Archive

Two years ago, we got pretty excited when Royal Mail issued special stamps to mark the 150th anniversary of the tube. Take a look at the special postage marks here.