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The agony and the misogyny: Banging Denmark @finborough

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Banging Denmark, the comic play by Van Badham, answers the question, what lengths does a misogynistic pickup artist go to date with a frosty Danish librarian? It may be an uneasy farce given the subject matter, but it is made more palatable by the cast assembled to convince you of it. It's currently having its European premiere at the Finborough Theatre .  It opens with Guy DeWitt (Tom Kay) at one end of the stage. His real name is Jake, and he's a part-time podcaster whose expertise is misogyny and playing the role of the pickup artist. That is, someone who attempts to coax women into having sex with a mix of flattery or manipulation. His podcast attracts a variety of involuntarily celibate men (or incels), so call in asking for advice. And while he gives the impression of living the high life, he is in a grimy flat strewn with empty pizza boxes.  At the other end of the stage is feminist academic Ishtar (Rebecca Blackstone). She lives out of the photocopy room, losing all her
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Tits a little bit later on Old Compton Street... it was a bit crowded and people were rubbing shoulder to shoulder, pec to pec and cheek to cheek... Well it is that sort of day...
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Scenes from the West End Saturday 16:09 - Much later after the march, lunch and a quick look at the rally in Trafalgar Square - approaching Shaftsbury Avenue you could spot a poof a mile away. Others used none-too-subtle baloons to help punters identify them...  
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Scenes from London Pride 13:51 - on Whitehall looking towards Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery.  
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Scenes from London Pride Saturday - A bit of colour and movement and heels... Clothing was definitely optional (except for covering the most naughty of naughty bits) for some... 
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Scenes from London Pride Saturday 13:10 - Hmm they must work out... 
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Just another Summer Saturday in London Today was one of those days when you could have: Seen the women's final at Wimbledon (assuming that you had tickets) Gone to Live 8 at Hyde Park (assuming you won tickets on the mobile phone lottery) Participated in the London Pride (assuming you were a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person) I went the third one of these. There hadn't been so many gay men in central London since yesterday, but that didn't stop anybody having a good time. I wasn't planning on taking part in the actual march from Hyde Park to Victoria Embankment, but A convinced me to do so and before I knew it I was walking up Piccadilly getting applause (which is something that you don't get everyday). There was an interesting part near Pall Mall as well where anti-gay protestors had placards saying something about sodomites. A and his friends asked what we should be doing at this point and I said we should just do what everybody else was do
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Scenes from Central London Tuesday 22:05 - Late evening Thunderstorms 
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Office situations A colleague at work returned today to say goodbye to everyone. She left work in March to go to hospital, but has now left work completely. I suggested to F that her departure in March may have been to have a face lift. Today I can confirm that this was not the case. But I couldn't rule out botox...
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News: Farewell to the cracked leather Today the Royal Festival Hall bid farewell to the dusty tapestry, cracked leather seats and general shabbiness as it embarks on an upgrade which will see better facilities and acoustics in 2007 when it reopens. Central London will be a bit interesting on Saturday as there is the Live 8 in Hyde Park, plus the Pride Festivities in Trafalgar Square and elsewhere. So combined with the sales and a few other events it could be possible that every man and his dog will be out and about on the weekend. Possibly a good place to be seen...
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Theatre: Hedwig and the Angry Inch Tonight caught Hedwig and the Angry Inch featuring David Bedella at Heaven Nightclub. Sitting in second row on the aisle made one a little anxious knowing that there is a bit of audience participation involved in the show, but fortunately the "car wash" of a member of the audience took place a few rows further back. The show was the basis for the cult movie (well an emerging cult movie since it was only released in 2001), and is such a great show full of tributes to 70s glam rock and punk music and cheap gags. Bedella was terrific as the blonde drag diva with the "angry inch". There was something good about seeing it under the arches at Heaven. It is the sort of show that seems to work best in a shabby venue. As the show progressed and as the temperature rose, the seats were uncomfortable and you could hear the clinking of beer bottles. None of this mattered, it just added to the flavour of it all.
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