Archive

Hello!

Happy Saturday :) To readers in the south of England: yay it's stopped raining for the first time in about 12 hours!

I've got the first outing of my new WIP Doomscrolling on Monday! It's part of Mark Watson's brilliant online Access Festival with NextUp Comedy.

Hi there,

Hope you're enjoying the most wonderful time of year, Betwixtmas / Liminal Week / the perineum of the year [sorry]! I do love glorious, empty London between the 26th December and 2nd January. I do sincerely hope that the festive season has been what you need it to be.

If you'd like to see my WIP in its early stages, you can - all the details are in this Twitter thread. If you're no longer dealing with Twitter - a very rational decision - follow me over on Insta / TikTok/ LinkedIn.

Dates for WIPs of my second Edinburgh show! • Buttondown

Hi all, I've got some dates booked in for Work-In-Progress* performances of my next Edinburgh show, Reunion/Afterparty! It's about the news, nostalgia and a...

HUGE apologies for the double email!

Here's the missing bit:

I've got some dates booked in for Work-In-Progress* performances of my next Edinburgh show, Reunion/Afterparty! It's about the news, nostalgia and a secret third thing!!

Hi all,

I've got some dates booked in for Work-In-Progress* performances of my next Edinburgh show, Reunion/Afterparty! It's about the news, nostalgia and a secret third thing!!

*If you're not familiar with the term, calling a live comedy special a WIP can mean anything from "this isn't ready to be reviewed," to "here's me and a notebook full of jokes that I've never tried out before," it's rough, let's call it that, first draft stuff.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Leaves you with a smile on your face"

- Theatre and Other Things LDN

"Vulnerable, poignant and hilarious"

I'm doing 5 nights of previews next week in north London, I'm excited and scared, do come!

Sending out a really quick missive with what I've been up to and what I'm getting up to.

I'm onstage at 21Soho on Weds 27th April for the Comedians' Workshop Show

Ronnie Spector, who died this week aged 78, with David Bowie and Iggy Pop in 1976 (her expression!!!)

Ronnie Spector sings 'Back to Black' in tribute to Amy Winehouse, in 2019.

A still from the video for the Amy Winehouse single (my favourite) Tears Dry On Their Own (2006)

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This week's subject line is a sincere question from me - listen to the latest The Week Unwrapped episode for more

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Kendall Jenner and Kim Kardashian at the Met Gala in New York this week

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Goodbye summer. I'm going to miss iced coffees the most

Photograph of Brenda Frazier in 1966 by Diane Arbus - more context in links of the week below

Thank you to Anne-Charlotte Gerbaud for taking this picture of me during my Friday 13th August performance of I Miss Amy Winehouse

This edition's subject line is taken from the poem 'Standing in the Forest of Being Alive’, by Katie Farris:

Still from Andrei Tarkovksky's Solaris (1972)

TW: Due to the storyline of Solaris, there will be references to suicide in the linked piece below.

Hi there,

This issue's subject line "I tend to learn as much as I forget" is from Amy Winehouse's 2006 single Close To The Front

• From the last set of paparazzi shots of Amy Winehouse, taken on 21st July 2010

The late journalist and commentator Dawn Foster on Sky’s paper review, in an image that was shared widely on Twitter last night at age 33

The late, great Grumpy Cat

(Screenshot from the 2015 documentary Amy, directed by Asif Kapadia)

• Today's subject line, "Go into yourself and test the deeps in which your life takes rise," is from Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet

• Part of a photo I took during the Amy Winehouse gig at London's Hammersmith Apollo in November 2007 (see my insta for more)

This week's subject line is from this edition of Atoosa Rubenstein's excellent newsletter.

A screenshot from the music video of Sinéad O’Connor’s hit cover of Prince’s song ‘Nothing Compares 2U‘ (1990)

Amy Winehouse and Popworld presenter Simon Amstell in a 2004 segment about her BRIT Award nominations

(Imagine 17 years ago, a time when Amy couldn’t get recognised on the streets of London!)*

(Illustration from GQ magazine)

Hi there,

(The view from my desk. L: Graffiti Amy Winehouse, artist unknown; R: Vogue cover, March 1919, ‘A Woman and Cherry Blossoms’, illustrated by Helen Dryden

Hi there,

The gorgeous artwork at the top of this edition is by the artist , and is on the side of The Caxton Arms in Brighton. The person behind their Instagram pointed me towards the mural because I’m doing a show about Amy Winehouse there - it feels like serendipity. 8/9th June, 6:45pm if you’re interested.

Hi there,

Bit of Freelance Pod news - I’m recording two more episodes to hit the big 5-0 before reassessing what I do with the podcast in the future.

The two new episodes are going to be interviews with comedians, and I’m recording the first one later today. Very excited!! Both should be really fun listens.

Hi there,

While on the latest The Week Unwrapped, we argue that the underreported stories of the week that could have lasting impacts on our lives are global human rights, Russia-Ukraine the possible rematch and... silly place names...

But there's no denying that the M&S lawsuit against Aldi, claiming that the latter's Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake is too close to their own iconic Colin the C feels important to those of us who worked in offices, if only because it feels like another nail in the coffin of shared workplaces.

There are a number of Colin the Caterpillar Fakes out there, but M&S has decided to go for Aldi.

Hi there,

London is enjoying a strange, snowy / sunny spring that I'm just fully enjoying no matter how cold it actually is out there. Sunshine! Blossom! Long evenings! Bring them on.

Like last week, the subject line of this email is from Kahlil Gibran’s beautiful poem 'On Time'; in fact, it's the second half of the line:

Yet the timeless in you is aware of life’s timelessness,

And knows that yesterday is but today’s memory and tomorrow is today’s dream.

And that that which sings and contemplates in you is still dwelling within the bounds of that first moment which scattered the stars into space.

Hi there,

I’ve moved from Substack to Buttondown Email.

Hopefully nothing’s changed for you!

Will write properly soon,

Hi there,

Reader, I’ve been sneezing, just a little bit. It’s not a cold (I yearn for the levels of human contact required to get one of those, but I fear them too), it’s… a touch of hayfever. I don’t get it too badly, just a bit, that worsens year on year. Poor me!

The start of hayfever season is the start of the best season of the year though; yes, it’s spring. After 100 years of lockdown, it’s finally spring!

Hi there,

What are the podcasts and audiobooks that have helped you get through a year of lockdowns and silly little walks?

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

How to pronounce my name

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

How to pronounce my name

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

How to pronounce my name

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

How to pronounce my name

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

How to pronounce my name

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

How to pronounce my name

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

How to pronounce my name

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

How to pronounce my name

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

How to pronounce my name

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

I’m a freelance journalist,  and  based in London, England.

It’s me, Suchandrika Chakrabarti!

I’m a freelance journalist,  and  based in London, England.

Hi there,

Just a quick one from me today.

Enjoy this vintage Neil Gaiman-Douglas Adams interview! It popped up on Twitter thanks to a fan account, which I can’t now find, sadly.

In this magazine article, Neil Gaiman interviews Douglas Adams just after he finished writing (the second book I read, the first being - yes, I was confused. My own fault for raiding my brother’s shelves while he was out…!), so 1983 or 84, I think.

Hi there,

One of my favourite poems, Summing Up by Claribel Alegria, popped up on social media this week. I’ve been thinking about personal essays a lot recently (and working on something I can hopefully announce soon). This is a poem that looks back over a life in the same kind of way, but only at the pivotal moments:

Hi there,

A (somewhat) calmer week for news has got me thinking about hometowns. The title of this week’s newsletter is from the poem Lessons on Longing, by Emily Yin, which I think is about trying to understand another person’s childhood, to figure out what made them who they are.

Hi there,

What a week for hope! And, of course, for Four Seasons Total Landscaping.

Hi there,

Colbert’s emotional monologue about Trump and the election says more than I could, so here it is: