Monday 30 January 2012

£9,000 = 9.9%


Naturally, as a student at a ‘prestigious Russell Group university,’ I was far from happy with the idea of having to pay £9,000 per year for my degree as opposed to £3,290… Although it wouldn’t directly affect me (unless I continue with a Masters) I have a younger sister who will pay the price. Literally.  Today BBC News announced that there’s been a 9.9% drop in university applications, which, although not as much as expected, is still a lot and, obviously, I do empathize with those less fortunate than myself who will have to think twice about a degree. But then again it does make me think…maybe this is a good thing? Ok so I really don’t want to be a uni-snob and I’m going to try and put this as nicely as I can, but surely there are a heap of degrees out there now that are, well, a bit pointless?! I’m not going to point the finger, but I’m sure you get the jist… On another note, going into my third and final year at university and DESPERATELY (blood, sweat and tears desperately) looking for any type of job/internship/work experience, has very boldly and bluntly taught me that a university career does not automatically get you a job. It may have done a few years back, but nowadays there are SO many graduates all battling it out for those 10 desired places at X, Y and Z in ‘the city’ that quite frankly I almost feel I should be 7 feet tall to metaphorically and literally stand out from the crowd.  So perhaps a decline in applications isn’t as bleak as it at first appears? (I’ll keep you posted on how the job hunt goes…)

Thursday 26 January 2012

Pyjamas, but never nighties...


For Impact, out university magazine, I recently did an interview with U.S. comedy duo The Pyjama Men which I thought I'd share...

*The highest selling act to ever play at The Soho Theatre in London, a 2010 sell-out run in London and a TV project in development…it’s no secret that comedy duo The Pyjama Men, a.k.a Shenoah Allen and Mark Chavez from Albuquerque, New Mexico, are in hot demand. So I was extremely lucky to bag an interview with them…



Did you find it easy  breaking onto the comedy circuit?
The main thing is to just keep showing up and doing your comedy wherever you can. I wouldn’t say it’s easy, but if you do the effin’ work, something will come of it. Some people make glass eyes and get super into the glass eye business. We didn’t go that route, but we work just as hard as those glass eye barons and it’s going well.

What was the motivating push that convinced you to do it?
We gave up everything else to do this and when doing something ridiculous is all you got, you really
 want it to work out.

Where do you get show ideas and influences from?
There were plenty of comedy films we liked growing up, like Airplane, Top Secret, Naked Gun… But in a way we were lucky because we grew up in the small desert city of Albuquerque in New Mexico. There was no scene, no one to set an example and so we just did what we thought was funny or interesting and because of that we were able to make our own style…for better or worse!

You’ve toured America, Canada, the Edinburgh Fringe…how do you choose your destinations?
We go where the work is I guess. In the same way zombies go where the brains are. Doing Edinburgh afforded us a lot of opportunities to do things internationally (and to get drunk). It can all be traced back there, really.

Do you adapt your shows a lot to suit the different audiences in different countries and do you find that reactions and reception differ greatly from country to country?
No, because we’re not topical. Our stuff is more about characters and how weird humans are – picking up on idiosyncrasies or exploring relationships. We look for ways to tie our bits together through strange narratives, but it’s not specific to any one place or country.

Who is the best audience and who is your ideal audience?
Jee…I guess the best audiences are the un-jaded ones; being too cool to laugh is the saddest thing that can happen to a person.

How long does it typically take you to write a show?
We work for about six weeks before we open a show that is just a sort of skeleton and then we improvise within the structure in front of an audience. So it’s hard to say because a lot of the writing happens on stage and we keep that process going until we close the show.

Do you have someone to edit or help write your material?
No, it’s just us. We’re a small operation.

Which one of you is funnier…and why?
I’m funnier because I have a secret weapon – Mark writes my jokes.

Any tips for aspiring comedians?
Do your own thing. Trying to fit into a mould gets you nowhere. Take it from us. Ever heard of us? No? Okay well, do what ever you think will work.

Oh and have you ever performed in nighties?
No, you idiot, we’re the Pajama Men.

On that note…thanks guys!

All content © 2006 - 2012 Impact Magazine

Wednesday 25 January 2012

To Kindle or not to Kindle, that is the question...


The Kindle was rumoured to have been Amazon’s Christmas 2012 bestseller, which is not surprising, considering that this year in the U.S. more ebooks were sold than ‘actual’ books. With the risk of sounding like an archaic, nostalgic and pretentious literature student, I’m going to put it out there that I like physical books where I turn the pages. After discovering the ‘Bücherbrockenstube’ (second-hand bookshop to all you non Swiss-German speakers) in Berne this summer, selling thumbed through paperbacks for 1 CHF, this love only grew. I think it’s SO artsy and edgy to buy someone’s cast off version of that book from the top of my reading list. Maybe they’ve dog-eared the best pages, hell maybe there’s even a “à mon amour” postcard inside, which yes, is still my bookmark. On top of that, there’s the fact that I’m reading a humanities university subject, so naturally, reading and books are both business and pleasure to me.

On another note, as a self-labelled jet setter due to my various international homes (!!), I would like to say I’ve cracked the art of efficient packing. I no longer pay £98.87 to British Airways for excess baggage (yes, I’m bitter and the sum is forever more etched onto my brain) and still manage to bring back ALL the academic books I’ll need over the holiday PLUS that blasé novel in the hand luggage for plane entertainment. I’ll casually brush over the fact that in the clothes department,  I have in fact only packed knickers. Maybe my favourite jumper is bunched up in my washbag… The point is I travel with a LOT of physical books, academic or not.
Funnily enough, it’s on these trips that I most encounter people reading, be it the Financial Times, Grazia, an academic textbook or their favourite novel, and they all seem to be doing it on a Kindle or an iPad. And hey…they have absolutely teeny suitcases with so much baggage allowance weight wasted I could cry.

So I’m going to be functional and embrace a Kindle for the sake of practicality and academia. But I’m not going to lie and say that the prospect of buying a pretty, leather book-style case for it doesn’t excite me…! Obviously I’ll also keep visiting the Bücherbrockenstube, but those books will be read in one country only.

Le début...


So this is the first post…as I’m very new to this, please go easy on me! The idea is to share with the world wide web (and those who care!) my thoughts, waves and raves and the occasional rant. As I’m in my final year at university, who knows how often I’ll be able to update this, but we shall see! Thanks for stopping by! x