We can’t festival like we used to. Nearly a week after the end of Readipop (hope you all enjoyed our overview of the event, by the way) we are still achy of limb and heavy of head. And we didn’t even go that hard! Age can be cruel to the party animal, doubly so when we’re still hauling ourselves out of lockdown torpor. Still, fun was had, beer was drunk, boogies were boogied. Already looking forward to next year.
However, we have other business to attend to, feeding the maw of the hungry link-eating machine that is The Cut. This week: beats, seances and 21 flavours of Mountain Dew.
Now is the time. Here is the place. This is The Cut.
The return of cult comedy favourite Boys In The Hall was met with pleasure and enthusiasm by all. The Canadian team’s signature mix of dry absurdity and outré wackiness is solidly in place. However, the hit sketch, a solo bit from Dave Foley, takes a slightly different tack and keys into a post-pandemic mood of fear and uncertainty. Hilarious, sure, but also shockingly bleak.
Kind of staying on the DJ tip, we geeked hard over this listicle of top ten classic drum machines. If your musical education was founded in the late seventies and early-to-mid eighties, the noises these little boxes make is in your soul, ready to make you dance again at the touch of a button.
We recommend staying with this thoughtful review of Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always as an indictment of the way 21st century Western society handles abortion issues. Not the most fun you’ll have but important reading nevertheless, as a major erosion in a woman’s right to choose what she does with her own body is darkening the skies…
Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always.
Meanwhile the end of A.B.dF. Johnson’s run as Prime Minister leads to an even more unedifying spectacle—the campaign for Tory leadership. Back-biting and cat-fighting are, as usual, part of the process. However, a lot of the heavy lifting for each candidate’s claim is done in secret, constructed out of whispers in corridors and clandestine meetings. This is surprisingly common in British politics and starts right down at the grass roots.
Guy Maddin’s Seances is a film like no other. The experience we had watching it will not be the experience you have. It’s a different film every time it’s viewed. Be sure to look at the About section before you hit play.
Everything has an operating system nowadays. Your phone, your TV, your stereo, probably your washing machine, perhaps your fridge. And operating systems need updating. More and more often, it seems. This needs to happen to stop your devices becoming zombie bots crashing the internet. But perhaps there’s a different way that’s a bit less… irritating.
More unashamed Ninth Art nerdery from the brilliant Chloe Mavael, remembering one of our favourite Britcomic anthologies. The nineties saw a huge bump in new exciting graphic action on the high street, and we agree with Chloe that the best was Deadline. We used to own a big pile of back issues, but we don’t think they survived our move away from London. A real shame, as Deadline was a snapshot of a very distinct moment in British comics action.
Just a little thing from Faith Erin Hicks, but it packs a lot into that small package. We’ve all felt like Faith at some point, and this strip brings in a fat heap of existential angst. Enjoy?
We loved this overview of a 1975 play featuring Helen Mirren before she became the regal figure she is now. Teeth ‘N’ Smiles sounds like a fascinating piece, and we think it may be worth a revival. Who would play Maggie, though?
And finally. Some journalists take things too far in pursuit of a story, putting themselves at risk. That doesn’t quite happen to Geraldine DeRuiter, but we do question the state of her mental health at the end of the exercise. All those chemicals can’t be good for the brain…
Don’t Try This…at home or anywhere.
Bob Dylan’s back in the news, releasing one-off million-dollar albums and launching a tour you can’t take your phone into. He always takes his own path, does our Bob. We thought he should close out proceedings with a version of Jokerman, played on Letterman in 1984, backed by a crack band of Latino punks. It’s quite the thing. Far Out Magazine has context.
See you next Saturday, jokers. More importantly—stay cool, ya hear?
EXCUSES AND HALF TRUTHS 