Post by Leanne on May 10, 2010 1:28:20 GMT -5
I’ve been to a marvellous party
May 9th, 2010 by JJ
It was my 40th birthday on Friday and my 40th birthday party on Saturday. Right now I’m sitting at home on Sunday night looking back at a wonderful weekend.
The first treat was Sara’s arrival. Just like at Christmas she arrived to be my best possible present on the big day itself. We just relaxed on Friday because Saturday was going to be a big day. As I only intend to be 40 once and as this is going to be a momentous year with my move to Canada I really wanted to have a big bash. First thing on the agenda was to find the right venue and I had my heart set on the Bush Hall, a mere 5mins walk from my front door. Bush Hall is a wonderful venue. I love it because from the street it looks like nothing at all. Then you walk inside it’s like some kind of punk Versailles - all chandeliers, plaster and red velvet curtains.
Next up was some sort of live entertainment. I’ve been lucky enough to meet some very talented people over the years so I put the word out to anyone who wanted to do a turn. I have to say my friends really came through for me. Mark Dolan agreed to MC the evening and did the perfect job in hosting the show. Jamie Reid was the opening act and did a wonderful country-influenced solo acoustic set: it was great to hear him singing again. Then came some comedy. Glen Long did a brilliant stand-up set musing on ageing and the passing of time. The fabulous Madeleine Brolly then did her Lady Ada Vader cabaret act (ex-wife of Darth, got the Death Star in the divorce settlement, now doing “Earth Magic” to earn £££ - usual sort of thing…) and that went down a storm. After a brief interval the irrepressible Andy Walker did his first stand-up act for 12 years and it was a characteristic tour-de-force from the man I always refer to as the funniest man I’ve ever met. The final act of the night was the magnificent Kate Dimbleby and her band. Kate is an amazing singer and I was thrilled that she offered to perform. I was even more thrilled when she agreed to do a duet with me. You see I’ve done lots of showbiz over the years but I’ve never sung on stage with a band: in the end I had to book my own venue and event to do it! We sang one of my all time favourites “Mr Inbetween” (aka Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative) where I was Bing Crosby (hem hem) to her Andrews Sisters. Even though I say so myself I thought it went really well and it was a huge thrill to do. There’s even a video of the finale (Thanks Chris).
There was also a great turn out of friends and family which is what made the event really special. I was so happy to be able to introduce Sara to so many people in one go and she coped amazingly with the this avalanche of new names and faces. I can’t say any more than everything about the evening surpassed my expectations (not least the food from Fait Maison on the Goldhawk Road) and it was one of the most fun nights of my life. And I haven’t even got round to talking about dancing with Sandra Oh and Kevin McKidd from Grey’s Anatomy. It was fab.
Thank you everyone for all the love!
ateabutnoe.com/
google alerts
bush hall UK www.bushhallmusic.co.uk/
May 9th, 2010 by JJ
It was my 40th birthday on Friday and my 40th birthday party on Saturday. Right now I’m sitting at home on Sunday night looking back at a wonderful weekend.
The first treat was Sara’s arrival. Just like at Christmas she arrived to be my best possible present on the big day itself. We just relaxed on Friday because Saturday was going to be a big day. As I only intend to be 40 once and as this is going to be a momentous year with my move to Canada I really wanted to have a big bash. First thing on the agenda was to find the right venue and I had my heart set on the Bush Hall, a mere 5mins walk from my front door. Bush Hall is a wonderful venue. I love it because from the street it looks like nothing at all. Then you walk inside it’s like some kind of punk Versailles - all chandeliers, plaster and red velvet curtains.
Next up was some sort of live entertainment. I’ve been lucky enough to meet some very talented people over the years so I put the word out to anyone who wanted to do a turn. I have to say my friends really came through for me. Mark Dolan agreed to MC the evening and did the perfect job in hosting the show. Jamie Reid was the opening act and did a wonderful country-influenced solo acoustic set: it was great to hear him singing again. Then came some comedy. Glen Long did a brilliant stand-up set musing on ageing and the passing of time. The fabulous Madeleine Brolly then did her Lady Ada Vader cabaret act (ex-wife of Darth, got the Death Star in the divorce settlement, now doing “Earth Magic” to earn £££ - usual sort of thing…) and that went down a storm. After a brief interval the irrepressible Andy Walker did his first stand-up act for 12 years and it was a characteristic tour-de-force from the man I always refer to as the funniest man I’ve ever met. The final act of the night was the magnificent Kate Dimbleby and her band. Kate is an amazing singer and I was thrilled that she offered to perform. I was even more thrilled when she agreed to do a duet with me. You see I’ve done lots of showbiz over the years but I’ve never sung on stage with a band: in the end I had to book my own venue and event to do it! We sang one of my all time favourites “Mr Inbetween” (aka Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative) where I was Bing Crosby (hem hem) to her Andrews Sisters. Even though I say so myself I thought it went really well and it was a huge thrill to do. There’s even a video of the finale (Thanks Chris).
There was also a great turn out of friends and family which is what made the event really special. I was so happy to be able to introduce Sara to so many people in one go and she coped amazingly with the this avalanche of new names and faces. I can’t say any more than everything about the evening surpassed my expectations (not least the food from Fait Maison on the Goldhawk Road) and it was one of the most fun nights of my life. And I haven’t even got round to talking about dancing with Sandra Oh and Kevin McKidd from Grey’s Anatomy. It was fab.
Thank you everyone for all the love!
ateabutnoe.com/
google alerts
bush hall UK www.bushhallmusic.co.uk/