Triplets

Well, Mr Kenneth had a rollercoaster of a weekend. An incident involving a physical reaction to vodka in front of an audience of new work colleagues was the prelude to a weekend of mixed fortunes. Saturday was spent in a fug of hangover and shame but Sunday began in a sunny enough way, listening to the Archers omnibus and then out to meet the Most Attractive Lesbians in London (MALIL) for the first of the theatrical outings. Aladdin was wonderful. Hilariously funny, with Sir Ian fantastic as Widow Twanky and the boy McFadden as sweet as ever. The production was followed by the usual top notch nosh in Tokyo Diner, which went down well as always. HOWEVER, eating here as opposed to some really fast food was a bit of a mistake as, Mr Kenneth's party was scheduled to arrive at the Prince of Wales theatre for the second production of the night at 6pm and not a moment later and arrival did not come to pass before 6.10! Disaster had struck!

Mr Kenneth frequently scans the BBC Audience Tickets website for free things to do, with a TV and/or comedy slant plus the opportunity to be seen by the Manchesterford Massive on the box, as t'were. On one such occasion he was lucky enough to see a limited availability opportunity to attend the recording of a special BAFTA presentation to none other than comedy heroine, Victoria Wood. The show was to be recorded in front of an audience of invited celebrities and would include contributions and tributes from all manner of VW's friends and colleagues. With a tenacity Mr Kenneth is rarely seen to exhibit, he set about ensuring that by hook, crook or walking frame, tickets from the limited availability were secured for a Kenneth posse to the max. This involved telephoning a special number which opened on an advertised date at an advertised time, so Mr Kenneth set reminders in Outlook at work and in the mobile phone, to ensure this deadline did not pass without ticket reservation. Ten minutes before the line was to open, Kenneth was panting on the line. He queued behind only 5 other callers according to the recorded messages to finally get through (to an obvious homosexual, but that's by the bye-pass) and be told that four tickets in his name had been provisionally reserved. Said tokens of entry soon arrived at Chez Ken and from that day to Sunday, 'looking forward' could scarsely describe Mr Kenneth's anticipation of the event.

Unfortunately, arrival at 6.10pm, for the 6.30pm doors when, as he later learnt, others had been queueing since 4, was decidedly remiss and the queue was cut off about five or six people in front of the Kenneth Krewe; the venue being full. The Lumby being one of Mr Kenneth's group, was all for joining the reserve queue - which the very nice BBC woman assured us was unlikely itself to get in in its entirety - him being cheek personified and expert in weedling his way into events one way or another. (Whether he's ever been in by the back door is still to be revealed) However, as the wider group was unlikely to secure entry to this particular event whilst staying together and as all aside from The Lumby were self-proclaimed homoseximos, The Lumby was left jumping up and down outside the theatre, saying "look! It's Celia!" whilst the others proceeded Trash Palace to drown their sorrows.

The sight of some cute boys soothed Mr Kenneth's disappointment somewhat and the MALIL did the rest, with sparkling conversation and silly bluetooth fun. The show will be broadcast on 5th February on BBC1, the Lumby told Mr Kenneth later, as he only slightly smugly related the story of how he indeed, as expected enjoyed the evening in amongst the Wooderati. Never mind, Mr Kenneth knows the MALIL, it's kind of the same thing really, when you think about it.