A Christmas Reconciliation Between the Swedish Chef and Big Bird

Merry everything! Yes I'm back in Puissalicon for the festival of lights and the Queen's speech (I liked this one), but I didn't watch A Muppet Christmas Carol because I still don't like that Jim Henson was dead for it. I do like that he was still around for A Muppet Family Christmas however, so here's a lovely festive clip from it featuring a rare encounter between Big Bird and the Swedish Chef, also insight, laughs, chokes, a song, the usual Muppet magic and the deathless Muppet pertinent binary. It's wonderful.

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And speaking of wonderful, John Finnemore's Christmas Special heralds in a new series of Souvenir Programme this Tuesday! Thank goodness for the good guys. Happy First Night, readers!

Seasonal Wear

  Well, the showreel worked. At the time of writing this I've been put up for at least two festive jobs where sad dads stare brokenly at bills. Here's the one I got. 

 It was filmed last week, around what used to be the Arndale Centre back when I grew up in Wandsworth. Behind me in the above screengrab is what used to be the Ram Brewery*, and in front of it, wearing the hi vis, is director Kevin Curtis. He writes about the youtube posting below "please ignore the misleading thumbnail - it’s been a source of great disagreement here with us!" but I don't know what he's talking about. Enjoy.

 

 And I've had a second Santa gig since, Nordic this time: long straight hair and a blue tunic, chuckling and waving carrots at party-goers while occasionally tugging at the necks of the People Pile like a consensual Jabba. That same night I dreamt the gig all over again - the only time I've ever dreamt a straight flashback -  but no photos were allowed, so here instead is a nice shot of what we did on Halloween, that particularly Mexican-themed Halloween of 2016 we spent a full week celebrating because it was the year of the dead. The invitation said "come dressed as your dark side" so here it is, you mothers!

taken by Graham Turner. More here.

 

 

   

 October looks warm now.

* When I was four, the Arndale Centre sported a poster for butter curls on toast and I thought that's where the smell of yeast was coming from.

There's actually an updated show reel with clips from "Suicide Hotline" here.
You can see a trailer for "Nightmare on Deskteeth Street" here.

And you can see what the Arndale Centre looked and sounded like when I was four, seven and a half minutes into an episode of Grange Hill here.