Graham Norton comes to your local

by Veronica LeeSunday, 20 February 2011

Every now and then an idea comes along so perfectly formed that you think, “I wish I’d thought of that.” And so it is with The London Chat Show, one of the many exciting projects being developed by young urban arts professionals who come into the industry at a time when public funding continues to dwindle and major arts venues play increasingly safe with their programming. These self-starting individuals deserve not a little admiration and a lot of support as they keep live performance going, often on a shoestring and giving all profits to charity.

The London Chat Show is the brainchild of twentysomething arts journalist and broadcaster Amira Hashish. It’s a simple set-up - she interviews interesting cultural bods one evening each month at the Canal Café Theatre, above the Bridge House pub in London’s Little Venice. There’s music and comedy, and the cabaret-style seating and stage design - sofas and lamps - add to the intimacy. It feels like this is taking place in your living room.

Hashish has been inventive in getting the project off the ground - the set has been donated by Home Sense in return for a mention on the show’s website, and she has been assiduous in using her media contacts to attract a remarkable array of star names to her sofa, and certainly ones that you might normally expect to be gracing Graham Norton's. The first show in January featured restaurateur Aldo Zilli and club owner Peter Stringfellow, and this month’s - pegged to London Fashion Week - has top designer Paul Costelloe and celebrity hairdresser Trevor Sorbie. At March’s theatre-themed evening Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire, who recently bought Ambassadors Theatre Group and who rarely give interviews, will appear.

The London Chat Show is one among many inventive projects - from pop-up galleries and guerilla theatre to front-room restaurants - that young artists and performers are devising in a “Let’s do the show right here” attitude. More power to their elbow.

The next London Chat Show is on 23 February. Book here

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