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Showing posts from May, 2017

Dealing with Regret

Guilt. It’s one of those things that is easy to allow to completely consume you, especially when, like me, you suffer from mental illness. As I sit here writing this, tears remain stained along my cheeks, and this inevitable feeling of me being the worse human alive is sucking the soul away from my core. Yet still, I believe I can offer advice. Guilt and regret are the two main emotions that engulf my everyday life, whether surrounding something major, such as the way I have treated people in the past, or something minor, like accidentally knocking into someone and taking longer than two seconds to apologise; however, years of living with this have taught me ways to stop the overwhelming feeling from completely taking over. So here is my advice: Take some time out to fully think about what has happened. It is easy to be irrational when feeling such a strong level of emotion, so allow yourself some recovery time. If you regret something you said or done, contact the pe

Jon Richardson: Old Man Review

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In a world where Trump is president, Brexit is underway and humanity appears to be taking a steady decline into a whole new pit of misery, you can always rely on Jon Richardson to focus on the real issues of the world, and spend a solid chunk of time complaining about how people have a complete inability to use a dishwasher. Touring to Southampton as part of his latest show, somewhat fittingly titled ‘Old Man’, Jon treated crowds to a series of hilarious jokes and antidotes about his life, which I can only be described as being a concerning level of relatable for the most part. With his act varying from topics such as his OCD tendencies to marriage, public toilets to new-found fatherhood, the much-loved comedian ensured that all members of the audience are catered for, and, even though he is such a small person, he easily managed to feel the large theatre space. Accompanied by a minimalistic stage, which featured symmetrical lighting across the back, all eyes were on him

Unorganised and Unpopular Thoughts on 13 Reasons Why

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Warning: This does contain spoilers. Starting as a Netflix hit series, ‘13 Reasons Why’ was quick to come under fire from a range of media outlets and is now deemed heavily controversial. Based on the bestselling novel by Jay Asher, the series focuses on the tale of 17-year-old Hannah Baker, whose life is quick to end for reasons marked across thirteen tapes, which get passed around to who, she states, are the cause of her suicide. With a heavy plot, there’s no wonder the show became so widely discussed; however, it now feels almost tabooed to enjoy or even give praise to the series… but I refuse to let that stop me. Spread across thirteen episodes, the show depicts a steady and harrowing descent into grief and emotional torment, showing relatable, honest characters within a ruthless high-school environment. As far as casting goes, I feel this is one of the strongest set of actors and actresses I am yet to see, with even minor roles being brought to life. Australian newcom

'Some People V. Reginald D. Hunter' Review

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After years of watching Reginald D. Hunter take to the stage on popular comedy shows, I was thrilled to be seeing him for the first time live at the New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth. With nothing to base his live performance on, I didn’t quite know what to anticipate, and boy was I shocked at some of the material I heard. Accompanied by friend and fellow comedian Glenn Wool, the show, titled ‘Some People V. Reginald D. Hunter’ started off with a series of deeply honest and controversial jokes, intertwined with relatable silliness. Glenn was a great storyteller, with his clear anger bagging many laughs from the audience as a whole, and his controversy collecting a medley of laughs and gasps from the intimate audience (and yes, I was one of the terrible humans who was laughing). This level of comedy only escalated throughout the evening, as both comedians depicted their take on society in a searingly honest way, covering tabooed subjects such as race and sexuality, in a manner

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead Review

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Based on minor characters from Shakespeare’s much-loved tragedy ‘Hamlet’, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is, to this day, Tom Stoppard’s most famous play, combining deeply philosophical thoughts on the inevitability of death with humour and comedy that even myself, your average twenty-year-old, can find deeply hilarious. Half a century after its premiere on The Old Vic stage, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead returned to the beautiful setting once more, and although I was unable to attend the live showing of the play, I was able to attend the National Theatre Live viewing at a local cinema (which was a lot better than I had expected). For those unaware of the plot, which I was too prior to a quick google search five minutes before the show started, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead focuses on two characters, Rosencrantz (Daniel Radcliffe) & Guildenstern (Joshua McGuire), two old friends of Hamlet who set off to Denmark under the orders of the new King, to p