Souvenir Programme news; sketch try-out nights... and a mysterious box.
Hello! John Finnemore here, from off of the radio.
I think last time I sent out one of these messages, I said that I was going to try sending them a bit more regularly from then on, but not so much as to overwhelm you. That was in 2019. I think we can all agree that I've been really successful at the 'not overwhelming you' element. So let's focus on that half of the plan, for which I get a big tick.
Anyway, here I am, sidling back into your inboxes - or at least into the inboxes of the jobs you had four years ago - with a couple of pieces of news.
The first is that John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme will be returning this year... in a new form. Series nine was so different from the previous eight (for reasons that began with, but did not end with, lockdown) that I've been wondering for a while how to follow it. It was definitely either by far the best or by far the worst series, depending on whom you asked. No-one thought it was kind of in the middle there. So, should I ignore it, and go back to business as usual? Double down, and do something even odder next time? Not follow it at all, and end the show? None of these felt quite right- but my new plan does, at least to me.
From now on, I'm hoping to turn Souvenir Programme into an annual, one-off, 45 minute show. Some years - probably including this year - it will simply be the funniest sketches I can think of that year, like series 1 to 8. Some years, I predict it will be something more experimental, like series 9. But above all, without the pressure of coming up with three hours of material per series, I dearly hope to be able to do it every year from now until either the commissioners finally get sick of it, or I kick the bucket. Or, failing either of these events, until the last syllable of recorded time.
New Souvenir Programme means, of course, new secret try-outs of new material, which as I always say- and always mean- is my favourite part of the whole process. This year's are at the Cockpit Theatre in London, on Sunday 19th February (yes, you're right, that IS quite soon) and Thursday the 2nd of March. The show is me, and somewhere between most and all of the rest of the cast reading mostly brand new sketches, some of which might not work; and a few good old sketches, which definitely do. It will be our first time performing live together since, well, 2019; so expect a certain amount of giddiness. Personally, I cannot WAIT. Tickets remain at an inflation-ignoring £10 each and can be found here:
New material try-out tickets!
The second piece of news is a new and rather different kind of project. In 2020, I spent some of my lockdown solving what turned out to be a very, very difficult 85 year old puzzle called Cain's Jawbone. This year, I'm attempting to write one of my own. It's simultaneously a puzzle- or rather, a set of interconnected puzzles - a murder mystery, and... a box of picture postcards. This may seem difficult to explain, and indeed it is; so do by all means follow the link below to learn more, and maybe even buy it. With no judgement either way, I think it's fair to say it's more likely to appeal to you if you liked series 9 than if you didn't...
Mysterious box of puzzling murder mystery picture postcards!
That's it for now! I will strive to send another of these before 2027. Let's see how I do.
Love,
The Airport