This week
Mon 6 – Sun 12 Jan
MUDDY’S PICK OF THE WEEK
COMEDY: The Comedy Cellar, South Hill Park Bracknell, 10 Jan
Image: Steve Ullathorne
The Comedy Cellar at South Hill Park launched the careers of many top comedians – Al Murray, Eddie Izzard, Greg Davies, Sarah Millican, Micky Flanagan, Katherine Ryan, Jack Whitehall and Russell Howard. The list is long. Now in its 32nd year, it’s the longest running comedy club in the UK outside of London and continues to showcase the best new and established acts every Friday. Book up for Brennan Reece, Kate Lucas, Anil Desai & Paul B Edwards.
FOOD: Low Carb Cookery, Caldesi in Campagna, Bray, 9 Jan
Italian food that’s sparse on carbs? I know, right, but Giancarlo Caldesi’s low carb diet proves that there’s more to Italian cooking that pasta and bread. Join Giancarlo for lunch as he discusses how a low-carb diet reversed the symptoms of his type 2 diabetes and resulted in a weight loss of almost 4 stone. Listen, quiz, eat and buy his bestselling book, The Diabetes Weight-loss Cookbook – £27pp.
WORKSHOP: Fashion, Design Arts & Crafts, Ace Space Newbury, 7 Jan
It’s the time of year to have a clear out, but there may be fashion life in some of your unwanted clothes yet. ACE Space Newbury will show you how to recycle outfits from existing clothing or every day objects, jewellery making, fabric embellishment, drawing, painting and collage.
COMEDY: Comedy Club, Corn Exchange Newbury, 10 Jan
It’s fair to say we could all do with a laugh in January. The Corn Exchange Comedy Club as Avalon (who represent all the big names and talented newcomers) presents some of the best newcomers in the funny biz. This month’s line up is Lou Sanders (headline), Naz Osmanoglu , Tania Edwards, Luke Kempner (MC).
WELLBEING: Mojo Blast – Take Life, Work and Creativity To The Next Level, Wasing Wellbeing Aldermaston, 10 Jan
Need to turn down the volume of life? Coach and mentor Jamie Catto – who The Daily Telegraphslapped a warning on as a manwho could blow your mind – will help you explore down-to-earth processes for waking up that fire in our bellies, to energise ourselves and rediscover the optimism and sense of possibility.
WELLBEING: Blindfold Yoga Workshop, Inspire Hot Yoga Maidenhead
More Eyes Wide Shut that your average yoga workshop, but Inspire Hot Yoga’s Blindfold Yoga Workshop is a sensory experience that will blow your mind. Blindfolded yoga is a unique experience that will heighten your senses and help you find faith within yourself. Slip on your blindfold, release your inhibitions and you’ll discover that all you need is YOU!
WELLBEING: Inspired Day Retreat, Inspire Hot Yoga Maidenhead
After the craziness of Christmas reward your efforts and do something for you. Book a day off and enjoy some well-deserved Me Time. The Inspired Day Retreat will take you off to a stunning country house location with the focus on rejuvenating, renewing & reviving with yoga, massage, delicious food and down time.
HERITAGE: Winter Walk, National Trust Cliveden, throughout 2020
If you’ve been cooped up for days at the relis or nursing a monumental NYE hangover, pop some pills get some fresh air at Cliveden. There’s s stonking 375 acres of gardens, woodland and riverside walks to explore. Plus the hotel is on hand for a coffee or hair of the dog.
WALK: Winter Walk, Basildon Park Lower Basildon,
West Berkshire’s National Trust belter is a great place for walkies, with stride outs that are gentle for the hungover to challengind stomps for the smugly sober and over eager. If you’f like to pick the brains of the pros, join the Park’s ranger on 13 Jan for a Tree ID stroll and play nature’s answer to spot the difference.
EVENT: Sleepover Ghost Hunt, Shaw House Newbury, 11 Jan
Like a real life Christmas Carol, head to the very haunted Shaw House in Newbury for a ghostly sleepover. You can stay the night, take part in a Ouija board or seance (optional) and roam the house with your paranormal pals. Watch out for the ghosts of past, present and future.
HERITAGE: Christmas At Windsor, Windsor Castle, now – Sun 9 Dec
Something a little spesh at Windsor Castle. No, Meghan and Kate will not be scrapping on the steps of St George’s Chapel. Ogle the 200ft tree from Windsor Great Park and, this year, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the births of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, the Octagon Dining Room will feature a special display of gifts exchanged between the royal couple during the many Christmases they spent together at the castle.
SPORT: Windsor Winter 5K, 10K, 15K, Half, Dorney Lake Eton, 11 Jan
If you’re on of those smug people who has managed to keep on running despite the wine and cheese tempting you to fall off the wagon – good on you. You might be interested in shifting unwanted Crimho pounds with a easy peasy 13-mile Sunday jog. I’ll see you at the start line… one day.
SPORT: Windsor Winter Duathlon, Dorney Lake Maidenhead, 11 Jan
It’s far to cold for swimming, so a duathlon could be just the ticket for the enthusiastic and easily bored. Run and ride around Dorney Lake – flat, fast and traffic free.
FURTHER AFIELD
Hogwarts in the Snow, Harry Potter Studios, Watford, now – 27 Jan
Hogwarts in the Snow – as regular as Christmas! The festive makeover sees Christmas trees line the Great Hall, the Gryffindor common room dressed for the season and a blanket of filmmaking snow covering the majestic Hogwarts castle model. Visitors can touch samples of the different types of ‘snow’ used during production, each selected for its ability to float, crunch under foot or glisten in the light like ice. Trust me, your kids will love it.
THEATRE: Cirque Du Soleil, Royal Albert Hall London, 12 Jan – 1 Mar
Cirque du Soleil returns to London’s Royal Albert Hall, bringing their dazzling luminous spectacle, LUZIA to Europe for the first time. You’ll be transported to an imaginary Mexico, where light quenches the spirit and rain soothes the soul. Always a wow production that the whole family will love.
A Christmas Carol, The Old Vic, now – 18 Jan
This production of festive classic A Christmas Carol staged by The Old Vic’s artistic director Matthew Warchus had such great reviews that it’s returning for round three. It’s adapted by Jack Thorne, co-writer of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. oldvictheatre.com
EXHIBITIONS
Mama Mia! A brand new (and, quite frankly, must-see) exhibition is coming to The O2, London this month – ABBA: Super Troupers is a journey through the Swedish band’s career and will feature personal items and artefacts never seen before in the UK (now – 21 Aug 2020).
Another newbie is Tutankhamun – Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh at the Saatchi Gallery. One of the biggest cultural events in the winter calendar, the exhibit features 150+ original artefacts found in the Pharaoh’s tomb that was unearthed in 1922.
Other exhibitions worth a snoop are Vogue fashion and portrait photographer Tim Walker‘s enchanting, fantastical, frankly insane collection of work at the V&A (until 8 March); William Blake at Tate Britain, with the visionary painter and poets work blown up to enormous scale using digital technology (until 2 Feb 2020); Into the Night: Cabarets & Clubs in Modern Art at the Barbican – a history of cabarets, clubs, dancefloors and party spaces that inspired artists from the 1880s to the 1960s (4 Oct – 19 Jan).
