By Charlotte Cox
Fancy an '80s Christmas bash, a laugh-packed Tina Fey flick and yoga with butterflies? Step right this way…
FILM: Sisters
So apparently there’s a pretty big sci-fi film coming out in a few days’ time. But who needs Luke Skywalker and Han Solo when you can have Tina Fey and Amy Poehler? And who wants to watch lightsabre battles when you can follow the hilarious mishaps of two grown-up sisters who throw one last, ill-fated house party in their childhood home (otherwise known as: what will happen over your Christmas break)? Huh, huh? OK, we might need all of them, and we’re guessing you might too. In which case, take the advice given on the latest Sisters trailer: #YouCanSeeThemBoth.
Out 12 Dec at cinemas nationwide
POP-UP: Yoga With The Butterflies
Yoga. With butterflies. Uh huh, this is something that's happening. What's more – it's happening within a tropically heated, fuchsia-lit enclosure within the British Museum of Food on Broadway Market. For an hour, you’ll be getting bendy and stretchy at 25 degrees and 90% humidity, surrounded by dramatic banana trees and exotic plants. And then, of course, there are what the organisers describe as ‘very sociable butterflies and other creepy specimens’ who ‘may invite yourself into your practice’. So essentially yoga meets Attenborough meets I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here. This we need to try.
Selected dates until 21 Jan; £22 1 Cathedral Street, Borough Market SE1 9DE bompasandparr.com
FOOD: The 80s Office Christmas Party
Ah, the 80s. The big hair. The shoulder pads. The office Christmas parties involving rather unladylike use of the photocopier... Well here's a chance to (re)live it all at The Art of Dining's new festive pop-up at Oval Space. Among the filing cabinets, water coolers and overhead projectors, you'll be treated to a feast from a Moro-trained chef with gourmet twists on ’80s classics (cheese and pineapple on sticks? You betcha). Plus, you’re in for cocktails, DJs, end of year appraisals and a speech from ‘the Margaret Thatcher of condiments’. And yes, in case you were wondering. There is a photocopier.
Until 19 Dec; £55 The Pickle Factory, 13-14 The Oval, London E2 9DU, theartofdining.co.uk
DRINK: Clarendon Cocktail Cellar
We've heard cocktails being described as works of art before – but here’s a new bar that takes the idea quite literally. Because at the Clarendon Cocktail Cellar, newly opened beneath boutique hotel Artist Residence, the drinks come themed on masterpieces. So Edvard Munch’s The Scream becomes mescal, lime and cassis, while Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans become bacon bourbon(?!) or olive oil vodka(?!!) with lemon, Worcester sauce and tomato juice. Plus, they come served on a coaster of the artwork itself, amid suitably stylish surroundings lined with eclectic paintings. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase p**s artist, wouldn't you say?
52 Cambridge Street, Pimlico SW1V 4QQ, artistresidencelondon.co.uk
SHOPPING: Bicester Village
Now, we don’t normally go out of our way to bring you transport news (TfL kind of has it covered, plus: zzzz). But this is transport news that involves shopping. And shopping for designer pieces at discount prices, at that. We speak, of course, of designer outlet park Bicester Village, and the exciting news that it has just opened its very own train station, meaning we can now get there direct from London Marylebone within 45 minutes. That’s just three quarters of an hour to get to more than 130 boutiques (Alexander McQueen, Prada, Chloé, Michael Kors, Burberry, Coach…) all offering up to 60% off their usual prices. Plus, for Christmas there will be choirs, mulled wine, mince pies, trees and plenty of seasonal offers. See? Transport news just got very interesting indeed.
London Marylebone to Bicester Village; from £6 single Bicestervillage.com
DRINK: The Bat and Ball
In recent weeks, there has been much talk of the new hipster status bestowed upon darts, bowls and crazy golf. But now it’s high time to return to the nouveau-chic sport that started it all: ping pong. And right on cue, here comes a pop-up bar that brings the unlikely mix of hand-eye coordination and hard alcohol to Westfield Stratford. As well as a whole floor devoted to ping-pong tables, you can expect jugs of premium cocktails, artisan bar snacks and deli-style food boards, plus DJ sets spinning into the night. What’s more, there’s a Player’s Lounge, a gaming room and 40 craft beers on offer. Goes to show, that while other games might be cool, there’s no messing with the sport formerly known as Wiff Waff. Yeah.
Opens 14 Dec Unit 1110/1111, The Street E20 1EJ, batandball.co.uk
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