Spoons in a Drawer

Called it a relatively early night after Royal Ascot. Chris got down to some editing with the painfully slow email connection, and we were in bed earlier than any other night.

Next morning we returned the top hats and tails and headed to Oxford, home of the revered University following a lead that Richard Branson frequents some establishments out that way. Drove on down the highway, and low and behold the GPS started working. Thanks for nothing. Arrived in Oxford and immediately had to pee. We found a wonderfully decked out church, where we were able to relieve ourselves and get a little spiritual cleansing.

Made our way over to an old cemetery where people seemed to be congregating. There we came across an obviously in love couple that were affectionately spooning each other amongst the tombs. After establishing that they did not know Richard Branson or anyone who did, they allowed us to spoon with them as we chatted about where they were from (Sweden and Columbia) and what they wanted to do with their lives. We also spent some time in blissful silence, four spoons in a drawer.

After tearing ourselves away form the sensuous couple, we came upon another group of four. After making small talk we realized that one of the woman had attended Boston University. When we mentioned Improv Asylum she excitedly exclaimed:

"Hey, I love that place. Been there a bunch of times."

It truly is a small world when you can run into someone in a cemetery in Oxford that has been to our shows. Amazing. From here we got a tip that Sir Richard's home town was near by. We made our way to the town (Which we are purposely not naming. Would not want any crazed fanatics trying to track down Mr. Branson and make an annoyance of themselves.). While pulled over mulling what to do next, a lovely woman named Charlie smoking at the back door of a bar pointed us in the direction of one of his favorite hang outs. Again, out of respect for his privacy and not wanting to turn this into a crazy stalking story, we will not name the pub.

We had a beer, watched some cricket, chatted with some of the locals who all confirmed that this was in fact a bar he frequents. While we would have loved to stay out in the county that evening, we needed to get back to London for a show that night with Grand Theft Impro. We headed out, received a prank call from some people at the pub, and skipped through a lovely field of daisies on the side of the road.

Back in London we headed over to the the Wheatsheaf where we were invited to perform with the lads of Grand Theft Impro www.grandtheftimpro.com . We got there about 10 minutes before going on stage. Introductions, a quick explanation of the show, and the next thing we know we are on stage with three very funny, very gracious guys. We had a great time on stage finishing with a rousing ska number. Phil, Drew and Dylan made us feel totally welcome on stage and off. Hopefully we can return the favor in Boston sometime.

After the show Chris headed back to the hotel to attack the editing. The Grand Theft Impro guys invited us out to the Phoenix Artist Club, a private drinking establishment frequented by entertainment types. There we drank. Publicly in private. We finished the night with an old late night Boston favorite; sausages simmering in nasty brown/black grease stuffed into a bun with onions and peppers. Ah, the taste of home.

While our person to person leads seemed to lead us to some dead ends, the email and phone leads started to heat up, pointing us to some potentially promising results. With only Friday left, we are up against it. For realzies.