John Peel's Shed - London run this week

October 25 to 29, 2011; Jackson’s Lane, London
8.00pm; Tickets £10.95 – £12.95 – Book Tickets Now

In 2002, John Osborne won a competition on John Peel’s Radio One show. His prize was a box of records that took eight years to listen to. This is an ode to radio, those records and anyone who’s ever sought solace in wireless. Script edited by Joe Dunthorne (Writer of the novel Submarine).

Direct from a five-star, complete sell-out run at the Edinburgh Festival, comes John Osborne’s debut storytelling hour partly adapted from his acclaimed book Radio Head (Radio 4’s Book Of The Week). The hit of the Edinburgh Festival comes to Jackson’s Lane in London this October.

“Shy and awkward but with a keen eye for a killer line and the significance of the trivia of daily life, Osborne sits somewhere between Tom Wrigglesworth and Daniel Kitson, which a very good place to sit. I could have listened for hours” – ★★★★★ The Independent.




REVIEWS

“Shy and awkward but with a keen eye for a killer line and the significance of the trivia of daily life, Osborne sits somewhere between Tom Wrigglesworth and Daniel Kitson, which a very good place to sit. I could have listened for hours” – ★★★★★ The Independent

“Beautifully-written, funny and poignant… Just as John Peel’s records changed his life this lovely, simple, beautifully executed show has enriched ours” –★★★★★ The Scotsman

“One of the Top Ten Theatre Highlights of the Edinburgh Festival… Funny, perceptive and charming” – ★★★★ The Telegraph

“One of the loveliest things you’ll see all year” – ★★★★ The Herald

“Genius… A comic highlight” – The Guardian

“I heartily recommend John Peel’s Shed. It is a gentle tale of one man’s passion for obscure music and the radio which has been compared to the work of Daniel Kitson” – Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard

“John Osborne captures the intimacy of the medium, the startling human connections and priceless stories. Its an uplifting if occasionally twee story that makes a classic, nostalgic fringe piece” – Total Theatre

★★★★★ The Latest
★★★★★ Fringe Biscuit
★★★★ Sunday Express
★★★★ Edinburgh Evening News
★★★★ What’s On Stage
★★★★ Fest Magazine
★★★★ AllTheFestivals.Com

John Peel's Shed - links

During John Peel's Shed there's a few things I mention. Here are the links to them:

The 'author slams Radio 1' article is here.

The Radio 1 unofficial fans forum where people criticise me is here

The caller to the Human Zoo who doesn't realise he's live on air here. The Human Zoo was a show where calls went live to air unscreened.

Find more about Atom and his Package here.

Edinburgh

My show, John Peel's Shed, did well at Edinburgh this year, receiving 5 star reviews in The Independent and The Scotsman, selling out the whole run and having to add on extra midnight dates. A UK tour is currently being booked for Spring, and there is a five day London run at Jackson's Lane Theatre. Book tickets HERE!

“Shy and awkward but with a keen eye for a killer line and the significance of the trivia of daily life, Osborne sits somewhere between Tom Wrigglesworth and Daniel Kitson, which a very good place to sit. I could have listened for hours” – * * * * * The Independent

“Beautifully-written, funny and poignant… Just as John Peel’s records changed his life this lovely, simple, beautifully executed show has enriched ours” – * * * * * The Scotsman

“One of the Top Ten Theatre Highlights of the Edinburgh Festival” – * * * * The Telegraph

“One of the loveliest things you’ll see all year” – * * * * The Herald

“As perfect as any show inspired by John Peel could hope for” – * * * * Fest Magazine

* * * * Sunday Express, * * * * Edinburgh Evening News, * * * * What’s On Stage

Edinburgh!

This August I am taking my very first solo show up to the Edinburgh festival. It's a show called John Peel's Shed, and it's origins are in a box of records I won in a competition on Peel's Radio 1 show in 2002. It is a show about my love of radio, my affection for those records and the role John Peel played in my life. So far I have done previews in Bath, Brighton, London and Ipswich and it's been going pretty well. I'll be in the Underbelly from 17.30 every day. It's partly based on my first book, Radio Head, published by Simon&Schuster in 2009. It's being produced by Show+Tell, whose other shows at Edinburgh include Simon Munnery, Edward Aczel, Tim Clare and Nathan Penlington. More details here.

About John Peel's Shed:
"Osborne occupies the same corner of stand-up as Daniel Kitson. This is a show about the pleasure of having your own personal project, and leaves you itching to get out into the world, and discover your own” – The Latest 7

About Radio Head:
Funny, perceptive and charming - The Daily Telegraph.
Captivating - The Guardian.
Very funny ... it made me go out and buy a new radio, too - Tim Key.

John Peel's Shed - Edinburgh previews

I am doing a live show of John Peel's Shed as part of the Edinburgh fringe, Underbelly, 5.30 every day.

Here's some previews:

Thursday May 26th, John Peel's Shed at Wolsely Theatre, Pulse Festival, Ipswich 6 pm.

Saturday 28th May, John Peel's Shed at the Brighton fringe. 5 pm, Upstairs at the 3 and 10.

Sunday 29th May, John Peel's Shed at the Brighton fringe. 5 pm, Upstairs at the 3 and 10.

Sunday 5th June. John Peel's Shed at Stoke Newington Literary Festival. 3pm, The Gallery, Stoke Newington Public Library £4.

Monday June 13th, John Peel's Shed at the Rosemary Branch Theatre. 9 pm. (Nathan Penlington presents Uri and Me and 7.30 pm).

Tuesday June 14th, John Peel's Shed at the Rosemary Branch Theatre. 9 pm. (Tim Clare presents How to be a Leader at 7.30 pm).

Friday July 1st, John Peel's Shed at the John Peel Centre for the Creative Arts, Stowmarket. 8 pm.

Monday July 4th, 7.30 pm, Take 5, me and Tim Clare do previews of our Edinburgh shows, John Peel's Shed and How to be a Leader, both heading to The Underbelly this August. £2 on the door.

Tuesday 12th July, first preview of Aisle16 R Kool! Aisle16 are cool poets. They wear shades, play sweet licks on their guitars and love chillin’ out and watching The Gadget Show. Wanna hear their poems? A cabaret show themed around that ever-shifting mirage: coolness. Luke Wright, John Osborne and Tim Clare, present a pre-Edinburgh showcase of Aisle16 R Kool.

Wednesday July 20th John Peel's Shed, Leicester Square Theatre, London. The Lounge, 9 pm.

In 2009 my book Radio Head, up and down the dial of British Radio, was broadcast as Radio 4's Book of the Week. You can download / listen here. It's read by Lee Ingleby.

Episode 1


Episode 2

Episode 3


Episode 4


Episode 5

Live show

In the last few weeks I've been working on a live show based on the episodes of John Peel's Shed I recorded. I've never done a solo show before and it's something I'm really enjoying developing. It's also about British radio, and features some of my experiences in writing my book Radio Head. So far I've performed it once, in Brighton, and it seemed to go pretty well. So hopefully I'll get to do it more often. More info on the show here.



There's a review of the Brighton show here. The next preview of the show is November 17th 2010 here.

Captivating - The Guardian

Funny, personal and charming, The Daily Telegraph

Osborne demonstrates a seemingly unhealthy obsession with British radio. But then, as you read Radio Head, you're reminded that you do too. A nostalgic journey through the airwaves, stopping at seemingly every station and finding it all pleasantly familiar. Radio Head is a warm, up-lifting read. And it made me fork out on a new, better radio, too - Tim Key.