Pxssy Palace, photographed by Jerusha Rose
(Picture: Jerusha Rose)THE PAM FEST
Hankering to learn more than you gleaned from that most infamous of stolen tapes nearly — gasp — 30 years ago? Surely you’ve been missing the world’s favourite blonde bombshell, so take a deep breath as Pamela, a Love Story is set to captivate couch potatoes around the globe next week. The small-town Canadian superstar’s new Netflix documentary follows her rise to international sex symbol, actress, activist and everyday mum. But if you’d rather settle down in the bath for an, er, more intimate encounter with the Baywatch legend, grab a copy of Love, Pamela for her revealing personal memoir in hardback.
Both out 31 Jan. Streaming on Netflix and at waterstones.com (£16.99; Headline Publishing)
THE UNDERGROUND SHOW (LITERALLY)
Vault festival is back for 2023 and well underway already. Located beneath the atmospheric, disused railway arches of Waterloo station, London’s biggest fringe theatre festival runs until March 19th, though if you see only one show, make it JASON. Based on Shirley Clarke’s 1967 cult classic documentary Portrait of Jason and centred around the Black queer experience during 1960s New York, JASON is a verbatim piece of theatre that reenacts the documentary. Keep an eye on rising star Marcus Amaglo, who plays the eccentric, self-described “male bitch”, Jason Holliday.
JASON runs until Sunday 29th Jan, book here.
THE SPIELBERG ON SPIELBERG FILM
What’s with all these films about cinema? Yeah, you wait ages for a movie about movies and then three come along at once. Empire of Light, Babylon and now The Fabelmans. Is it a fiendish plot to remind us of the magic of the big screen? Enough with your lunatic conspiracy theories, just bring me up to speed on The Fabelmans. This is cinematic grand master Steven Spielberg loosely telling the childhood story of, er, Steven Spielberg. Does he big himself up? No, he’s way too modest for that. Instead he lovingly — and with his usual majesty — shows us how he fell in love with movie-making while growing up in family steadily imploding under the weight of a devastating secret. Who plays The ’Berg? New face and dead ringer for the director, Gabriel LaBelle. Paul Dano is a non-freak for once as Dad while Michelle Williams plays Mom.
The Fabelmans is in cinemas from 27 Jan
THE BIG NIGHT OUT
It’s been a long month, so high time you head off for a boogie you won’t forget. Pxssy Palace — the brilliantly notorious arts platform for queer, trans, intersex and non-binary POC — will be serving up night fever at Hackney’s Colour Factory this Friday.
Pxssy Palace Presents Disco. 27 Jan. Tickets £20.20 (dice.fm)
THE FISCAL EDUCATION
If you missed National Theatre hit The Lehman Trilogy back in 2018, now’s your chance to rectify that mistake with a trip to The Gillian Lynne Theatre for its second run. Its premise? To document the lives and eponymous banking business of three Bavarian brothers who arrived in the US in the middle of the 19th century, all the way up to the devastating financial crash it precipitated in 2008. In short: a wince-worthy history of western capitalism.
Until 20 May. Tickets from £20 (lwtheatres.co.uk)
THE HIGH-OCTANE GIG
Rejoice, your dog days are over… if you manage to snap up last-minute tickets to Florence + the Machine’s Dance Fever tour at the O2 this Saturday. Expect to shake it out with a spectrum of expert wailing and plenty of fabulous, witchy wonder.
28 Jan. Tickets from £51 (theo2.co.uk)
THE SHOW IN WHICH HAN SOLO DOES FUNNY
Less than a month into 2023 and Harrison Ford — another movie megastar who not long ago would have throttled anyone who suggested he migrate to the small screen — has not one but two TV shows on the go. His Yellowstone prequel with Helen Mirren, 1923, has been lighting up Paramount+ for a few weeks; now comes Apple TV+’s Shrinking, a comedy in which he plays a blue collar shrink recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s. And if that premise doesn’t sound like the most natural basis for jokes, know that it also stars Jason Segel: which means that it definitely will be jokes.
Available 27 Jan on Apple TV+
THE SELF-CARE SUMMIT
You’ve spent all month sober, exercising like a demon and eating mounds of açai? Perhaps not. For a last ditch attempt to fix every aspect of your life, get down to Dr Barbara Sturm’s Sturm Haus Anti-Inflammatory Workshop this weekend, where there’ll be panel discussions, masterclasses, facials and plenty of expert advice on how to maximise your skin, hair, sleep and nutritional health. You’ll be polishing your halo in no time.
27-28 Jan. Free. The Stables, 40 Earlham Street, WC2 (en.drsturm.com)
