Home > We've Met Phil! > TheHuntGoesOn's Report: Flicker Club Screening (December 2012)
TheHuntGoesOn's Report: Flicker Club Screening (December 2012)
TheHuntGoesOn went to the recent Flicker Club Screening of 'White Christmas', introduced by Philip Glenister. Read about the evening below.
On 15th December, TRA alerted me that the Flicker Club was dropping substantial hints that the guest for their screening of "White Christmas" at the Hampstead Theatre the following day was a certain Gene Genie. Amazingly, there were still tickets left, and the opportunity to see Phil one more time after "This House" was just not to be missed. (The film's not bad, either...)
The format of the Flicker Club evenings is that the showing is preceded by a reading by a guest celebrity of source material for the film. In this case, as there was no source material for "White Christmas", Phil read "Twas the Night Before Christmas". The host launched the evening with a speech giving background data on the film. He explained that, as the only source material for the film is the Irving Berlin song, and the guest had refused to sing or dance , the poem had been chosen because it created our modern image of Father Christmas. He gave Phil a huge build-up, admitting to being a huge fan of Life on Mars (Liz White and John Simm have done readings at previous Flicker Club events) before announcing that DCI Gene Hunt himself was tonight's guest. The audience went bats, although at the very least a sizeable proportion must have known already.
Phil swept on to a huge round of applause, saying, "Thank you, Michael Macintyre!" He sat in an armchair in front of the screen and read the poem from a script. I was enchanted by the way he didn't just do it as a straight reading, but got into the character of the astonished and bewildered narrator, whom he characterised with what sounded to me like a tinge of a Welsh accent (from his Mum, maybe?). He swept the audience into the story he was telling. I was moved to wonder whether he reads this poem to his daughters at Christmas time. Gorgeous! I was only sorry that several verses were omitted, probably due to the length of the poem. He swept off at the end amid another huge round of applause, waving to the audience, and the film started straight away. I saw a few people leave the auditorium, presumably in the hope of seeing him offstage, but I didn't have the option as I was wedged in the middle of a row and couldn't have got out in the dark. (Curses - I should have picked my seat with an easy escape in mind).
I had hoped that he'd stay and see the film, but alas, there was no sign of him when I got out of the auditorium afterwards. He must have been back home by then. All the same, it was so lovely to see him - and to see such a different side of his talents. To quote the poem (well, nearly):
HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO PHIL, AND TO PHIL A GOOD NIGHT!
On 15th December, TRA alerted me that the Flicker Club was dropping substantial hints that the guest for their screening of "White Christmas" at the Hampstead Theatre the following day was a certain Gene Genie. Amazingly, there were still tickets left, and the opportunity to see Phil one more time after "This House" was just not to be missed. (The film's not bad, either...)
The format of the Flicker Club evenings is that the showing is preceded by a reading by a guest celebrity of source material for the film. In this case, as there was no source material for "White Christmas", Phil read "Twas the Night Before Christmas". The host launched the evening with a speech giving background data on the film. He explained that, as the only source material for the film is the Irving Berlin song, and the guest had refused to sing or dance , the poem had been chosen because it created our modern image of Father Christmas. He gave Phil a huge build-up, admitting to being a huge fan of Life on Mars (Liz White and John Simm have done readings at previous Flicker Club events) before announcing that DCI Gene Hunt himself was tonight's guest. The audience went bats, although at the very least a sizeable proportion must have known already.
Phil swept on to a huge round of applause, saying, "Thank you, Michael Macintyre!" He sat in an armchair in front of the screen and read the poem from a script. I was enchanted by the way he didn't just do it as a straight reading, but got into the character of the astonished and bewildered narrator, whom he characterised with what sounded to me like a tinge of a Welsh accent (from his Mum, maybe?). He swept the audience into the story he was telling. I was moved to wonder whether he reads this poem to his daughters at Christmas time. Gorgeous! I was only sorry that several verses were omitted, probably due to the length of the poem. He swept off at the end amid another huge round of applause, waving to the audience, and the film started straight away. I saw a few people leave the auditorium, presumably in the hope of seeing him offstage, but I didn't have the option as I was wedged in the middle of a row and couldn't have got out in the dark. (Curses - I should have picked my seat with an easy escape in mind).
I had hoped that he'd stay and see the film, but alas, there was no sign of him when I got out of the auditorium afterwards. He must have been back home by then. All the same, it was so lovely to see him - and to see such a different side of his talents. To quote the poem (well, nearly):
HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO PHIL, AND TO PHIL A GOOD NIGHT!
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