Gay Camberwell

by Layla

Having facilitated lots of fun gay things to do in Camberwell, I am always struck with unaccountable guilt whenever I don't attend them. As a girl who tends to be rather busy on a Wednesday night, I'm afraid I don't always manage along to The Cambria's weekly gay nights, despite tell of their glory from those who do. I feel particularly responsible as the owner Steve is so lovely, and because we encouraged him to take over the fortnightly gay comedy night (alternates with cabaret) when it became clear that the Joiner's Arms was a less than perfect venue for the event (the pitbull terrier circling the stage might have been a clue). I've been to a couple of comedy nights at The Cambria, which have been great, but I hadn't been there for a while, and hadn't really heard how it was all going. The pull of rather impressive headliner Claire Summerskill was strong though, and Roz and I cycled over to the Cambria at 9 o'clock, just as the show started.

It was quite satisfying to see that in our absence, this has grown into a fab and popular comedy night. In honour of Claire's appearance, there was a large group of expectant lesbians sitting behind us, and she did not disappoint: she did a lovely set that was well received, and compared to the last time I saw her - at a packed theatre in York - the intimacy of this gig was fantastic.

So how is the gay night going down amongst the non-gay regulars of the Cambria? Well it's set up so that those specifically there for the comedy are in a particular area, but the whole bar can hear (and be heard), which leads to a bit of lighthearted heckling. But interestingly, of the three times I've been there, I've not heard anything remotely homophobic, which is great. The Cambria is a lovely place to be, and their Wednesday nights are clearly going down very well indeed. I am quite reassured about the need for guilt on the Wednesdays I'm otherwise engaged: they seem to have quite a following, and if you could do worse than choose here for a mid-week gay night anywhere in London!

by Layla

Last night was the mythical Moona Party at The Castle. We have been hearing about Moona for well over a year - a quarterly very gay-friendly arty party cabaret with a theme - and yet whenever it has been on, we've always been otherwise engaged. Poor Roz's confinement to bed sick did not stop me in my Moona zeal last night though! In the spirit of the 1940s theme, I donned my pinstriped skirt, drew stocking lines up the backs of my legs and painted my lips red. As I walked along to Su Thai to meet a few similarly-clad friends to enjoy the restaurant's special Gay Camberwell free wine offer, I contemplated with some amusement that the Su Thai waitresses were likely to get a rather bizarre impression of what Camberwell's gay population look like, judging by the garb of their clientele! We spotted about seven gay couples lured to Su Thai by their offer last night, though reassuringly for the waitresses, they were dressed rather more conventionally...

After a long and lovely dinner, we walked over to The Castle where, glancing at the upstairs room from outside, I feared that we were there on the wrong night: it was completely dark. Opening the door revealed a rather unexpected extravaganza: black out curtains concealed a room that has not been so full since the Gay Camberwell Launch Party, nor so jam packed with gay people and friendly partiers (mostly dressed for the era, with uniforms, pencil skirts and gas mask boxes aplenty). We literally squeezed in at 10:30pm to find a cabaret act in progress: the 1940s upper class English lesbian nurses' rendition of "You're the one that I want" from Grease was brilliant. A few drinks later and we found ourselves buying chocolate cigarettes from a glamorous usherette, being distributed paper and pens, and squatting on the floor drawing a naked lady with nothing but a mixing bowl to save her modesty! The impromptu life drawing class was quickly followed by some rather mad cabaret songs, compered by the lovely Karen McLeod, and even after the last acts we couldn't tear ourselves away, dancing and drinking til an ungodly  hour intoxicated by the atmosphere. This is one of the best events I've been to in the whole of London. As the hours ticked by, pairs of girls started to kiss, and I thought I'd better go and check on my sick girlfriend...