Bethnal Green

Yesterday I went to another comedy recording; and although it will be broadcast on Radio 4 I think it was not an "in house" production because it was recorded in a comedy club in Bethnal Green. Bethnal Green is in the East End of London, at one time it was a Jewish area and as I have never been there I though I would go early and see what it is like.

I think I was expecting towering council flats, and I didn't see them although they may be there. I saw streets of shops and small businesses, some buildings and pubs unimproved since Victorian times. I saw a high street of betting shops and pawn shops and the shops that unlock mobile phones and sell the accessories for them, and I went to Macdonald's. In Macdonald's I saw black schoolboys and girls in their early teens hanging out after school, dressed in blazers and school uniforms, speaking in English. Their parents may have come from many different places (Bangladesh and Somalia, among the mix) and English may be their second language, but altogether they speak English and they are not unmannerly. Seeing me waiting for the counter they moved out of my way, and I am sure if I had asked any of them for help with the self-service screen they would have helped. There were also mums of small children in MacD's; their toddlers in push-chairs and their older ones tearing around banging on the seats. Probably this is somewhere cheap where they can come and be warm and safe and well-lit for the price of a cup of tea. I imagine that most of these families are in pretty poor housing. There were also grandparents (white) minding grandchildren with a bit of "effing and blinding". There were also students coming in - very obviously students and not just people of the area. They were white, mainly, long-haired, in pairs. I found a few agencies for student rooms and a block of bedsits purpose-built for students. It reminded me of Selly Oak when I was a student. The trouble is that there is money in building student rooms and none in building good housing for immigrant families. But the immigrant families want to be there. A bad area of London is full of possibility for new immigrants to find work. Historically, this is the place. These children in their school uniforms and hefty shoes are the reason that the parents came to this country. I give credit to the teachers of Bethnal Green - they are doing a hard job, and not badly, I think. I also thought it was good for the students to live there amongst the poor. They need to know.

At my comedy show the audience was largely middle-aged, middle class and white, but not entirely. There were some quite eccentric looking people and some who looked as though they didn't get out much, as well as some worldly types showing off a bit. We enjoyed the show with John Finnemore's Teenage Diary although the humour felt a bit "bolted on" (a spy theme) which might be straightened out in the editing. He talked about going to work in Krakow as a teacher of English before he had even been to university - in short, he had nothing except intelligence on his side, and lacked a lot of training and subject knowledge.  But hey! this doesn't always hamper progress! It felt right to give John Finnemore a good big round of applause because his writing has given me so much delight and is always fun and good-humoured.

And look, he's got excellent teeth, too!