We have invited Jenni Harrison to write a review of our Independent Venue Week event on Friday 30th January 2026. Jenni works with Culture House on our marketing, and she does many things, including being the IVW regional representative for North/East Yorkshire and North/East Lincolnshire.
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Every year, I have the absolute privilege of going out on the road to experience amazing music and comedy in our beloved independent venues. Most years I am focused on attending gigs in my own region, which includes Grimsby and Cleethorpes, and this year I made it my mission to make sure I got over to Culture House’s first ever Independent Venue Week event.
I have to start by saying that The Living Room is such a gem, and as soon as I knew there was a gig booked in for IVW, I cleared my schedule because I knew it would be a highlight of the week.
When you arrive at The Living Room, it’s the hand-painted window sign and the soft glow from the lamp lights inside that set the vibe. On a wintery night, there’s a warmth that this place radiates, the cosy feeling, especially as you open the door and hear the chatter and laughter. This venue is small (tiny, really) and that’s what makes it great. I didn’t know a single person in that venue (apart from Charlotte and Becky, of course), but I ended up in about five conversations with strangers before I even reached the bar. When you’re sort of navigating around the seats and people, you can’t help but have a giggle with everyone you squeeze past.
Once the audience had settled in, found their seats (some being perched on stools, others on the arms of sofas, or some of us choosing to stand), the performers of the night finished shuffling around in the half-kitchen-half-toilet and make-shift dressing room (tucked behind cowboy-style swing doors), and the lights dimmed down.
The first performance of the night was a surprise – something experimental cooked up by Charlotte Bowen. I had enquired what the support act was but she was tight-lipped, even when appearing out of those swing doors in a dressing gown with a cheeky smile on her face ten minutes before the performance started. Charlotte walked to the sofa, which was placed just in front of the knees of the first row of the audience and laid (chaise longue style) on the cushions before taking out her phone. For the next 30 minutes – and I warn you this is going to sound odd in writing – we watched Charlotte’s face, lit up by the light of her phone screen, as she scrolled through her social feed (I assume either TikTok or Instagram Reels) with her phone linked to the speaker system so we could hear the audio from dozens of videos as she scrolled. I KNOW this sounds strange, but as a viewer (or listener), the time passed surprisingly quickly, and I found myself feeling a range of emotions. I don’t know how she did it (maybe the brilliant balance of these curated algorithms), but the mix of music, political commentary, memes, comedic observation, and marketing advice videos that we could hear, it took us on a journey and told us to take a hard look at ourselves. I personally took away a mix of feelings about my screen time, the state of the world etc etc, and after the piece was done, Charlotte got up and told us the piece was called ’Half an Hour of My Life I Won’t Get Back. I laughed with the crowd, and then quietly deleted TikTok (not really).
After a short break, again filled with giggles and apologies as audience members moved around the space to grab a drink and use the toilet (somewhere in the middle of this, that sofa Charlotte was laying on managed to get through everyone to the back of the room as some more luxurious seating for some of the standing patrons). The lights turned down again, and the energy in the room shifted to all-out chaos.
Out through the changing room swing doors burst a human-sized teddy bear, squirting a water pistol, causing a roar of delight. What followed was a brilliant, erratic, and smutty performance of comedy and cabaret from James Hall. It was proper Friday night entertainment filled with (lots of) costume changes, blow-up dolls, surprise audience hosts, playdough, dance routines and puppetry. It was clear that a percentage of the audience was very familiar with James’ act, or at least what to expect from one, and those who hadn’t experienced him before were hooked in. The venue was well-suited to an intimate and chaos-filled show, where audiences filled every corner of the room, including the performance area, and James worked it so well.
Once the performances were done, the audience started to leave. Once or two groups trickled out, but many stayed to chat, finish a drink and even help clear up by stacking chairs, sweeping and collecting drinks. The venue is clearly loved by the community who frequent it, and it was heart-warming to experience.
Overall, I have to say that I will be back at The Living Room to experience more of their music and comedy nights. And to the people of Cleethorpes (and beyond) I have to say that I am jealous that you have such an amazing Independent Venue on your doorstep.
Thank you for having me! – Jenni
