Reasons To Be Cheerful #13

(If you're wondering what this is all about, click here.)

The Actress & Bishop

No, not the beginning to the sort of joke you might find on a saucy postcard on the seafront at Blackpool, but the name of a very fine public house / gig venue.

Situated on Ludgate Hill just off the picturesque St Paul's Square and opposite an intriguing Mongolian restaurant, The Actress & Bishop has several things going for it - not least its reasonable bar prices, unfussy decor and friendly atmosphere, all of which compare favourably (at least personally) to trendier and more upmarket neighbours like The Tarnished Halo.

Of a weekend, the downstairs pub area is packed with punters relaxing to the voluminous output of a couple of DJs (the Yeah Yeah Yeahs appear to be a particular favourite). Upstairs, meanwhile, is a small room with a bar, stage and remarkably impressive sound system, which is cosy rather than cramped and in which at least some of the rudimentary lighting is provided by a curious tassel-fringed standard lamp perched on a dividing wall to the side of the stage.

Not surprisingly, the place has a long list of regulars, perhaps the most entertaining of whom is the grey-bearded West Indian gentleman who once, when showing off his collection of whistles, claimed that his son was Howard from the Halifax adverts and proceeded to repeatedly exclaim "Extra! Extra!" and laughing loudly.

The Actress & Bishop's "characters" aren't confined to the punters, though. Special mention must be reserved for the upstairs venue's resident soundman, who has that receding hairline / long hair combination that makes it look as though his toupee's slipping backwards and who appears to have a strange obsession with early Prince records. Fair play to him, though - every band that appears on his stage sounds fantastic.