On Sunday my good friend Nicole and I attempted to to play at market stall sellers at The Backyard Market, off Brick Lane. It really is harder than you may think. In my very limited experience it’s easier to shift a used toilet brush and an odd sock at a bootsale than it is to sell a limited edition hand-pulled 4-colour print at the bargain price of £35 at a ‘trendy’ east-end market. As the day went on the phrase ‘If praise were pounds’ became more and more poignant. Lots of ladies loved Nicole’s teacup candles they cooed and ooohed at them but a great deal of persuasion was needed to make the sale, likewise with my prints, lots and lots of long conversations but sadly not as many sales. Still, it was an enjoyable experience, the highlight of the day was being talent-spotted by a Korean magazine, the incident kindly captured by Nicole. All in all we concluded that we won’t be making a career out of market trading, market sellers we salute you.

Our friend Aaron is a good man who does good things. Look at this little treat he’s lined up for you.

The Cabaret Carnival is back for its fourth year following last year’s sell out show. The event brings together the hottest burlesque acts in the country, alongside singers, tap dancers and magicians for an annual fundraiser which raises money for the Mekhala House orphanage in Cambodia. The Cabaret Carnival will see some of the shining stars of the cabaret world take to Madame Jojo’s famous stage, including Lara Gothique, Alaska Blue and the tap dancing troupe The Beaux Belles. All the artists involved are performing for free and all the proceeds from the event go to charity.

Aaron held the first Cabaret Carnival in the upstairs of a pub in North London to a crowd of 50 people. Over the last few years its popularity has seen it become one of the capital’s most anticipated events on the burlesque scene. Aaron said, “I’m really excited about this year’s show, we’ve got some fantastic acts returning to the Cabaret Carnival, as well as a few new stars and as always there’s a few surprises up our sleeve.”

The annual fundraiser for the Cambodian orphanage, Mekhala house, is now the biggest international donor to the charity that runs the orphanage. The show’s simple premise is this, every £400 raised pays for a child to go to school for a year. Last year the Cabaret Carnival raised enough money to put five children through their entire school year, all expenses paid. We told you Aaron’s a good man.

The Cabaret Carnival is on Sunday 18th July at Madame Jojo’s in Soho. Tickets are £10 and can be bought on the door or in advance here. Do it.

vienen de arriba from tom bolwell on Vimeo.

Back in February we were asked by my friend Dave in Brighton to make a music video, he was starting up his own label and his planned first release needed some visuals. At first we were a bit scared by the prospect of producing a music video for a 5 minute track, then Claire and I listened to the track independently; then when we came to talk about it, discovered we had almost the same idea. Claire and I aren’t particularly technical so we knew we needed a photographer/film-maker/editor to make it happen. Luckily we met Thomas Bolwell. We also enlisted the help of Owen ‘Sparky’ Pidcock, who tried to ensure no-one got electrocuted but did so himself in the process. What a delightful brief, so thanks Dave for being the perfect client, Lost Twin for the track and most of all, Claire, Thomas and Owen – what a great team we made. Over and out. (Thanks Claire for this utterly fantastic pun-tastic post title.)

About a year ago now my two lovely friends Nicholas and Claire bought me a very well-thought-out birthday present – a day’s screenprinting workshop. I really haven’t ever thanked them for giving me the impetus to actually do it. So here is my first series, of ‘old things’, a year on (it’s taken me a while!) You can buy them here.

So, to explain a bit more, I love misprints, they are happy accidents, each one unique, a graphic masterpiece in their own right. They shouldn’t be disgarded they should be celebrated! So, with this in mind I’ve packaged each spot-on print in it’s own misprint from the same series. All prints are hand-pulled silkscreen prints on acid-free paper.

UPDATE *I’ll be at Spitalfields this Sunday 30th May, come and see me!*

I really like letters. When I’m not working at School of Everything or doing glovepuppet stuff I can occasionally be found organising a thing called Letter Lounge. I started it about a year ago just because everyone loves finding a handwritten letter from an old friend on their doormat. Don’t you? The best way to get one is to send one. The thing is, we’re all so busy living our lives in a flurry of twittering, facebooking, and emailing to ever find the time to put pen to paper let alone walk to the post box. I thought I’d try something new to change all that; an event every couple of months – Letter Lounge: a space where you can come along and write the letters you never have time for and enjoy a bit of a social.

You can keep up to date with all things Letter Lounge by becoming a fan of the facebook page. The next Letter Lounge will be at Uncivilisation: The Dark Mountain Festival, Friday 28th – Sunday 30th May 2010. I hope to see you all there. If not, I’ll send you a postcard.