LONDON IS A LONELY PLACE, SO HOW ABOUT WE BE FRIENDS? - By Katie Davison
““Loneliness is, like, when you wish someone else was there.” ”
Hot take: London can be a lonely place. Someone had to say it. And that person is me, Katie Davison. I thought I’d write a blog about it. Not because I’m performing a solo character comedy show called Why Can’t We Be Friends? at 2Northdown at 9pm on Thursday 6 February 2020, but because I believe it’s a problem that affects anyone living London.
London is a magnificent city, with so much to do [insert activity that makes you look fit]; so much to see [insert activity that makes you look cultured], as well as 20 Wetherspoons pubs in Zone 1 alone [insert fun comment that reflects Londoners’ lax attitude to alcoholism, yet doesn’t make you look like an alcoholic]. But obviously, no one would be dumb enough to do any of that alone. People have got locked up for less…
No problem, right? Just take a friend! What’s that? You have no friends because you spend all your waking hours working a job to pay your insanely expensive rent, commuting for hours on end in silence or scrolling through Twitter in your mouse infested house? Well you’re not alone. I mean, you are alone. But there are other people who feel the same way.
I hate to say it, but I’ve been lonely too. Yah. The woman you see on the poster alongside her four friends has faced solo-Sundays, willing herself to muster up enough energy to do a Lidl shop, simply to distract herself from the fact she’s had no better offers. And I’m sure the other four women have faced similar bouts of loneliness too.
So, what can you do to combat loneliness? You could join a group cookery class, try Zumba, meet up with a foreign language group, volunteer your time in your community, join a solitaire society, take up team kayaking, learn professional rabbit-taming, discover guided daytime astronomy, take part in a knitting with vegetables workshop, or do lessons in uphill skiing.
As for myself, I’d like to combat my own loneliness by inviting you to attend my upcoming show, Why Can’t We Be Friends? It’s on at 2Northdown at 9pm on Thursday 6 February. Please don’t let me do it alone.
