North London Food & Culture

Funny or not? The Pin’s 10 most chucklesome things about K-Town

Before their forthcoming show at the Soho Theatre, allow this acclaimed comedy duo to muse on what makes them smile in the neighbourhood

The Pin: Ben Ashenden (left) and Alex Owen.
The Pin: Ben Ashenden (left) and Alex Owen. Photo: PR

Success seems to be snapping at the heels of Kentish Town-based comedy duo The Pin, with a sell-out run at the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe, an award for Best Show at last year’s London SketchFest, and lots of recent telly appearances.

Later this month the boys hit the Soho Theatre with an hour-long show about “friendship, bickering, and ill-conceived projects”. So judge whether you think they’re worth checking out in the flesh with this little taster.

The Pin’s Top 10 funniest observations in NW5

Sign at Housepresso, Gospel Oak
Sign at Housepresso, Gospel Oak
1. The Abbey Tavern sign
‘Drink. Eat. Garden.’ Three direct orders. Only two of them seem right.


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2. The coffee shop blackboard signs
There’s two schools of thought here. One: go for an anti-corporate call to arms: (‘Starbucks? More like Starbucks. Right guys?’) Two: go for a sickly positive message (‘Love your memories like your friends and your friends like your memories and remember unicorns are amazing.’)

3. The post code confusion
Your average person trying to navigate London could be forgiven for thinking that NW1 is next to, you know, NW2, and that NW5 might be bordered by, say, NW4. But oh no. Thanks to the least intuitive system ever devised, reason and order are replaced by chaos and nonsense. Maybe it’s London’s homage to Lewis Carroll. Or maybe it’s just slightly odd and not actually much of a problem.

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‘A fairy tale love story for the 21st century’:
Giles and E.Mono
4. The beautiful romance between Giles Coren and E.Mono
Not so much funny as genuinely heartwarming, this pair really do love each other. Giles simply isn’t happy if he’s not typing up a glowing review of kebab legends E.Mono, and they’re never in better fettle than when they’re printing it out and pasting it to the wall. A fairy tale love story for the 21st century.

5. Weekend Dads
We play football on Talacre most Saturdays. There’s a bizarre phenomenon. When a ball is kicked out and over the pitch’s caged walls, a dad will kindly break off from playing with his children to try and kick it back to us. But never, never has a dad achieved this on his first attempt, no matter how near or far he is.

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Nod knowingly before you mention it: Dirty Burger
6. “Dirty Burger”
You can’t mention Pizza East without someone nodding knowingly and asking with their eyes closed “whether you actually knew about Dirty Burger”. Even if you say yes, they’ll go on to tell you it’s actually round the back actually. Actually.

7. The fetishisation of the long-awaited Kentish Town cinema
It’s like we’re in 1905, huddled round the wireless, waiting with baited breath for a glimpse of the latest innovation from the Lumiere Brothers. You can enjoy this even more by properly getting into character. Pull on a frock coat and mutter to yourself: “God, the Boer war was awful wasn’t it?”

'It's like we're in 1905..'
‘It’s like we’re in 1905, huddled round the wireless with baited breath…’
8. The amount of dog shit on Wilkin Street.
Remarkable. Really, go down and check it out. We’ve written two flabbergasted emails to the council. In one of them we described it as “an obstacle course of regret and sin.” That was underplaying the situation. It really is exceptional. We’re talking 20% pavement, 80% shit. No reply from the council yet.

9. Jimmy’s Barber
Where do you get your hair cut? If it’s not at Jimmy’s, up Haverstock Hill, you’ve really screwed up. His stories and extensive knowledge of the area make for the most entertaining 15 minutes in north London. He’s a seriously kind and good man, and you come out looking real sharp for just £14. (Or to put that in K-town speak, for about the cost of a half-chicken with two sides at Chicken Shop…come on guys, are we right?)

10. The number of people sitting around in cafes at midday on their laptops
I mean, come on, what are they all up to? There are loads. Are they all unemployed comedy duos writing half-jokey articles for the Kentishtowner?

Catch The Pin from Wednesday 19th – Saturday 22nd March 2014, at Soho Theatre upstairs, 9:15pm £12.50 (£10.00)

So did the boys make you laugh? Let us know what you think below…


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3 thoughts on “Funny or not? The Pin’s 10 most chucklesome things about K-Town”

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The award-winning print and online title Kentishtowner was founded in 2010 and is part of London Belongs To Me, a citywide network of travel guides for locals. For more info on what we write about and why, see our About section.