Paul in London

  If you ever wondered what eating a light dinner might be like at Julian Clary’s place, Le Grand Mort at Trafalgar Studios gives you an idea. It's a meticulous affair. Everything is stainless steel in Justin Nardella’s sterile kitchen set. As you would imagine a gay man might do to a Notting Hill flat. Food is already prepped and portioned into little bowls or packets. And any spillage is sprayed and wiped up. Based on Clary’s public persona you could assume it is him, even if his character's called Michael. And  while the show and the food may not be to everyone’s taste, it's amusing and disturbing enough to keep you fascinated.

Spade guitars, feats with champagne bottles you didn’t think were possible, dancing budgies and amazing acrobats. It’s all part of the mix with the latest offering from Company2 , Scotch and Soda, now playing at the London Wonderground on the SouthBank. The show is a mix of circus and jazz provided by The Crusty Suitcase Band , led by by Ben Walsh, who keeps things moving with an impressive collection of percussion devices instruments.

A day in the life of a married couple, as set in a bathroom is the premise of Jack Thorne's sharp and funny play,  Mydidae , currently playing at the Soho Theatre. This classy little play on the top floor of the Soho Theatre features a fully plumbed bathroom, that  provides the backdrop for a full and frank exploration of a couple and their secrets. Actors Pheobe Waller-Bridge and Keir Charles undress, shave, lust after each other, wash and urinate in front of the audience. Strangely enough they don't fart in front of each other which was possibly a missed opportunity as there never seems to be a better place to do that than in a bathroom... Particularly if your partner is in it...  Of course once you get past the novelty of the full frontal nudity; the tweaking of the penis, the perky tits and vagina at eye level, it is amazing how it is the intensity of the performances and the intriguing story that holds your attention. The piece seems an innocent enough premi...

Hundreds of cyclists braved the weather (well it turned out to be sunny once the ride started), narrow London streets, traffic, road works and pedestrians with long lenses on Saturday to mark the annual world naked bike ride , which (among other things) is a protest for more sustainable transport. This year it seemed a little more chaotic with naked people having to wait at traffic lights surrounded by cars, red-faced taxi drivers, busses and tourists. If you ever have nightmares about being stranded naked in Piccadilly Circus, then this is the event to live them. It all helped underscore this year's message on cycling safety and how vulnerable cyclists are in the streets when motorists aren't aware of them. More men than women seemed to be taking part this year, which wasn't such a bad thing since there was a good showing of fit types amongst the other body shapes on display... And not having a bike didn't stop people from taking part this year thanks to the  Bori...

The Royal Opera continues in its current trend to show flesh with its slightly naughty version of Aida . I caught up with it on opening night last week, and this new production looks great. And with plenty of partial nudity, it can be a little distracting. While it has been a controversial choice in staging, I thought it helped since I really don't care for Aida as an opera - a small story blown out into epic proportions that goes on forever. Still, conductor Nicola Luisotti also gets a great sound out of his orchestra and chorus (if perhaps not his soloists). His thoughts on the opera are captured in the latest podcast from the Royal Opera as well. Opening night was also a charity fundraiser with HRH in attendance ( wheeling in his wife ), so the standard of dress was a little bit better than usual at Covent Garden as well... It runs until 16 May and worth catching.

Picture 500 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . It is that time of year again when naked people cycle through the streets of London . While it lacked the body paint and noise of last year's ride, it made up for that with the huge numbers of naked people cycling. And amongst all this full-frontal nudity there was a message that we should get back to nature and stop relying on oil... More ass , less gas or something like that... Walking back through Hyde Park afterwards one stumbled across a sea of naked and semi-naked people who had finished the ride. There were also loads of people taking photographs of this nakedness. I resisted the urge to capture close up nudity in favour of the magic of the ride... Besides some things are best viewed when they are whizzing by you...