Coming up on Friday: Geekeasy, Pablo’s Hunt and more Handmade Mysteries

Lady Chastity's Reserve comes to East LondonFriday will be busy! This site talks about exit games most of the time and about puzzle hunts frequently. There’s good reason to talk about something different this Friday: a comedy night. Needless to say, not just any comedy night: one themed around The Crystal Maze. That’s interesting.

Project2 curates Geekeasy ((…)) We populate the bill with emerging and award-winning acts. ((…)) Each month we pick a niche theme and throw some acts at it. Expect musical comedy, stand up, improv, sketch and a Powerpoint competition. This month we’re in The Crystal Maze, with guest comedians, improvisers and musicians competing to win a taxi ride home.

Project2’s background is improv comedy with a sci-fi theme; the The Crystal Maze theme was announced three months ago so people will have had considerable preparation time. It would be easy to “punch down” but the genuine fandom and love for the genres that the group have shown, plus good reviews from an improv player that this site trusts, gives this site hope that more acts than not can stay on the right side of the fine line: irreverent good, impudent goo-ooo-oood, insolent bad. The show starts at 8pm at The Miller pub in Southwark, London, between London Bridge and Borough.

Other exciting things happen on Friday, too. Handmade Mysteries open an East London location at The People’s Park Tavern pub in the part of south-east Hackney best served by the 388 bus from Hackney Wick, Cambridge Heath or Bethnal Green. This is a slight remix of their original Lady Chastity’s Reserve game played in South London; the larger location permits teams of up to six, rather than up to five, and some extra gags along the way. This site just likes saying “My! Brother! Knows Karl Marx! He met him in the bushes at The People’s Park!

If you don’t want to leave your house, there’s still fun to be had: as discussed, the 2015 edition of Pablo’s Armchair Treasure Hunt also starts on Friday, though the teaser poster will already get you started. True, there’s a hidden box to be found somewhere in the south of England, but there’s a mighty bundle of research and thinking to be done before you can even start to work out where it is!

Coming soon to Brighton: Lady Chastity’s Reserve

lcr-brightonIt’s been pushed back ever so slightly at least once, but Brighton is going from zero exit games to getting its second in double-quick time when Handmade Mysteries launch their second venue at which Lady Chastity’s Reserve might be sought. The team have described their game as a “racy rush“, a beautiful double entendre in a game where the nudge and wink are stock in trade… and probably the only one that is suitable for participants who have not yet reached legal drinking age. This site is glad that the above graphic cuts off where it does; a few pixels further south and… well, the beautiful, busy and evocative graphic has more to it than first meets the eye.

The location in Brighton will be a pub called The Black Lion within the town’s Lanes, which will only add to the atmosphere. The game is proving so successful in London that its run keeps getting extended and extended; hopefully the Brighton game can have at least as big an impact. There is one challenge to be faced, though; many of the reviews of the London location refer to Gabriel the host as standing out and contributing to the atmosphere and fun. Perhaps Gabriel might be the MVP (or, at least, the Most Valuable Host?) in exit games, but he can only be in one place at once! If both locations can have their own top-notch host, then Brighton is in for a real treat.

It’s a sixty-minute game for teams of two to five, though teams of 2-3 might be matched up with others to help their chances. Both London and Brighton branches charge £15.50 per player during the off-peak (before 6pm on weekdays). The Brighton branch is starting off by taking Mondays and Tuesdays off to recuperate from the customarily filthy weekends.

Now open in London: Lady Chastity’s Reserve

Lady Chastity's Reserve graphicMany thanks to Ken for the tip pointing to today’s post, and tomorrow’s as well. Ken has performed yeoman’s work in finding new games in the London area, both doing the simple stuff that this site gets around to every once in a while and the really smart stuff (checking planning applications and Companies House…) that this site never thought of.

Lady Chastity’s Reserve is the first game by Handmade Mysteries. The web site is exceptionally evocative, with the title graphic having a style all of its own; see what you think, but a starting point might be “Louisiana with a hint of Victoriana”. The tag line “Crystal Maze on Crystal Meth” is about as pithy and witty as it gets, too.

The game is played in a pub, by teams aged strictly 18+. It is being hosted by The Four Thieves in Battersea, a short walk from Clapham Junction, until at least the end of July, with the implication that the show might go on the road after that and/or a new story might come to town. As Handmade Mysteries make the distinction, “While ‘escape rooms’ offer challenging tasks, we offer ‘escapism rooms’. A more immersive experience that tests players wits through twisted tales riddled with lateral thinking puzzles and challenging new inventions. You can escape through the exit anytime you want, with the prize in your hands, or just your head.” Perhaps a little more of this live-action adventure happens in your head than in most. The photos on the site set the tone.

The story runs like so: “This dark and fruity tale revolves around the legendary Chastity vineyard, the most notorious party venue of its time. Chastity’s was considered the finest wine in all the land, an aphrodisiac which fueled the eminent Lady’s lavish orgies. In the years that Lady Chastity found love, the wine flourished like never before, but when she lost her love, she lost her mind. The parties were wilder than ever before and during her final blow-out, the vineyard burned down, bringing Chastity and her strange brew to a bitter end. You and your friends are invited to hunt down the last remaining bottle of this rare and highly coveted prize, so you may wet your whistle, and possibly your pants.” Indeed, there is a bottle of wine to be claimed, if you can release it. (It’s not immediately obvious how The Four Thieves would react if you used their premises to enjoy your prize.)

It’s a game designed to be played by teams of up to five (for a team of more than five would surely end up getting less than a glass of the potent drink each…) and it’s possible that teams of fewer than five might end up sharing their game with others who have booked at the same time. The fee is £18/player.

With so many different games available, can newcomers still be distinctive? Evidently so!