David

When Madame Jojo’s shut its doors on Brewer Street in November 2014, London’s burlesque scene lost its spiritual home. Westminster Council revoked the venue’s licence after a violent incident involving staff, and performers scattered across the city looking for new stages. The closure fragmented a tightly knit community, but it did not kill burlesque in … Read more

If you walked down Brewer Street in Soho during the late 1980s, you might have noticed a modest doorway beneath a white rhinestone sign reading “Madame Jojo’s.” Behind those doors sat one of the most extraordinary nightlife venues London has ever known. And at the heart of that venue were the Barbettes, the drag stars … Read more

Madame Jojo’s was a legendary Soho nightclub and cabaret venue on Brewer Street in London’s West End, operating from 1986 until its forced closure in 2014. Known for drag shows, burlesque performances, and live music, it became one of the most culturally significant late-night venues in British history. For nearly three decades, this single venue … Read more

Walk down Old Compton Street on a Friday night in and you will find drag queens spilling out of pub doorways, lip-sync numbers echoing between the buildings, and rainbow flags lit up above centuries-old doorways. The history of drag in Soho London stretches back further than most people realise. It runs from the boards of … Read more

Walk down Dean Street on a Tuesday afternoon and you can still feel it. The narrow doorways, the faded pub signs, the sense that something important happened behind these walls. Understanding how Soho pubs became havens for artists and outcasts means looking at a perfect storm of post-war poverty, cheap rents, restrictive licensing laws, and … Read more

Walk down Brewer Street in Soho today and you will find chain restaurants, boutique hotels, and the polished sheen of a neighbourhood that has been thoroughly gentrified. But for nearly three decades, number 8-9 Brewer Street housed something far wilder. Madame Jojo’s was a temple of sequined chaos, a place where burlesque dancers shared a … Read more

Soho has one of the highest concentrations of pubs anywhere in London, and many of them have been pouring pints since the days when gas lamps lit the streets. When you walk through the narrow lanes between Wardour Street and Great Pulteney Street, you are passing through centuries of drunken poets, notorious criminals, theatrical legends, … Read more

Walk down Old Compton Street on a Friday evening and you will still find crowds spilling onto the pavement, glasses in hand, laughter echoing between the buildings. But look a little closer and the cracks show. Where the Intrepid Fox once poured pints for punks and poets, there is now a blank facade. Where Madame … Read more

Dylan Thomas lost the only existing manuscript of his masterpiece, Under Milk Wood, in The French House on Dean Street in Soho. He left it behind after a heavy drinking session in the pub that was then called the York Minster. The landlord spotted the pages on a seat and tucked them safely behind the … Read more

London is losing pubs at the rate of one every five days. In the first quarter of alone, 17 London pubs shut their doors permanently. Across the UK, the figure is even starker: nearly two pubs closed every single day in the same period, according to data from the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA). … Read more