Until now.
It's official, kids: we’re less than a month from a brand new Digitiser Live show…!
We’ve all been waiting a long time for this, and we’re working hard to ensure that wait will have been worth it. The show is bigger, madder, safer, and more ambitious than the first one. The time has come for the official Digi Live 2.0. FAQ!
Read on for this aforementioned thing.
Saturday September 4th at 7pm!
The doors to the Elliot Hall will open at 6pm for a Mr Biffo's Found Footage retrospective on the big screen, which kicks off at 6.30pm (if you hate Found Footage... it's not compulsory; just make sure you're seated before the main show at 7pm).
There will be additional events during the afternoon, courtesy of David Walford's Chunky Fringe.
WHO'S IN IT?
The show will be hosted primarily by me, Mr Biffo, with assistance from the other Digi semi-regulars Paul Gannon, Sanja, and Eli Silverman. We’ll also hopefully be joined by our Digi-friends Ashens, Sooz Kempner, and Ryan Livermore. And maybe a surprise or two.
Due to the inclusion of the above individuals, we recommend the show is for guests aged 16+.
WHERE IS IT HAPPENING?
Harrow Arts Centre,
171 Uxbridge Road,
Hatch End,
HA5 4EA
Events across the day will be split between the main Elliot Hall and the Hatch End Suite (see below for more details on David Walford’s Chunky Fringe).
If you have any questions about the venue, please contact them:
020 3773 7161
box.office@harrowarts.com
TICKETS
The show is now SOLD OUT. Not every seat has been made available, in order to allow for some social distancing in the venue.
On the day, please bring a copy of your ticket/email receipt with you. If you no longer have this, email digitiser2000@gmail.com and we can reissue your ticket. Aside from a handful of reserved seats, seating is on a first-come/first-served basis.
If you are on the guest list, your name will be on the door.
If you are unable to make the event, we are unable to offer refunds. Refunds will only be offered if the show has to be cancelled. If we are required to postpone, tickets will be transferred to a future date.
WHAT'S GOING TO BE DIFFERENT THIS TIME?
The longer we’ve drifted from Digitiser The Show, the less relevant it felt to base the show around retro gaming. It made more sense to focus on the past 18 months or so of the Digitiser Channel (with a nod or three to Digi’s gaming past), rather than the six eps of Digi the Show.
Fortuitously, the postponement also means that Digi Live now coincides with the 5th anniversary of Mr Biffo’s Found Footage...
Again, we’ll let you fill in the blanks…
With a new series of Digi The Show in the planning, I suspect Digi Live 3, if and when it happens, will return to the retro gaming.
WHAT IS CHUNKY FRINGE?
Chunky Fringe will be - pandemic permitting - a small space for teletext and old technology enthusiasts to demonstrate their work. It will be a free event taking place during the afternoon in the Hatch End Suite.
Full details can be found here: https://www.arbitraryfiles.com/events/cf21/index.html
Chunky Fringe is also sponsoring a retro gaming panel in the Elliot Hall at 1pm. David Walford has kindly helped us extend the hours we have to set-up and rehearse before the main show.
CAN I HELP?
We’ve got all the backstage crew we need at the moment, but if that changes and we need volunteers, we’ll put out the call.
Also, there was a bit of a backstage invasion after the last Digi Live. I know this shouldn’t have to be stated, but that area is off limits to the general public, unless we specifically ask for your help.
WHAT’S THE RUNNING ORDER OF THE DAY?
11am–5pm – Chunky Fringe teletext demonstration (Chunky Fringe/Hatch End Suite)
1pm – 2pm (approx.) – The Antique Code Show Retro gaming panel (Chunky Fringe/Elliot Hall)
6pm–Doors open to Ellliot Hall
6.30pm–7pm – The Worst of Found Footage
7pm – Digitiser Live! Part 1
8pm – Interval
8.20pm – Digitiser Live! Part 2
9.30pm (approximately) – show ends
Post-show, we’ll be hanging around for a meet-and-greet. Unlike the free-for-all last time, we’ll have a designated area for you to come and say hello.
FOOD AND DRINK
The bar will be open before and after the show. You’ll also be able to pre-order your drinks to collect during the interval. We’ve also arranged with the venue for some drink deals.
There’s a Morrison’s supermarket right next door for sandwiches and whatnot. They also have a café.
A short walk will take you into Hatch End, which has a whole host of restaurants and a pub.
We highly recommend you pre-order your interval drinks. Last time we overran massively while waiting for people to come back from the bar during the break, and pre-ordering should speed things up significantly.
At the first Digi Live, most people got there early and hung out in the car park and adjoining field. Harrow Arts are more than happy if you wish to do that again, weather permitting. Pray for sunshine!
WILL IT BE FILMED?
Yes... though we can't promise you'll ever get to see it. Even more than the first one, Digi Live 2.0. is an event that is designed to be experienced in person.
We'll make a call as to whether it even works on video once we've watched it back. If it's good enough, we might release a souvenir DVD. If it's rubbish, we might just slap it on YouTube.
Harrow Arts Centre is a certified Covid secure venue. There are several new measures put into place on site to ensure that the possibility of transmission of Covid-19 is reduced as much as possible.
These include:
• Sanitising cleaning measures
• It is suggested that all visitors wear a face covering when visiting
• Weekly fogging
• The implementation of hand sanitiser stations at entry & exit points
We are aware that for many of you, travelling to an event like this might be stressful and anxiety-inducing. Rest assured, the Digitiser community is incredibly warm, diverse, and welcoming. Everyone who attended the first Digi Live remarked on what a lovely atmosphere it was. Whoever you are, you won't regret being there.
London can be an intimidating place for those who aren't used to it, but Harrow Arts Centre is in a quiet, leafy suburb right on the fringes of London.
We have a ZERO TOLERANCE policy when it comes to anyone who fails to respect the personal space, beliefs, and views of others. Respect the choice of those who take additional Covid precautions. Harassing, disorderly, or offensive behavior will not be tolerated.
Anyone finding themselves in a situation where they feel their safety is at risk or who become aware of an attendee not in compliance with this policy should immediately locate the nearest member of security or staff.
Generally, just be respectful. You’ll be ejected from the venue and banned from all future Digitiser events if you fail to do so.
We’ve done what we can to consider those with photosensitive epilepsy, and are confident the show will be safe for most people. However, with any live event featuring lighting, video, and smoke, you attend at your own risk.
TRAVEL
Harrow Arts Centre is easily accessible by car and various methods of public transport.
Harrow Arts Centre
Uxbridge Road
Hatch End
HA5 4EA
BY BUS
The H14 and H12 stop directly outside Harrow Arts Centre. The 182 stops at Oxhey Lane, a 4-minute walk away.
Plan your journey with TFL Journey Planner
BY CAR
Harrow Arts Centre is easily accessible via the A410 – Uxbridge Road.
Get directions to HA5 4EA on Google Maps
PARKING
There is free level parking for 90 cars at Harrow Arts Centre. Free overflow parking is available at the adjacent Morrisons car park. On performance nights, the Morrisons overflow car park will not be locked.
BY TRAIN
London Overground Trains run directly from London Euston to Hatch End in 40 minutes, and the line directly links to Willesden Junction and Watford Junction. Harrow Arts Centre is a 6-minute walk from Hatch End Overground Station
Plan your journey with TFL Journey Planner
BY UNDERGROUND
The nearest London Underground stations are Harrow on the Hill or Pinner (Metropolitan Line), Harrow & Wealdstone (Bakerloo Line), Stanmore (Jubilee Line). Bus routes are available from all of these station to Harrow Arts Centre with an approximate journey time of 30-minutes.
Plan your journey with TFL Journey Planner
BY COACH
Coaches can drop off passengers at the front entrance of Harrow Arts Centre using the service road between HAC at Morrisons. Unfortunately, we do not have any coach parking available on site.
WHERE TO STAY
There's a Travelodge in central Harrow, and a Premier Inn in nearby Kenton. Both are a brief bus or cab journey from the venue.
Other hotels in the area can be found here.
If you'd like to stay somewhere with a bit of Digi/Biffo history, the grounds of the Grim's Dyke Hotel are where we've filmed a whole host of things, including two eps of Supernatural World (see if you can find Schwenk's ghost...!), the Sexy Christmas USA video, and a few Biffovision clips.
Another option would be to stay in Watford, as there's a direct train which is just a few stops from Hatch End station, and obviously you'll be near the mainline Watford Junction. And then you really won't be in London.
ACCESSIBILITY
Harrow Arts Centre has excellent access for all users.
There are ramps and lifts to all areas with adapted WCs throughout the centre, reserved disabled parking close to the building, and a lowered counter at the Box Office.
Seeing and hearing dogs are welcome, and water can be provided for all assistance dogs. An induction loop system is available in both of our performance spaces, Elliot Hall and The Studio Theatre.
To enhance your safety and to comply with fire regulations, we request that wheelchair-users are accompanied by a friend or companion.
For many of you, this will be your first time out in a crowd since Covid happened. We're aware that some of you with tickets don't feel it's yet safe enough to attend, and we totally respect that. It's a personal decision we all have to take.
We also have our own anxiety about it, but have made the choice that going ahead is the right thing to do. We feel we've hidden away long enough, and between vaccines, safety measures, and the current trajectory of the pandemic, we've been given some comfort that it's a risk worth taking in order to give us all a bit of a mental health boost after a very challenging time.
We hope as many of you as possible will join us. It's going to be an amazing day.
Last time we managed to get #digitiserlive trending on Twitter. Let's see if we can do that again!
If you've got any additional questions, please email us or the venue:
digitiser2000@gmail.com
box.office@harrowarts.com