Tuesday, 19 April 2022

LITERARY EVENT REVIEW: Tits, Gits, And Little S**ts: An Evening With Gill Sims - The City Varieties, Leeds.


The beautifully ornate Leeds former Music Hall creates the perfect, intimate atmosphere for an evening out with Gill Sims. No props needed, just two chairs, a table and a bottle of gin, with two pull-up banners either side detailing Sims's series of books and her latest forthcoming release.

Gill Sims, the author of the best selling “Why Mummy...” series is joined on stage by Jo Middleton, author of Playgroups And Prosecco to talk about motherhood, the trials and tribulations and our self-perceived inadequacies.

As keen and witty observers of people they discuss motherhood, from the types of mums you meet in the schoolyard to the way we look and judge ourselves as being not worthy. Why other mums seem more together, yet really we are all comparing ourselves and finding we don’t come up to the mark. It’s all hilarious and highly relatable and as it's pointed out you can't help but laugh as there are so many “yep that’s me” moments. As mums we try and make those “18 summers of childhood” count and yet our kids bemoan these times making us again feel inadequate and have overdone it.

Sims reads an extract from one of her early blogs which went viral about her husband’s lost car keys and it's hysterical, anyone who has ever been in the situation where their other half has been “looking” for something will totally relate to the reality of them shouting, having a meltdown and all the while wanting you to make them “appear”, a scenario I’m sure is known all too well to many of us.

The topic moves to the teenage years, we may think toddlers were hard work but being the mum of a teen brings motherhood to another level, dealing with them while often going through the beginnings of change ourselves, they are in the throes of being embarrassed by everything we do and we no longer care and so are a constant source of humiliation to our offspring.

The topic of lockdown is discussed and how many of us inadvertently became drinkers, stockpiling to get through the pandemic and realising we’ve developed alcoholic tendencies. The evening meanders through the topics and observations with prompts coming from Middleton. 

Audience participation was encouraged and the opportunity too to ask questions, no question was too random and a prize was drawn for having entered your own “FML” experience! (if unsure I’d look it up) .

Sims also read an extract from her forthcoming new book, 'The Saturday Night Sauvignon Sisterhood', not part of her other series, it was hilarious, read with Sim's’s dry humor you were left feeling like you definitely needed to read on.

The evening finished with questions from the audience and an invitation to join both ladies for gin and a chat at the bar. It gave you the opportunity to have pictures taken, books signed and ask any questions you perhaps didn’t want to ask before.

A good night out to be shared with friends.

Reviewer - Catherine Gall
on - 18.4.22


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