A night with… Stephen Fry

On Wednesday evening I went to see Stephen Fry at Theater aan het Spui in The Hague. He was in Holland to promote his autobiography: The Fry Chronicles, which I read and reviewed in January. I didn’t really know beforehand what this evening would bring. All I knew was that it was part of his book tour and that tickets were cheap (only 7,50!).

Since seating was a first come, first base service, me and my friend decided to be there on time. While waiting we were told that the evening would start with a speech by Stephen Fry, followed by an interview and a book signing. After waiting for some time we got some really good seats: 3th row a little to the right, with a great view of the stage where to comfy, beaten up chesterfield armchairs made up the decor.

A little while later Fry walked on stage to much applause and addressed the crowd in Dutch. His Dutch isn’t even that bad to be honest! The speech was entertaining and done in a way only Fry does it. The interview was less successful, but that was mainly because the interviewer was drab. Fry would have been better off interviewing himself. If you’re interested in what was said that night, Border Kitchen, the event organizers recorded everything. You can listen to it here:

After the speech and the interview we got in line, bought some books and had all of our stuff signed by the man himself. He looked exhausted (flew in from Rio via Paris that very day) but yet wasn’t opposed to a small chat. Since Wednesday had been a pretty crappy day for me, it couldn’t have ended better. I was thoroughly entertained all evening and was terribly impressed by the wit and wisdom that is Stephen Fry.