‘I've never felt so cosmopolitan - that's a word I learned in a bar’
Time to go to the pub, have a chat, come home and watch King of the Hill
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I am a journalist who writes for BBC Culture, Pellicle and Vittles. I was named Beer Writer of the Year in 2023 by the British Guild of Beer Writers.
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KITH - S11E01 - The Peggy Horror Picture Show
I’ve been so fed up with the way trans people are continually treated that I’ve had to turn off social media and avoid the news.
Withdrawing doesn’t help anyone and leads me to feel powerless, which in turn causes waves of self-loathing. And the only way I could feel any optimism with humanity was to visit a pub (see below) and watch an 18-year-old episode of King of the Hill. (After my visit that is. I try to limit screen time in pubs!)
In the US, KoTH was sandwiched between the Simpsons and Family Guy in the schedules but I don’t think it could’ve been more different than those two sitcoms. I never really liked Family Guy, aside from the occasional clips involving drawn-out punch ups, and I found they dialled up the shock humour to make it stand out from the Simpsons.
KoTH was softer in tone - quite literally when you look at its palette - and felt like a homage to America as much as it was a satirical take. I think in the 90s, I read an interview where co-creator Mike Judge said that KoTH started out as a skewering of the US but quickly evolved into something more nuanced. (And he said the opposite happened with Beavis and Butthead)
For me, KoTH was a classic sitcom in that it made you fully empathise with the main characters even though the Texan backdrop would be alien to many.
And in this episode you manage to see the world through Peggy’s eyes as she struggles to feel ‘feminine’ as no one wants her clothes, she’s teased for her strong grip and she struggles to find shoes that fit. This leads her to shop at a shoe store for drag queens and strike up a friendship with Carolyn, who is everything her friends aren’t - kind, funny, caring and - unbeknown to Peggy - a man.
There’s an innocence here but an acceptance too, especially where Bill says “I like nice people” when he meets Jamie/Carolyn.
I won’t spoil more of the plot for you but it’s a lovely emotional balm. Maybe all we have is hope.
The pub
I found myself this week waiting for the Cock Tavern in Hackney to open. Sometimes I am that man standing outside a pub in the morning, who’s need to be the first in outweighs the shame felt from seeing looks from passers-by.
The Cock is one of the London pubs owned by brewery Howling Hops and I’ve written lovingly about the Southampton Arms here (note: Nick has moved on to the Robin, in Crouch Hill, which I also heartily recommend) and today I want to present to you the newish Pocket in Islington.
If the Cock feels a bit dive bar (in a good way, of course), then the Pocket goes the other way with an interior that is simply breath-taking. This hard-wood stripped back feel is what a lot of pubs (especially gastro-ish ones) try to achieve but come across as identikit.
Maybe it was the Spring light streaming through on a variable day or the morning pints but whatever the case I fell hard for the Pocket.
Stu Brooking, who lives nearby, reckons it could become a great addition to the area because - apart from the Lamb - he struggles to find decent pubs that aren’t ‘gastro’ - Stu loves his pints.
“It is lovely having a near carbon copy of the Southampton Arms on my doorstep but it’s going to take a bit of time to find its own vibe,” he tells me.
I suspect the atmosphere will improve as more people who love decent pubs arrive - having no wi-fi will help as it forces pubgoers to chat. And we need to chat because it’s the only way we will heal. Other than visiting shoe shops for drag artists.