Saturday 25th May 2019
The Blue Moon, Cambridge
Adams Smith Adams // © Ian Bowkett 
Martin Smith // © Ian Bowkett 
Cerys Bradley // © Ian Bowkett 
Declan Kennedy & Jonathan Hearn // © Ian Bowkett 
Rachel Wheeley and audience member // © Ian Bowkett 
Anna Ploszajski // © Ian Bowkett 
Declan Kennedy & Jonathan Hearn // © Ian Bowkett 
Michael Conterio // © Ian Bowkett 
The Story Beast // © Ian Bowkett 
Kevin Jon Davies & David Learner // © Ian Bowkett 
David Learner // © Ian Bowkett 
Rachel Wheeley // © Ian Bowkett 
Katie Overstall // © Ian Bowkett 
Vogon Poetry Anti-Slam Contender // © Ian Bowkett 
Vogon Poetry with super fan, Will // © Ian Bowkett 
Declan Kennedy & Jonathan Hearn // © Ian Bowkett 
The Story Beast // © Ian Bowkett 
Adams Smith Adams // © Ian Bowkett 
Katie Overstall // © Ian Bowkett 
Vogon Poetry Anti-Slam Victim // © Ian Bowkett 
Super fan, Will winning a Beeblebear // © Ian Bowkett 
Gabriella Sepsik from Galactic Hitchhikers // © Ian Bowkett
2019 saw Stand Up for Towel Day travel to Douglas’s hometown of Cambridge. The day started with a tour around the city guided by David Haddock before heading to The Blue Moon for an afternoon of talks and Q&As and a night of comedy.
We were joined by special guests David Learner and Martin Smith & Will Adams.
Set List
Walking Tour of Cambridge
Equipped with their towels, fans were taken on a guided walking tour of Cambridge by David Haddock, the former president of ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha (the Official Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Appreciation Society). Sites visited included where Douglas Adams was born, where he went to university, where the “biscuit incident” took place, and where the TARDIS landed in Doctor Who episode Shada.
Martin Smith & Will Adams
Kevin Jon Davies interviewed Martin and Will, the two remaining members of Douglas Adam”s sketch troupe, Adams-Smith-Adams, about their time at Cambridge University and working with Douglas. (And yes, it was that “bloody Martin Smith from Croydon”.)
David Learner
In the second of the day’s panels, Kevin Jon Davies spoke to David who played Marvin the Paranoid Android on both stage and screen.
Steve Cross
Once again, Steve delved deep into the hidden messages of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. This time he was in search of buried treasure and by putting the entire book’s text into alphabetical order, finding the bits that sounded like they were a cryptic crossword clue and solving them he may have got close.
Vogon Poety Anti-Slam
Stand Up for Towel Day‘s poet laureate, Cerys Bradley was joined by 2018’s Vogon Poetry Anti-Slam winner, Katie Overstall for some more painful poetry. Tied up audience members were forced to listen to the third worst poetry in the universe before deciding whose was truly worthy of the Vogon name.
The Golgafrinchan Kazoo Khoir
Conducted by Anna Ploszajski, we were treated to a wonderful kazoo rendition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy theme tune, Journey of the Sorcerer.
Declan Kennedy & Jonathan Hearn
Declan and Jonathan were back with more fan fiction:
Another day, another Earth, and all roads lead to home. Ford is bored, and Arthur is,
as ever, impatient to know what’s going on. Now that there’s more versions of Earth than cuts of Blade Runner, there’s only one ( highly apocryphal ) source of information they can consult. There’s an app for everything…even the ultimate question, and ultimate truths can be hard to swallow.
Michael Conterio
In the style of an Apple Keynote speech, Michael presented The Guide3 for the staff of Megadodo Publications on how to “improve” The Guide and bring it up-to-date – by which we mean making more money through dodgy business practices. Ideas included using ‘gems’ as currency; user-generated content; a new expensive guide with an always-on Babel Fish that predicts what articles you want to see; and peril sensitive sunglasses tech, adjusted so that you never have to read an opinion that you disagree with.
The Story Beast
The Story beast paid tribute to Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings with a touching eulogy.
Adams Smith Adams
Martin Smith and Will Adams were joined by Stand Up for Towel Day regulars Jonathan Hearn, Declan Kennedy, and Katie Overstall to perform sketches originated by the comedy troupe they were part of with Douglas Adams at Cambridge University, most of which had not been performed since.
Production Team
Producer
Rachel Wheeley
Sound & Video
Ian Bowkett
Stage Manager
Nell Thomas
Production Photos
Ian Bowkett
With thanks to…
Cambridge Skpetics
Gabriella Sepsik and Galactic Hitchhikers for donating prizes for the event
Stand Up for Towel Day 