Most of us laugh before the jokes when watching Friends these days, right? I’ve seen it so many times I can recite full scenes, haha! Friends has always been my comfort blanket – when I was younger and woke up in the night scared of the dark I would put Friends on to ease me back to sleep – when I was growing up and life seemed tough I would put Friends on to escape the world for a little while. When my mum started seeing a new boyfriend we used Friends as a way of bonding. It’s more than just a TV show.
Last year Stu and I bought tickets to go to Friends Fest in Leeds – Comedy Central were recreating the sets at Harewood House for a day of hanging out at Central Perk, eating at the Moondance Diner and having a cocktail at the Chick & Duck bar themed around Chandler and Joey’s apartment.
The whole day was pure, novelty fun! We were allocated a time slot to explore Monica’s apartment which Friends Fest had built down to a tee and we had fun recreating our favourite scenes (Say goodbye to sore muscles! Goodbye muscles!!) from the series with staff on hand to take as many photos as we wanted – my favourite being Chandler and Joey in the canoe when that guy steals everything they own! The guys taking that picture wondered what we were doing at first and thought we weren’t ready for the photo, but congratulated us on a great idea when they realised, haha.
It was so heart-warming to spend the day with complete strangers that also felt that same sense of love towards the show.
We had dinner at the Moondance Diner, complete with YMCA style dancing and costumes. Unfortunately that’s the only area where the whole thing fell down. The food was dry and overpriced, which is to be expected at these sort of events, but the staff running the diner had got the whole thing completely wrong; The actors were being purposefully rude in an ‘American diner style’ (which confused the hell out of me because I’ve been to American several times and their service is second to none!). However I appreciate a bit of fun so when the waiter was being rude to me as we sat down, I laughed politely.
We really took offence, though, when the waitress literally threw Stu out of his seat while he was eating. I don’t care what skit you’re playing, you don’t ruin someone’s already expensive and poor quality meal. I complained to the staff and we moved seats, only to have them follow us still in character telling us British people are too polite. I was flabberghasted. We tried really, really hard not to let it ruin the day though as the rest of the staff were so fun and helpful.
The Central Park set was really cool with a stage where you could get up and sing Smelly Cat and a section behind the bar for a photo opportunity. Of course they had the classic sofa, too!! You weren’t allowed to take drinks inside, but as soon as we said the coffee cup was empty (What’s in the cup, Ross!?) and was just a prop for our photo the guy was totally cool with it! I love that.
We bought a couple of posters from the shop including the one that hangs above the TV in Monica’s apartment, which I thought was a nice touch, but they’re still in the wrapper tucked away with our unpacked boxes. One day our house will be cool!
Comedy Central have just released details of another run of dates for Friends Fest this year and I highly recommend you go if you love the show. Just maybe don’t eat your food in the diner, eh? Haha!
Loves x xx