Charley Harrison presents highlights from our second Best of Spark London night at the Canal Cafe Theatre. In this episode:

Francis Shire aspires to be 'King of the Camden Goths' - can his Swedish Cybergoth partner help him achieve his dream?

Robyn Jankel travels across China by train and introduces a new custom in the process.

Neil Denny (Little Atoms, Resonance FM) wins £1000 of travel vouchers - but will his choice of destination be a problem for the border patrol?

Produced by Matt Hill at rethinkdaily.co.uk. Spark London is created by Joanna Yates. Thanks also to Hackney and Brixton hosts Dave Pickering and Radcliffe Royds.

Fancy coming to a night? Tickets are available at sparklondon.com/events and follow us @sparkLDN for all the latest info.

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In his hometown in India, huge crowds gather to see Harsh - unfortunately, he doesn't want them there.

From January 2014, when the theme was 'Fame.' 

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In a change to the regular podcast, Charley Harrison presents highlights from our first Best of Spark London evening at the Canal Cafe Theatre, featuring:

* Christine Estima

* John Hale

* Helen Zaltzman

Please let us know what you think of the new format - email matt [at] rethinkdaily.co.uk

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True stories told live in London. At a church meeting in a Southall school in November 1987, two gunmen opened fire – and Bill had to decide what he was going to do.

From our open mic in Hackney, January 2014, when the theme was 'Best Intentions.'

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This December, Spark London celebrates six fantastic years of connecting people through stories.

So what better way to mark the occasion than with a story told by founder Joanna Yates? Exactly.

This story is from April 2013, where the theme was 'Struggles.'

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True stories told live across London. Ian got up at our open mic in Hackney and told this story of strength - living with ME and a gradual and remarkable recovery.

From November 2013, when the night's theme was Strength. Thanks to Dave Pickering for hosting the night and Matt Hill at rethinkdaily.co.uk for recording the stories.

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Mark gets an offer that seems too good to be true; a free return trip to Paris. And all he has to do is a little leafleting when he gets there. What could go wrong?

From October 2013, when the theme was 'Hidden.'

Thanks to Greg Roughley for putting this week's episode together and to Radcliffe Royds for hosting the night.

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This week we present two stories from the same night in Brixton, both where the theme was hidden - but for some reason also talked about performing Shakespeare:

Embrace the Clown - Ola Aralepo

In Nigeria, Ola's comic timing is appreciated by his friends, but not by his elders.

Out of Lines - Jennifer Carpenter

Jennifer attempts to woo another schoolboy with her acting talents. All she has to do is learn to act first…

From October 2013, where the theme was Hidden. I think we mentioned that earlier.

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As our regular producer Matt Hill is off this month (getting married), the host of our Hackney open mic night has put together a full show from earlier this year, when the theme was 'Open Heart.'

You can hear his own excellent podcast, Getting Better Acquainted, by clicking this link: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted

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Jess is a London tour guide with a penchant for the dramatic gesture. In this true story, he explains how that can sometimes create trouble.

It was told at our August open mic at the Brixton Ritzy - we're back there on TUESDAY (not Monday) 17th September with stories of 'Bosses.' Come down - it's pay what you can...

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