the ambassador's ball

last monday, i received a top secret email, requesting my company at the ambassador's ball on wednesday. the invitation advised black tie essential, and to tell no-one. it also said i could bring a plus one, so that was confusing. we did our very best to attempt the black tie dress code, and made our way to the troxy theatre in east london for 6:30.

as we approached the rear of the building, we could see that a line was already formed down the alley - all in heels and tuxes. we immediately felt underdressed. there were 'agents' scattered down the alley, pulling guests out the line and interrogating them as to 'what their business was' with the ambassador. as they got to us to check us off the list, i gave my surname. "and is that your real name?" came the reply, totally in character. without batting an eyelid, i replied "that's for me to know, and you to find out". she looked me up and down and said, "congratulations. you've passed your first test. enjoy the ball, agent." boyfriend and i exchanged some nervous glances, and entered the building to curious eyes, sideways looks, and muffled whispers from the other agents...



inside, we met up with kelly and matt from iCrossing, and jenna of sausage tarts and marmalade rolls, and headed to the bar. and the buffet. and the bar again. the inside of the theatre was decorated very 'gatsby-esque' - i say decorated, but i get the impression it always looks like that. the troxy is one of the oldest original cinemas in london, and was restored to look the way, so... yeah. it looked amazing. more and more people slowly trickled in, and by the time we sat down, there were almost 500 people in the venue.

the ambassador firstly introduced himself and welcomed us to his ball, then brought his wife to the stage to sing a couple of songs. while she was on stage, there was some raucous from above us in the seated area - we looked up and saw two men with guns had taken hostages and there was a shoot-off! inevitably, the offenders were arrested, the defenders were applauded, and we were expected to act as if nothing had happened... it was so mad! suddenly, the ambassador was back, this time to introduce a very special agent...

liz hurley! special agent hurley was on hand to unveil the new comparethemarket.com advert containing new meerkat character agent maiya (she's now my favourite)(watch it here) and introduce us to the future cinema film of the evening... mission impossible! it was widely hinted to be a spy film, but boyfriend and i had anticipated a bond one - tom cruise was a welcomed surprise (especially the earlier noughties tom cruise), and we sat back, bubbly in hand and enjoyed the show.

i'd never been to a future cinema event before, but had heard how mad they can be. we had real pyrotechnics, explosions on stage, a man on a harness acting out 'that scene' of the film, as well as other '3d' type things going on around us that tied in with the film. it was truly a spectacular, if you ever get the chance to go to one, i couldn't recommend the service enough!
when we finally got in, we had a peep through our goodie bags - we were stoked to have received our very own agent maiya toys, a pair of her uncover glasses, (very kim-esque!) as well as a bunch of spy tools to hone our skills. the above picture i posted on twitter, and the next day had a tweet from aleksandr orlov (the meerkat!) praising me for my spy skills and telling me he'd be in contact if he ever needs a communications expert... so that's all kinds of awesome.

kelly and matt (and jenna!) were all really awesome to meet and hang out with, and i really hope to meet up with them again soon. thank you so much to iCrossing, compare the meerkat and future cinema for inviting us along to such an amazing event. we had an absolute 'ball' (haha, jokes are fun!)

have you ever been to a future cinema event? would you now?  do it!