What's on in London tonight

Mark Watson

8.30pm, Ginglik, Laugh Comedy Club, Shepherd's Bush Green, W12. £8, £5 members. Tube: Shepherd's Bush.

This gangly Footlights alumnus's promising performing future may soon be thwarted by his equally promising writing future - his debut novel, Bullet Points, is already creating a buzz. A scholar, a gentleman and a brilliant stand-up to boot, his playful, faux-naive wit will have you in stitches. Watson is joined on stage by Sean Collins, Mary Bourke and MC Alun Cochrane plus a surprise guest in this ladies-toilet-turned-comedy-venue.
0771 420 7914

FILM

Elephant (15)

(Across London). Gus Van Sant's extraordinarily sly take on the events and personalities that led up to the Columbine massacre reveals the director's intuitive grasp of adolescent hopes and disillusionment.

Lost In Translation (12A)

(Across London). Bill Murray is in his element and Scarlett Johansson never strikes a wrong note in Sofia Coppola's subtle tale of two lonely souls adrift in Japan. Perfectly poised between melancholia and humour.

SHOWS

Jerry Springer: The Opera

7.45pm, Cambridge Theatre, Earlham Street, W1. £25-£50. Tube: Covent Garden.

A quasi-Mozartian score puts the lyrics about strange perversities into satirical relief as our concept of what makes entertainment comes under the spotlight. An inventive, hilarious and very crude show indeed.
0870 890 1102

We Will Rock You

7.30pm, Dominion Theatre, Tottenham Court Road, W1. £22.50-£50. Tube: Tottenham Court Road.

Queen's music was always perfectly suited to the West End treatment and Ben Elton's stage adaptation doesn't disappoint. 020 7413 1713

MUSIC

Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin

7.30pm, Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, W1. £12-£25. Tube: Bond Street.

Schiefferdecker's suite for two oboes, bassoon, strings and basso continuo is the highlight of the German baroque ensemble's programme tonight, also featuring works by Telemann, Handel and Keiser. 020 7935 2141

Paddy Casey

7pm, The Borderline, Orange Yard, off Manette Street, W1. £7. Tube: Tottenham Court Road.

This very promising young Dubliner is a singer-songwriter in the mould of Damien Rice and David Kitt, and is looking to repeat his Irish success here.
020 7734 2095

EVENTS

What Is Beauty?

7pm, ICA, The Mall, SW1. £8, £7 concs. Tube: Charing Cross.

John Armstrong's new book, The Secret Power of Beauty, asks what beauty consists of and how we can define it. Pop-philosopher Alain de Botton and photographer Melanie Manchot join him for this discussion. 020 7930 3647

Asia House Book Circle

6.30pm, Asia House, 105 Piccadilly, W1. £3 (including drinks). Tube: Green Park.

Under discussion at the Asian cultural institute is Rani Manika's epic novel The Rice Mother, a kind of Malaysian Wild Swans. 020 7499 1287

COMEDY AND CABARET

The Cutting Edge

8pm, The Comedy Store, 1a Oxendon Street, SW1. £12, £8 concs. Tube: Piccadilly Circus.

Critics who say satire is dead have presumably never stumbled down the steps of The Comedy Store on a Tuesday, when the regular ensemble dissects the body politic. Expect much Blair-baiting and Bush-bashing. 020 7344 0234

The Cutting Edge

8pm, Crown and Two Chairmen, 31 Dean Street, W1. £3, £2 concs. Tube: Tottenham Court Road.

The up-and-coming stand-up (and all round weirdo) performs a work-inprogress of his latest show, Behold the Torch Bearer. 020 7437 8192

... and for free

Our Man in India: Cecil Beaton's Propaganda Photographs 1944

Until 7pm, The National Archives, Ruskin Avenue, TW9. FREE! Tube: Kew Gardens.

Timed to coincide with the National Portrait Gallery's current Beaton show, this free exhibition looks at the photos the society snapper took in 1944 while under contract to the Ministry of Information, the British wartime government's propaganda arm. 020 8392 5202/5323