How to find the after-party
After-parties — the pumping life-blood of the party season — are more slippery than a bucket full of eels. Once, after an evening of beady ingratiation, Sheridan Smith asked me if I wanted to go to an after-party with her and her gang. I charged off to grab my coat, only to find her cab screeching off when I landed breathlessly on the street. Elusive, unplanned and often elitist, after-parties require a game plan. Here’s how to do it...
When sourcing the party, be direct. At launches of any kind (book, album, political campaign) approach the man of the hour: ‘Salman, congratulations, you must be doing something very exciting after this…’
Get your ducks in a row before the party. Have a semblance of a plan about what to do afterwards — you can always ruthlessly drop it when you find the right after-party. It is better than ever-more desperately sidling up to strangers asking what their vibe for the night is.
Don’t loiter on the pavement hoping to hear instructions given by people getting into cabs. It can go very wrong. Instead, know what club people are members of so you can start a conversation. ‘So I guess it’s off to the Groucho then…’
Once the party is found, arrive laden with booze if it is a house-party (I’ve never been turned away with a bottle of fizz). And have the right gang in tow — a very general rule of thumb is bring girls to boys’ parties and boys to girls’ parties, or at least lead with them. But don’t, whatever you do, bring pets or children. Lily Allen once let my dog into her house but not me.
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