Last Tuesday night I was treated to a wonderful evening of entertainment, music and nostalgia as I attended the most recent recording of the popular podcast The Crisis Right with the Britpop icon Louise Wener at the Museum of Comedy in Bloomsbury.

This boutique theatre merely holds a capacity audience of fifty and I should know, considering that this was the setting of my first live Beyond The Title show back in 2021.

As I sat engrossed in Wener’s chat with the Lock Stock star Nick Moran, it occurred to me that, despite the IW’s rich heritage of live entertainment, there aren’t many avant garde venues which would cater for niche audiences. Yet help might be at hand through the most unlikely of avenues.

GG’s in Wootton is more familiar with animals with four legs rather than two and remains the Island’s leading horse riding centre with a whole host of activities for all the family to enjoy.

However, with the rise in popularity of combat sports and martial arts, the venue has also played host to the Island’s very first MMA event, spearheaded by brothers Kalon and Connor Tymon who hope to bring more local live events to the Island in the months and years ahead.

Aided by Kalon’s wife Emily, Kalon and Connor have created the Island Fight League alongside managing Connor’s blossoming fighting career. As a disabled person, I find it fascinating to watch these athletes who have such delicate control over their bodies and what they're able to do with them.

Kalon, 34 who moved to the Island a decade ago from his hometown of Preston, along with his teammates at Brotherhood MMA has brought the sport to the Island with overwhelming success. The Brotherhood gym in Ryde has become the epicentre of this minor Island revolution and has been a vital hub in helping people with issues of mental health in what has been a difficult few years in light of the recent pandemic.

Learning a combat sport in a safe and controlled environment has been known to help with mental health in a very tangible way. However, it hasn’t always been a smooth process in getting the gym off the ground and in October, The Brotherhood Gym hit the headlines for the wrong reasons when it fell victim to the autumn floods.

Therefore it seems absolutely miraculous that Kalon and the team have managed to overcome this major hurdle and return to normality so quickly. It’s a lesson for us all that with the right mindset, support network and motivation, you can do anything and it’s exciting to see what lies ahead for Kalon and his team.

I hope these events will expand the Island’s scope for live entertainment and form part of the evidence for welcoming many more bespoke experiences to our ever growing community. In the meantime all I can do is pray that more boutique shows and performers will continue to consider the IW as a reliable and unique leg for any tour.