Pall Mall Barbers' review of Sweeney Todd

In one of our many clear outs of the little office that can be found in the depths of Pall Mall Barbers I found this interview Richard had with Paul Arendt at the Guardian Newspaper. 

Interview by Paul Arendt

Tuesday January 29, 2008

The Guardian

Cut the music ... Sweeney Todd

I can't say I'd use this film as a training video. Slitting your customers' throats isn't a good business model - you wouldn't get many repeat customers. I don't think I would employ Johnny Depp's Sweeney Todd, either. He looks like a bit of a madman.

I loved the scenes of Victorian London in Tim Burton's movie; and it was great to see the old barber shops with the traditional red and white barber's pole. The red represents blood and the white represents bandages. Years ago, barbers were also surgeons. They would pull teeth and perform bloodletting, so they were no strangers to gore. But I don't think many of them went as far as Sweeney.

Sweeney's razors look more like samurai swords than professional tools. They were obviously made to scare. I've never come across a set of razors of that scale and shape. The traditional shave using a straight razor and strop - a piece of leather used to sharpen the razor - are things of the past now. We use a disposable safety blade for hygiene reasons.

Lathering and preparation is the key to good shaving. Sweeney doesn't apply the soap properly. He brushes it across the face when what you should do is work it in to the skin, softening the stubble and bringing up the bristles. You don't often see Johnny Depp actually shaving a customer - it looked as if they might have used someone else's hands to do the work.

I wasn't sure what to make of the music. Obviously, there's a connection between singing and barber shops - think of barber shop quartets - but I suspect my clientele would be relieved that we don't serenade them while we work. They wouldn't want to hear my voice, anyway.

· Richard Marshall is the owner of Pall Mall Barbers, London. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is on general release

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Pall Mall Barbers the Celebrity

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how busy our week had been. We’d had the TV cameras in, the journalists and the photographers. I won’t lie: we love the attention and let’s face it, the shop is looking pretty damn hot right now so if you’ve got it why not flaunt it? It made me think though just how far has the Pall Mall Barbers brand reached? What TV channels have aired shots of us or which magazines have done a photo shoot in what is quickly becoming an iconic barber shop? So I started to do a little digging in our chaotic basement office and my results were staggering.




As for TV we’re progressing happily up the leader board. In the early days you might have seen us on a regional news item or two but then we started to get noticed. We might not have appeared yet in a Guy Ritchie film but we’re hitting prime time TV. There was of course the interview with Calum Best as part of the Celebrity Come Dine with Me show. From Calum Best to Louie Spence and his Sky 1 programme Show business. Personally I found the series hilarious, well maybe not as funny as Pineapple Studios but still cringe worthingly silly and we got to take part with our very own Richard chatting away with Beckham and David Brent lookalikes. If you don’t believe me, come in and see the pictures!



So while we might still be a rising star in the world of movies, we’re certainly considered one of the big boys in the journalistic spheres. We’ve had all the major broadsheets in here whether it be to try out one of our famous luxury shaves or to consider the qualities of our haircuts. The Daily Telegraph wrote this about our wet shaves: “As various potions are rubbed into my skin and I’m buried under hot towels (to open the pores) I start to understand the appeal of the wet shave. I like the ritual and the care.” I couldn’t agree more – though I normally sport a well groomed beard I do a couple of times a year sit back and experience the indulgence of a wet shave.



If you think the Daily Telegraph had nice things to say about us it’s rivaled by The Observer who wanted to see if we represent good value for money. They were investigating whether it was possible to get a £52 quality haircut for half the price. – here’s what they said, “The cut was very good (they offer more than a short back and sides and Brylcream), conversation not too intrusive and, most importantly, I saved over £35. In short, I was able to satisfy my high standards without crippling my wallet”. These are just a couple of papers’ comments but there are more, many more, but if I was to list them all this would become a very long blog and we’d just be showing off, I mean if I was to tell you all the positive things The Times said, well I would be positively blushing!



So we’re liked by those who work with the written word and the crowd who demand “Lights, Camera, Action!” but what about the über fashion conscience magazines and fashion shoots? Well it’s here where we go from rising star to king of the barbers. Sorry if I sound arrogant, I think I’m more of a proud supporter. I could believe it when we went through all the magazines we’ve appeared for: shoots for Zoo, Loaded and FHM, Men’s Health and GQ. Morgan Rees, Editor-In-Chief at Men’s Health Magazine described Pall Mall Barbers as, “The best mix of old school service and razor sharp haircuts…” Now that’s a pretty special sound bite from someone who really knows what they’re talking about.



Of course it’s not just the coverage about us specifically: we also have people who want to use our fabulous setting to show off their own product. There was the national campaign by Clarks Shoes and the very stylish Conde Nast, who conducted an extremely impressive looking shoot in the store for New & Lingwood, exuding glamour and attitude.



These are but a taste of what we’ve been up to over the last few years and don’t worry there is plenty of more in the pipe line. Rumour has it we might be producing our own online film footage set in the shop… but that’s just hearsay.



What I should state is though we’re proud of how our shop is all grown up and proving a great hit, we haven’t got arrogant nor lost sight of what we’re all about: to give top quality haircuts to our wonderful and diverse cliental. It is after all what we do best! Just let me know though if you want an autograph and I’ll see what I can do.


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