Starting in February of this year, The Misfits of Comedy is a reasonably new room inspired by the celebrated Perth institution Shapiros Tuesdays. It is a room that encourages performers to dare to be different and push the boundaries of comedy; something that appeals to a jaded punter such as myself.
The Blue Tile Lounge is an interesting venue that combines the themes of Skateboarding and Tiki Lounge in its décor. Vintage Skateboard decks adorn the bar, a large graffiti mural covers a main wall, bamboo panels and an aquarium embedded into a dividing wall are among its features. This venue has a very rebellious and “slapped together” aesthetic in its exposed cabling, wooden crate shelving and roughly painted brick walls that adds a certain charm. There is a wide range of seating available including couches, dining room chairs and bare benches. The stage is situated next to the front door in the shop window, so things can get a little chilly on cool evenings and smokey (punters can smoke at the footpath tables) when the door is left open.
Beer is main tipple on offer at this bar with an agreeable range within the fridge. A happy hour and free corn chips and dips are used to draw in the casual punter to drink and stay for the show. Several local barflys accepted this offer and added a vocal presence to the evening. Some inoffensive banter with the MC and a couple of the acts added to the casual nature of the show.
The evenings entertainment followed the usual two sets of four performers with an interval. Catching a glimpse of the running order, I noticed that each act was allocated ten minutes, but those used to doing tight fives didn’t seem to be on as long. Following the comedy, the show continued with the house band “Tang” performing; their gear taking up the majority of the stage for the entire show which didn’t leave much for the comics to work with if they wanted to do something with lots of colour and movement. Being a work / school night I’m afraid I couldn’t stick around to see them play.
On the night I attended Misfits, I didn’t witness much in the way of innovative or experimental comedy. Aside from a short segment of interpretive dance / dramatics from one act, all the performers stuck to their usual shtick, mostly bog standard stand up. On the positive side quite a bit of new material was aired, often falling flat with the comic blaming the failure on the jokes’ embryonic state. I hope that comics don’t treat this room as just another place to only gain stage experience and take up the gauntlet thrown down by Karl Woodberry (who runs the room) to create something different and unique.
Despite not being quite the experience I had hoped for, it was a fun night. I’m willing to pop in again in the hope of seeing something special.
The Misfits of Comedy happens every Wednesday at The Blue Tile Lounge with proceedings kicking off at about 8:30. Entry is by voluntary gold coin donation. Check our gig guide for line ups.