Back in June of this year, the guys from Anyone For Tennis? (Jase and Doody) started a new monthly comedy room that focuses on musical comedy. They set up shop in the performance space of Pure Pop Records (221 Barkly Street, St Kilda), a small space that regularly hosts performances by singer/songwriters and bands.
This venue is in the rear courtyard of the store which, being an outdoor space, is the only comedy room in Melbourne in which smoking is still permitted. The stage area and the first few rows are covered by a roof structure but the rest of the courtyard is only protected from the elements by Shadecloth and a large umbrella. Aside from some wooden benches along the fences, seating consists of cushioned plastic beer kegs. Without a sign to guide the way it took a little while to figure it out that the toilet was located behind the stage (accessed via a door to the right of the stage). It was only one cubical, but considering the small size of the venue, it wouldn’t really result in excessive queuing.
A small bar is set up just inside the door which is staffed by some colourful rock’n’roll types. They serve tap and bottled beers, various spirits, wines, milkshakes as well as tea and coffee. Peckish types can order Toasties and Pizzas to satisfy their hunger.
The stage is a little on the snug side for a full band but it is perfect for comedy. The permanent PA is set up for rock so everything is loud and clear; a significant difference to other room that must adjust their sound set up to cater for live music.
The night consists of two brackets with two acts in each. They are each given 15-20 minutes in which to entertain the punters. Not all of the performers on the bill were musical acts but it was good to see some of these straight stand ups taking the initiative to embrace the theme of the room. For example Karl Chandler presented his regular material with a musical backing provided by Doody; this gave it a wonderfully surreal context and some interesting pacing compared to the usual delivery.
Pure Pop HaHa is a brilliant room that caters perfectly to a specific comedy niche. It’s great that Melbourne has this music based comedy night to showcase the wonderful acts that the genre has to offer.
The next edition of Pure Pop HaHa happens this Sunday (5th of December). The MC Lawrence Mooney will be joined by The Bedroom Philosopher, Josh Earl, Fiona Scott-Norman, Anyone for Tennis?, Ryan Coffey and Jonathan Schuster. The show kicks off at 6pm and entry is $10 ($8 earlybird tickets can be booked through the Pure Pop website.