“There must be some kind of way out of here,” said the joker to the thief… If there’s too much confusion, you need relief, and what better than a really good laugh? Even better still if it’s comedy at the Polish Club.
Before we start, here’s the musical pairing for today’s post. Brought to you by our good friends at Mixtape Champs.
The Polish Club is one of those places that started out with great intentions, but over the years lost its way in the boiling pot of Hobart. It’s a club. And while you think, those days are gone, some clever person decided to give it a revamp, and voila! Wednesday nights suddenly came alive.
Jokers’ Comedy Night was born, and is slowly growing to the point where you need to book ahead. Because you just may be turned away at the door. Every Wednesday night, you can sit in a wonderfully small and intimate venue, and watch the latest acts give you their best shot.
Jokers but serious
Sometimes there’s big names, sometimes not, but whoever is performing for you on the night, you can be absolutely assured of some laughs, a pleasant evening, and reasonably cheap alcohol at club prices.
The night we went recently, Ivan Aristeguieta was the headline act, and funny? He was hilarious, doing riffs on mangoes, marriage and everything in between. There’s an MC, who’s a comedian in his own right (our night was Ben Payne and he was funny too), and two other young and upcoming stand ups who entertained. James Warren was funny. Young, but a big career ahead is what I’m tipping.
I always feel for female comedians. It’s a really hard gig – people are prepared to laugh at crudity and boorishness from men, but from a woman? A different story.
Annie Harvey was sharp, funny, hit the nail on the head about modern relationships, and deserved a bigger round of applause than she got. But then, it’s still early days yet, I guess, when male comedians outnumber their opposites by about 10 to 1.
Polish Club bar
Anyway, if you haven’t been yet, Jokers is a great night, and so very cheap I don’t know how they do it! At $22 online or $25 at the door, with cheap drinks, and good food, it’s a damn good night. The food? They’ve given up keeping on a chef, so now he drives his truck complete with wood fired oven onto the sidewalk and serves up Flammekuchen to order.
These ‘flamecakes’ look like pizzas, but are different. The base is sourdough, thin and crisp, and topped with crème fraiche before the toppings you fancy are added. They’re quite delicious, and my favourites are the Chevre, or Tasmanian goats’ cheese, tomatoes, garlic and onions; and the Farmer’s Favourite with Sauerkraut, Boks bacon, Gruyere cheese, garlic and onions.
Flame cooked
They predate pizzas, and apparently were made in the Alsace and Bavarian regions to use the high temperature of the oven before it cooled enough to back the day’s bread. Clever.
The Jokers’ night is just one of many venues that fly a little below the radar in Hobart, so make sure you get there before they have to put the prices up. It’s a good night, and mostly, the laughs are plentiful.
Have you tried Jokers’ Comedy Night yet? If not, why not? I don’t know how they do it for the price, so skedaddle on down while it’s still a damn good cheap night out.
Chrissie
