You wait ages for a new comedy night and then three come along at once.
Well it's all going on over here. Baby Blue have upped their Comedy Central night to four times a week (Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday), Neil Fitzmaurice is about to relaunch the Slaughterhouse comedy night (more soon), and now we know the Grafton is about to reopen as a "comedy lounge".
Not sure if this spells the end of its use as a venue for Britain's Hardest Doorman-type cage fights, but hopefully it will be attracting an altogether more peaceful crowd.
The club's owners, father and son Panos and Chris Zorba, say they plan to turn the Olympia complex (on West Derby Road) into one of the city's leading nightspots for comedy and entertainment.
Chris Zorba said: "The Grafton has been a great servant to the people of Liverpool. Whilst it has often been parodied [like in the title of this blog], it has remained popular since it began trading in 1924. However, with the death of the disco industry, we have decided to diversify the role of the Olympia Complex and turn the venue into a club for comedy acts of the highest calibre."
Keith Carter headlines the opening weekend on Halloween and November 1, along with city regulars Silky, Steve Royal, and compere Chris Cairns.
John Bishop follows on November 7 and 8, with John Warburton, Stephen Porter and host Jason Cook, and the following week, Three Non-Blondes star Ninia Benjamin leads the comedy charge.
For more info see www.olympialaughterlounge.com.
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Silky wrote...
..and it was absolutely lovely! The Grafton is dead, long live the Grafton, er, Olympia Laughter Lounge. An excellent room for comedy, and the audience were both well up-for-it and comedy-savvy.
Well done to Paula, the Zorbas, and all concerned. Look forward to playing it again in the New Year.
Silky
Posted by: Silky | November 3, 2008 12:12 PM