Theatre, dance and comedy in Singapore
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e-mail this to a friend1 Nite Stand Comedy at Howl at the Moon
Somehow the words ‘comedy’ and ‘Singapore’ have never been happy bedfellows. It’s not that Singaporeans lack humour – it’s more that the dimly lit rooms necessary for comedy have largely been used to satisfy other leisure pursuits: drinking, karaoke and, ahem, ‘massage’ (or so I’ve been told).
Thankfully, Howl at the Moon aims to bring more laughter to our gag deprived city. The American franchise has set up home at Peranakan Place taking over the former Rouge, and for those who remember, Papa Joe's. The interior has real atmosphere – all subdued lighting and deep-red decor – with scattered chairs and a neglected pool table lending the club an endearingly unpolished air. This feels like a real comedy club.
Smokers puff away in a mini-greenhouse with an excellent side-view of the acts. The drinks list requires an urgent rethink, though: a 330ml bottle of Stella Artois sets you back $12, and there are only two house wines. Sandwiches and wraps are served during the interval at no extra cost, but with tickets at $50, so they should be.
Comedy is staged on the final weekend of each month, but the club also houses a revue-style musical night, ‘Duelling Pianos’, from Tuesdays to Saturdays. Now that it has found its niche, HATM needs to bring in top acts and a more ambitious drinks list to ensure comedy-lovers will be here for more than just a one-night stand.
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- Ming Poon: The Substation Performer-in-Residence
- Acrobatic Drama 'Journey to the West'
- OCBC Singapore Theatre Festival 2009: Own Time Own Target
- Imelda's Boys
- Timeline Revisited
- Bersama Hijau
- The Loop of Fortune by Pan. Optikum
- $ing Dollar! The Musical Comedy About Money
- Salsa Dancing in Singapore
- Amateur dramatics at the Stage Club
- Interview with the actors from Much Ado About Nothing
- Q&A with Delia Hannah: Grizabella the Glamour Cat in Cats
- The Importance of Being Earnest by W!ld Rice
- Hall of fame: An Interview with Rebecca Hall
- Q&A with Loretta Chen: director of What the Butler Saw
- Exit the dragon
- Trimming the Fringe
What a shame we won't be seeing you again at the club. Alas be rest assured that even a negative we turn into a positive so thanks for the input and as always ..Good Luck.
Waste of time this club actually. To expensive and a not very nice place for comedy show... It is ok maybe for drunk businessman.
looks like no-one's got much good 2 say about this joint, i wasa a reguklar until i went there earlier 2nite & they now got a damn $20 cover charge (wow a free drink included, no thank you). Thyey shoulda refunded evryone at the last comedy show, they advertised 3 comediens for $50 and they deliver 2. Maybe next year they should get rid of the comediens completely and get up on stage themselves, theyre already the biggest joke of 2008. Give it the big miss on your things to do list, free entry replaced by $20 entry and free drink = a $20 drink in any language, can these guys get any worse? or will they just get greedier? I wont b there to find out, neither should you.
We always welcome feedback positive or otherwise, so thanks. Sorry our latest offering did not light your fire, although we have had in the main fantastic feedback. "You can't please all of the people, all of the time" Please come down and see us and make yourselve known and we will give you some tickets to the Jan Show which I can assure you is a belter. Happy Christmas JA
I went with my friends to see the comedy show last Thursday.. It was a very big disappointment. There were only two 'comedians', one of whom riled the crowd with poor taste Jewish jokes. The other might be funny in a pub back room in Slough. Definitely not the calibre of comedy that used to feature at the Clarke Quay club. After the comedy the 'band' came on to play the same naff sing-a-long songs they played when I was at the opening. With a glass of very average red costing about $17 and the atmosphere of a drunken farmyard this is one venue to be missed.
This review is old and I would suggest that people come down now the venue is complete. There is a new drinks and food menu and the duelling pianios is now in full swing. any feedback positive or negative is always welcome and we will do everything in our power to make sure you get the very best we can possibly offer. Cheers
The venue looks like it has great potential as a bar, but as a 'real comedy venue'? The room is dominated by a huge central bar and if you don’t want to stand up at the stand up, you’d better get there early as those chairs that are ‘scattered’ about are few and far between. Yep, you still pay the same $50 to stand as you do to sit. Now I’ve been to a lot of comedy venues and all of them have seating for all punters. If you want to stand at the back, you pay less. There were some unused banquettes at the back of the room, but the reason they were unused was because you couldn’t see the stage. But don’t worry, they’ll have some large TVs soon to take care of that, a bit like going to a stadium gig where the band is tiny. Except you’re in a different stadium? Live comedy, beamed to your seat. What next, private rooms where the comedian is piped in? Hmmm. No sniff of those sandwiches or wraps either.