Hollywood's Comedy Nights

Last updated

Hollywood's Comedy Nights is an English-language stand-up comedy show in Cologne, Germany. [1] [2] The show was started by stand-up comedian, actor and MC Johnny "Hollywood" Rotnem, [3] and has played in numerous venues since 2000. It has also been a part of the Cologne Comedy Festival since 2003, [4] [5] and claims to have been the first English-language stand-up comedy show in Germany.

Stand-up comedy comedy style where the performer addresses the audience directly

Stand-up comedy is a comic style in which a comedian performs in front of a live audience, usually speaking directly to them. The performer is commonly known as a comic, stand-up comic, comedian, comedienne, stand-up comedian, or simply a stand-up. In stand-up comedy, the comedian gives the illusion that they are dialoguing, but in actuality, they are monologuing a grouping of humorous stories, jokes and one-liners, typically called a shtick, routine, or set. Some stand-up comedians use props, music or magic tricks to enhance their acts. Stand-up comedy is stated to be the "freest form of comedy writing" that is normally regarded as an "extension of" the person performing. The improvisation of stand-up is often compared to jazz music. A comedian's process of writing is likened to the process of song writing. A comedian's ability to tighten their material has been likened to crafting a samurai sword.

Cologne city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Cologne is the largest city of Germany's most populous federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth most populous city in Germany after Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich. With slightly over a million inhabitants within its urban area, Cologne is the largest city on the Rhine and also the most populous city both of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, which is Germany's largest and one of Europe's major metropolitan areas, and of the Rhineland. Centred on the left bank of the Rhine, Cologne is about 45 kilometres (28 mi) southeast of North Rhine-Westphalia's capital of Düsseldorf and 25 kilometres (16 mi) northwest of Bonn. It is the largest city in the Central Franconian and Ripuarian dialect areas.

The Cologne Comedy Festival is an international comedy festival held in Cologne, Germany every year since 1991. It was founded by Achim Rohde in 1990 in Kleve, Germany. The festival initially started by importing comedians from around the world. During the 1990s, stand-up comedy became popular with young German audiences, who had experienced humor whilst living outside Germany. This led to home-grown comedy acts, which in turn led to the growth of the festival, to its present point, where many of the brightest stars of German and international comedy perform to sold-out houses in over 20 venues, ranging from small clubs to large theatres. Many German comedy acts have been discovered via the festival.

Contents

History

Hollywoods Comedy Nights was founded by John "Hollywood" Rotnem to give himself and other comedians regular stage-time in which to practice and improve their act. Initially, just one German-language show was performed, monthly, at the Melody Club. On moving to Flanagan's in the Altstadt in 2004, the show became two separate monthly shows, one featuring German-language performers, the other featuring comedy in English, due to demand from the large British/American Forces and English-speaking expatriate community in the North Rhine Westphalen area. The show began featuring both local native-English-speaking comedians, German who wished to try their hand at English language comedy, and imported native-English comedians from the UK, US and Canada.

With the move to the Cologne Hard Rock Cafe, the show concentrated solely on English-language stand-up comedy, as the audience for the German-language show had dropped off, and because many people confused the English and German shows. A sister show, at Fiddlers Pub in Bonn-Endenich, started in March 2007. [6] [7] By mid-2007, a change of ownership and new limitations on live shows at the Hard Rock Cafe forced a change of venue, to the Alter Wartesaal at Cologne Hauptbahnhof. The large size of the Alter Wartesaal and the positioning of the show in the week (Mondays) made it extremely difficult to fill, and so only three shows took place there. The show then moved back to Flanagan's Irish Pub in the Altermarkt, not far from the Alter Wartesaal.

Many comedians have performed in the shows, such as Heinz Gröning(better known to German audiences as der Unglaubliche Heinz, moderator of "Um Antwort wird Gebieten"(Comedy Central) and "FunkHaus" (WDR)), [8] Chris McCausland, [9] Steve Day and Pommy Johnson. The show features established English-speaking comedians, as well as giving German performers the chance to try their hand at performing in English.

Chris McCausland is a British stand-up comedian and actor, known to TV audiences for his role as Rudi in the Cbeebies show Me Too! He regularly appears at comedy venues around the UK, including The Comedy Store.

Steve Day British comedian

Steve Day is Britain's best known deaf stand-up comedian.

'Pommy' Johnson is a comedian from Australia who is best known for performing his parody song "Psycho Chicken" while wearing a rubber glove on his head on the Australian television program Hey Hey It's Saturday. He won as the Maurie Awards Australian comedian of the Year 2002, held at the Comic Lounge. He appeared on the RMITV show Under Melbourne Tonight on 10 April 1996.

Importance

The show is one of a growing number of venues in Germany that feature English-language performers, other notable venues being The English Comedy Club in Munich and The Kookaburra Comedy Club in Berlin. As well as featuring native-speaking English comedians, the show gives German comedians the chance to try their hand at comedy in the English language.

Offshoots

In an attempt to produce more local English-language comedians, Johnny Hollywood founded Comedians Anonymous, a comedy collective which aims to help fledgling comedians take their first steps as performers. Some members of the collective are occasionally featured in the Comedy Nights show. The most frequently-performing members of the collective (so far) are James Allan(UK), [10] [11] Casey James(USA), [10] [11] Cat LaRouge(Norway) [11] and Steve Dix(UK). [10] [11]

An Open Mike Night is occasionally staged, as another way of finding new talent.

Venues

FromToLocation
20032003Melody Jazz Club. [12]
20042005Flanagan's Irish Pub, Altermarkt, Cologne. [1]
20052007Hard Rock Café, Gurzenicherstr, Cologne. [13]
20072007Alter Wartesaal, Hauptbahnhof, Cologne. [10]
20072008Fiddler's Irish Pub, Frongasse 9,Bonn-Endenich.
2008??Flanagan's Irish Pub, Altermarkt 36, Cologne. [2] [11]

Performers

The following is a list of some of the comedians who have performed at the show, and the dates they performed. Dates before 2007 are difficult to ascertain due to lack of 3rd party details. To add to the confusion, some performers have only performed in the German shows, some in both, and some in the English shows. the list is by no means exhaustive, and only includes notable comedians and doesn't include show presenters.

Key : C - Cologne, B - Bonn, F - Cologne Comedy Fest

PerformerNationalityLocationDate(s)
Hils Barker UKCBF2003(?) Oct 2007
Tamika Campbell USACFSept 2008, March 2009, Oct 2009
Steve Day UKCBMay 2007
Dave Deeble USCNov 2008, May 2009
Henrik Elmer SwCBFOct 2007
Gernot Frischling DEC2003(?) June 2008
Heinz Gröning DeCB2005, March 2007
Pommy Johnson AUSCF2004(?)
Paul Kerensa UKC?
Chris McCausland UKCBMarch 2007
Ciaran McMahon ÉireCBNov 2007, Mar 2008
Earl Okin UKCBFOct 2007
Olga Putin DeCB2005, March 2007, Nov 2007, Sept 2008
Gaby O'Reilly DE/ÉireCBNov 2007
Lianne Ross UKCFOct 2008
Christian Schiffer DECFSept 2008, Oct 2008, Nov 2008
Ramona Schukraft DeC2004,2005,2006
Sanjay Shihora DEC2006 (2008 performance cancelled due to injury)

Comedian Manuel Wolff performing at Flanagan's

Related Research Articles

Edinburgh Festival Fringe Arts festival

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world's largest arts festival, which in 2018 spanned 25 days and featured more than 55,000 performances of 3,548 different shows in 317 venues. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place annually in Edinburgh, Scotland, in the month of August. It has been called the "most famous celebration of the arts and entertainment in the world" and an event that "has done more to place Edinburgh in the forefront of world cities than anything else.

Just for Laughs annual comedy festival held in Montreal, Quebec Province, Canada

Just for Laughs is a comedy festival held each July in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1983, it is the largest international comedy festival in the world.

The Glee Club small chain of independent live stand-up comedy and live music venues

The Glee Club is a chain of independent live stand-up comedy and live music venues in the UK. The first Glee Club was opened by Mark Tughan in Birmingham's Chinese Quarter in 1994, the first dedicated comedy club to open in the United Kingdom outside London.

Open mic Live show at a variety of different clubs

An open mic or open mike is a live show at a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, institution or pub at which audience members who are amateur performers or professionals who want to try out new material or plug an upcoming show are given the opportunity to perform onstage. Typically, as the name suggests, the performer is provided with a microphone which is plugged into a PA system, to make the individual's performance loud enough for the audience to hear. Often the performers sign up in advance for a time slot with the host or master of ceremonies, typically an experienced performer or the venue manager or owner. The master of ceremonies may screen potential candidates for suitability for the venue and give individuals a time to perform in the show. These events are focused on performance arts like poetry and spoken word, music, and comedy. Less commonly, small groups, such as a small rock band duo/trio or a comedy duo may appear. Group performances are uncommon, because of the space and the logistics of loading in and soundchecking such a group. In strip club terms, amateur night is a contest for everyday women and men who compete for a cash prize by taking their clothes off just like everyday strippers.

Kitty Flanagan is an Australian comedian, writer and actor who works in Australia and the United Kingdom. She has also performed in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Japan and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Montreal Just For Laughs festival.

Nick Swardson American comedian

Nicholas Roger Swardson is an American actor, stand-up comedian, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his recurring role as Terry Bernadino in the comedy series Reno 911!, for his work with Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions, and for his own personal sketch comedy series Nick Swardson's Pretend Time.

John Moloney is an English stand-up comedian of Irish descent.

Matt Elliott is a non-fiction writer, biographer and former New Zealand stand-up comedian.

James Mullinger British comedian

James Mullinger is an English alternative comedian and finalist in the comedy competition "Jimmy Carr's Comedy Idol". He now lives in Atlantic Canada and has been nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award for Best Live Solo Show and a Just For Laughs Best Comedy Show Award. He is the star of Bell Aliant's Blimey! An Englishman in Atlantic Canada which has been nominated for and won numerous awards. Mullinger is also the co-writer and co-producer of the movie The Comedian's Guide to Survival, a British and Canadian co-production about Mullinger's early struggles as a comedian. Mullinger is played in the film by James Buckley and it also stars Jimmy Carr, Omid Djalili, Paul Kaye, Gilbert Gottfried, MyAnna Buring, Kevin Eldon and many more comedians. In 2015, Mullinger began co-hosting the genre and cult film podcast Field & Mullinger's Underground Nights, where he has interviewed filmmakers such as Troma Entertainment's Lloyd Kaufman, Dylan Greenberg Lowell Dean and Joshua Ligairi. In 2016 he sold out New Brunswick's biggest indoor venue Harbour Station Arena, a process that was documented for a CBC film which aired in September 2016. The stand up special of the record breaking show was released internationally by Hulu and Amazon Prime, the first stand up special in history to be filmed in Atlantic Canada and released in the United States, England, Germany and Japan. In April 2018, Mullinger sold out the venue once again along with hundreds of other venues across Canada cementing his position as one of Canada's top comics.

The Unbroadcastable Radio Show was a monthly live comedy show performed at the Comedy Store, Manchester. The show took the format of the recording of a radio show, featuring topical comedy written up to the day of performance.

NightWash is a German stand-up comedy "Mix" show, in which stand-up comedians are typically given 7-10 minute spots. The show was originally staged in a coin-operated Laundromat in the Belgian Quarter of Cologne. The show has gone on to be televised, first by local broadcasters WDR Fernsehen, by the German branch of Comedy Central and currently by German public broadcaster Einsfestival. The show is presented by its creator, Klaus-Jürgen "Knacki" Deuser, along with house band Alex Flucht on guitar. The show is well-known due to a number of famous German stand-up comedians making their first appearances there, and it is generally considered an important step in the career of a comedian to perform at Nightwash.

The Stand Comedy Club stand-up comedy venues

The Stand Comedy Club are three stand-up comedy venues in the cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Newcastle upon Tyne.

Fahad Albutairi stand-up comedian

Fahad Albutairi is a Saudi stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter and political prisoner. Albutairi became the first comedian to perform on stage professionally in Saudi Arabia and in the GCC, following the relaxation of stringent laws against criticism of certain aspects of Saudi society. He is also one of the most notable YouTube personalities from the country.

Micky Flanagan English comedian, television personality

Michael John Flanagan is an English comedian. Flanagan has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe and toured Britain with stand-up shows. He presented Micky Flanagan: What Chance Change? for Radio 4 and has appeared on various TV shows including Mock the Week, A League of Their Own, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Was It Something I Said? and Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow.

Mohammed Amer American comedian

Mohammed "Mo" Amer is an American stand-up comedian and writer of Palestinian descent. He is best known for his Netflix comedy special and his role as one third of the comedy trio of Allah Made Me Funny.

<i>NightWash</i> television series

NightWash is a German television comedy show in which young artists and new stand-up comedy talents have the opportunity to perform in front of an audience with their program, typically lasting for 7–10 minutes. The series was created by, and is produced and presented by Klaus-Jürgen Deuser. The series made its TV debut on 14 October 2001 on WDR TV; it had existed as a live show since 2000. From 2007 until October 2009, it was broadcast on Comedy Central, and since November 2009 it has been aired on digital channel Einsfestival. The original series was set in a coin-operated laundrette in the Belgian quarter of Cologne.

Just the Tonic is a comedy club with branches in Nottingham and Leicester, which also takes acts to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The club opened in Nottingham in 1994, followed by a Leicester branch in 2012.

Ismo Leikola Finnish comedian

Ismo Leikola is a Finnish stand-up comedian.

References

  1. 1 2 Lifestyle Magazine, Sixth Sense British Forces Newspaper, April 2004, P. 5-9
  2. 1 2 Hollywoods Comedy Nights Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Neue Seite 1 Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Cologne Comedy Festival Programme, 2003: P.38, 2004: P.43, 2005: P.48, 2006: P.52, 2007: p.63
  5. ↑ Express, 28 September 2004, P.23 "Hier lachen Sie richtig" para.4 "Internationale Gäste". Pub: Kölnischen Zeitung GmbH,
  6. ↑ "Have you heard the one about....?" Rhine Magazine, March/April 2007,P.30
  7. ↑ English-Network - Comedy Nights
  8. ↑ Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, No.236 Sat/Sun 11/12 Oct 2003 P.33 "Hollywoods komische Nacht"
  9. ↑ Rhine Magazine, issue 5, Sept/Oct 2004,P.65
  10. 1 2 3 4 2007 Cologne Comedy Festival Programme, p.63
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 2008 Cologne Comedy Festival Programme, p.39
  12. ↑ Rhine Magazine, No.17, sept/oct 2006, p.56, "Not Just Clowning Around!" Friedman, D
  13. ↑ The Bulletin ARRC British Forces Bulletin, April 2006, P. 15
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.