Laughs and laneways: what we thought of the inaugural Sydney Comedy Festival Comedy Crawl

New for this year, the Sydney Comedy Festival Comedy Crawls have already sold out, signalling huge appetite for the concept. We went along to the first one to find out what it’s all about.

On Tuesday night, we went to Sydney Comedy Festival’s (SCF) inaugural Comedy Crawl, part of the festival’s 20th anniversary. The premise is simple: four groups wind their way around four venues, spread across YCK Laneways, where a comedian awaits to entertain for a short slot. Combining a bar crawl with comedy sounds like a pretty faultless idea. Right…?

Our crawl was due to start at 6:05pm, sandwiched between two groups who set off at 5:25pm and 5:30pm, and proceeding another leaving at 6:10pm. The meeting point was revealed 24 hours before the crawl started, and we all promptly assembled outside Little National Hotel in Sydney CBD. We didn’t set off until around 6:15pm though (which set the tone for the night)

Guiding us around the laneways for the evening was Frankie Rowsthorn, daughter of Kath & Kim‘s Pete Rowsthorn. The other three Comedy Crawls were led by comedians Jess Fuchs, Sam Bowden and Harry Jun, who we crossed paths with a few times.

Holding a flag above their head so you can follow closely behind, it felt a little like a Contiki or school trip. But it’s a tried and tested method that just works. Once seated at the venues, Frankie took to the stage for a few minutes before each performing comedian arrived, drawing our attention to the stage.

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Exploring YCK Laneways

York, Clarence and Kent Street, tucked between Town Hall and Wynyard, are filled with unique bars and trendy eateries. YCK Laneways is a buzzing precinct that comes alive at night. Small, hidden bars, some of the city’s best barbers and places to enjoy a long lunch mid-shopping spree: the laneways and old storehouses have it all.

Our first venue for the night is Stitch Bar. As we walked in, there was a chorus of “wow, I’ve not been here for years” or “it’s been ages!”. The New York-style drinking den takes you downstairs, beneath York Street. Passing the wall of retro sewing machines as you enter, it’s a great little venue to get started.

Laura Coleman kicked things off, riffing off the woes of being a single, straight woman in the dating world. The laughs definitely came from the women in the crowd. To get the men involved, Laura did some crowd work. Luckily, a trio of witty and sarcastic friends were sat right by the stage, providing enough interaction for her to work with. The first one is always going to be a little tricky while we, the audience, settle in. After 10 minutes, we were given another five to finish our drinks before moving on.

After a short five-minute walk, we arrived at an American BBQ restaurant. Perhaps not somewhere you’d expect to stop for a comedy show. The room was smoky and the lights were almost blindingly bright—necessary for the chefs in the open kitchen. There was a technical hitch with the mic which caused a bit of a delay, but soon enough Daniel Muggleton came marching down the restaurant towards the stage, dressed in his signature red adidas tracksuit. Kind of like Despicable Me‘s Vector but with a mo’.

Daniel was the strongest comedian of the night. Playing on the Aussie/American/Brit divide earned him a constant flow of laughs, and even a clap or two. Self-deprecation, even of the entirety of Australia, always goes down well.

On to bar three. Kasippu on Kent Street is a Sri Lankan restaurant, first and foremost. You enter a fairly small room with an open kitchen at one end and a large wooden table with benches dominating the centre. Diners looked up, startled by the big group had just entered while they’re mid-dahl. Thankfully we weren’t all cramming into the curry house (who knows, we’d just come from an American BBQ restaurant). Instead, you’re led through a doorway into Kasippu Bar. It’s at least three times bigger than the restaurant with tables, banquette seating and a large bar along one wall.

It’s also the only venue that had an actual stage. Performing here was Imaan Hadchiti. The Australian comedian of Lebanese descent is small (3’6″ tall) but punchy. He’s one of only two known cases of Rima Syndrome, a genetic condition causing small but proportional stature. He uses this to great effect in his act, stepping off the stage and running around amongst the crowd whenever he wanted to inject more energy into our reactions. Imaan goes for the shock effect, that’s for sure. Consider this a sensitivity warning for anyone particularly effected by the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, Palestine in particular.

The fourth and final stop of the night took us down a laneway on Clarence Street. Tucked in the corner is a cosy little pub, The Duke of Clarence. You may have stopped here for a Sunday roast before. Down the far end, beneath the bookshelves and watchful eye of who we can only assume is The Duke hanging on the wall, Ray Badran appeared for his last show of the night. The Aussie comedian has recently moved back from London and jokes about his experiences with housemates. Once the 10 minutes are up, Frankie thanks us and sends us off into the night, whether that’s across to The Baxters Inn or back home to bed (it was a Tuesday, after all!).

Our verdict

The premise is great fun and there is so much potential, but it needs ironing out.

There was quite a lot of waiting around. Waiting to set off at the start, waiting for people to order their drinks, waiting for the mic to be fixed, waiting for another group to leave the venue we were going to next. It probably wouldn’t have been so noticeable had it been a Thursday, Friday or weekend, but we finished up a full hour later than we expected.

Knowing the venues around the area, sitting in Roast Republic felt like a strange choice. The Comedy Crawl page says you’ll be taken to ‘four trendy bars’ and, well, it’s not a bar. We did all walk away with a $50 Roast Republic voucher which was a nice touch, but I’m not sure this was the right event to showcase the venue. It could have been a brilliant opportunity for Bar Conte or the even newer Herbs Taverne—two negroni bars that have just opened on Clarence St—to welcome groups in for a first try, for example.

READ MORE: Another new negroni bar is opening in Sydney – are the days of spicy margs over?

For the first ever Sydney Comedy Festival Comedy Crawl, however, it was a fun night out with enough laughs for us to feel sufficiently entertained by the end of the night.

It’s also fantastic value for money (tickets cost $50 per person). Sure, it would have been nice to have at least one free drink or some food included, but you can hardly sniff at the opportunity to watch four comedy shows and potentially discover your new favourite bar or comedian. The Sydney Comedy Festival is an autumnal highlight and the Comedy Crawl is the perfect way to get involved if you can’t choose from the seemingly endless program.

It truly has all the makings of a highlight event of the festival, and we’re so pleased with the addition to this year’s 20th anniversary program.

There is one more run of crawls on Saturday. Tickets have already sold out but you can join the waitlist, in case any become available in the next few days. We’ve been told the venues will be different on Saturday, as will a couple of the comedians. Ray Badran and Imaan Hadchiti will be joined by two different comedians, with their names and the venues under wraps until the day.

Sydney Comedy Festival Comedy Crawl

When: Saturday, May 10 at 1:25pm, 1:30pm, 2:05pm and 2:10pm.
Where: YCK Laneways, between Town Hall and Wynyard. The meeting point will be emailed to ticket holders 24 hours prior, while the venues will remain a secret until the night.
Price: $50 per person.

Tickets have sold out but you can join the waitlist at sydneycomedyfest.com.au