A guest blog by Simon Taylor
Simon Taylor is a Melbourne and Los Angeles–based stand-up comedian. He has written for Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
I’m the type of guy that has a countdown app for the new Star Wars movie. I like comic books, RPG games and reading fan theories about Pokemon. As a comedian though, I usually have to hang out in pubs and bars to find an audience. It’s just the way it is… or so I thought.
On my first ever visit to Los Angeles, the home of showbiz and rich nerds, I was booked to perform at a comedy room. When I arrived at the address I was confused. This wasn’t a comedy venue, it was a comic book store. I was lead around the back and shown into the glorious makeshift theatre where a packed room awaited. I remember thinking “What? I don’t have to do comedy to drunk alpha males all the time?” I was so excited my heart nearly burst out of my Batman t-shirt. I felt so at home in that room and immediately longed for a place like it in Melbourne. I patiently waited three years but no such equivalent popped up in my home town.
I got impatient. A few months ago I was walking past Gatekeeper Games in Fitzroy North. The first section of the shop holds all the glorious board games they sell. The second section has a free play area. And to my surprise, the third has a makeshift theatre! When I got home I immediately emailed the owners and pleaded with them to let me run a comedy night there. The planets were aligned because that was exactly what they were looking for. Scrolling through my phone I contacted the best comics I know and booked them each Wednesday for a month. I had my friend Mike Adey whip up a cheeky poster. I plastered the details all over the internet and my geek room was born: Critters Comedy.
So if you’re reading this, I hope you’re like me. I hope you’re into fantasy novels or comic books or cosplay just that little bit more than pubs or clubs or bars. I hope you’d like to hang out at a board game store and listen to the funniest local comedians around. Because I created this space for people like us; a comedy room of our own.
Critters Comedy
Gatekeeper Games
323-327 St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North
Every Wednesday night
Doors open 7:30pm
Price: $5 or free if you buy a game
