Comedy

As regular readers will know - we love a bit of comedy at the Rhine Magazine HQ. Unfortunately all this darned football has meant all comedy nights in both Bonn and Cologne have been cancelled over June and July. Thank heavens Steve Dix has come to the rescue. Staffordshire's cross between Stan Laurel and John Lennon is starting up a new comedy show this Friday. The Standup Workout Show will be an open mike stand-up show and will give comics the chance to flex their comedy muscles, and try some new gags on a semi-friendly audience.

It's comedy time again - this week at Fiddlers Irish Pub in Bonn. Hosted by the inimitable Andy Valvur, the line-up is looking good - and not just because Christiane's on the bill. Not only will Andy be hosting, he'll also be wowing the crowds with his own routine - and also fishing for tips on how to get a job at Deutsche Post... James Giscombe will tell you just how tough it is being an auslander entrepreneur in Germany and might show you why he's often mistaken for a Spartan.

Remember the days of Glasnost, the Iron Curtain, Gorbachev and Reagan and the constant threat of nuclear war?  Possibly not - but one of the stars of Wednesday's Hollywood's Comedy Nights might.  Olga Putin is a Russian who has "come in Germany" as she so elequently explains. After taking a bus from Moscow to Cologne she's now on the look out for a rich man with a German passport and access to state secrets.

Here at Rhine Online - we like comedy.  We embraced the world of English speaking stand-up comedy back in 2003 when Johnny Hollywood started his shows in Cologne.  One of the highlights of those early days was a Kiwi improv comedian called John Hudson who used to do his show alone, or with his glamorous and hilarious side-kick (and real life girlfriend and now wife) Sonja Kling.  Not only was John a master improviser, able to come up with hilarious spontaneous jokes and inspired heckler retorts, he also had a brilliant on (and off) stage chemistry with Sonja that made their s

There is an old Yiddish proverb that says "What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul" so if you're in need of a good clean out - come down to the Drei fcik in Bonn tomorrow night.  The line-up  is not yet confirmed but our very own Johnny Hollywood will be doing a turn on the Fiddlers stage, along with Staffordshire's finest Steve Dix and the evenings' host, hash man Mr Steve Calcott.  This is the third show at Fiddlers and so far each one has been a standing room only affair.  The secret to the shows success has been a great line-up, great organisation

The lucky people of Cologne have been blessed with an English stand up comedy show since 2003 - thanks to Hollywood's Comedy Nights.

Ever heard of Knacki Deuser?  You should have, he's only one of the biggest names in German comedy!  He's a Rheinlander who found the inspiration for a show that would later become the legendary "Nightwash", in New York City. "I noticed the difference in the way people experienced comedy there. We would go to shows and everyone was so loose and casual about it. It was all so uncomplicated, not stiff and planned like in Germany. People would go out after work and want to do something, so they would go to a comedy club.

This year's Cologne Comedy Festival is nearly over - but there's still one hot ticket available that you really shouldn't miss.  Johnny Hollywood (host with the most at Hollywood's Comedy Nights) has invited the Comedy Cafe Amsterdam to take over Flanagans this Wednesday 28th October.  These guys are GOOD!  Bob Maclaren comes all the way from New Zealand via Amsterdam and promises to deliver mildly unhinged mayhem on the stage (watch out front row-ers).

It's here again - the Cologne Comedy Festival.  There are of course a whole host of fantastic comics performing at this year's festival - mostly in German, and although many of us have the ability to understand the highly complex naratives that make up the "German sense of humour", there's nothing quite like a back to basics, stand up show, in English.  And this year Johnny Hollywood is putting on two shows that are guaranteed to have you laughing until you leave a little puddle under your chair.  On the 21st October you can see Sanjay Shihora - the guru of comedy a