Hidden behind two bus stops on Sir Thomas Street, you could be forgiven for not spotting the new restaurant venue Lenny’s Bar and Grill, with basement club 'Comedy Hell' which opened its doors to the public just a fortnight ago. Don't let the queues of people put you off going inside – they are just waiting for the bus!
It is an interesting new venture mixing 1920s American prohibition era dining upstairs and a comedy club 'Comedy Hell' downstairs on Friday and Saturday nights. Having visited this building in its two previous incarnations, it was a pleasant surprise to enter a plushly decorated interior full of 1920s pictures and ornamentation.
Before dining, we took a drink at the ground floor bar, soaking in the snazzy surroundings, including some rather risqué pictures staring back at us from the dark walls as we sipped our reasonably priced booze.
Time to eat! Were we to face culinary heaven or hell? Seated by windows overlooking the gorgeous architecture of the Met Quarter, we perused the menu for our all inclusive comedy and meal deal (great value at £15.95 for two courses)
Just two weeks in, teething troubles were forgivable as the requested glass of red wine was mistakenly delivered a Rosé. After that, it was all plain sailing. Our starters were tasty, although the decision to add anchovies to the Chicken Caesar salad left an unusual taste on the palate. The Bacon and Potato Chowder however was without fault, although, in my opinion, bread should always be supplied along with some butter.
For mains we opted for meat, meat and more meat! The sirloin steak and the burger and fries, which was made a little more interesting with the addition of an apple coleslaw – I heartily recommend you give it a go!
No time for pudding, and no need as we were stuffed, we rushed downstairs to have our hands stamped and we were seated in the front row! Comedy Hell awaited in the rather sizable basement. Sparsely decorated, with comics of years gone by adorning the walls in silver frames a nice touch, rows of comfy leather cinema style seats face a simple but effective stage at the end of the long thin room.
Unfortunately, we wondered whether Comedy Hell had frozen over as the temperature seemed to plummet.
The audience’s icy mindset may go some way to explaining why the evening got off to a bit of a slow start, it was no fault of our MC for the evening. The slightly odd, Scottish Janey Godley who repeatedly berated one member of the audience for a frankly worrying fascination with Ian Brady. Janey’s chirpy Glaswegian nature (with the look of a frazzled cleaning lady) would have won us over had we been a slightly more receptive crowd, but, stoney faced, we challenged Janey to ‘make us laugh’. This point was addressed by the very excitable and energetic first act Brendan Reilly as he shook the crowd into life, comparing the UK and American comedy circuits. Americans delight in celebrating their success, while we seem to delight in failure.
Brendan teased the laughs from us as he shared his 'A-Team style stag night', gratified the men in the room with his anticipation of 'steak and BJ day' on March 14th – take note, fellas, it’s one anniversary you don’t want your Missus to miss - and generally taking the piss out of the front row. Reilly roves the stage with a confident, slightly manic look in his eye.
By the time the second act Matt Welcome strode onto the stage our funny bones were nicely warmed up even if our torsos weren’t. And Matt was ready to take us in a totally different direction. His act was geared towards making us think as much as laugh, pondering the pointlessness of the woefully undersized room heaters and a bizarre fold-away-tray-come-picture-frame, before moving on to question the validity of common phrases such as 'beggars can't be choosers'.
Last but not least, Simon Evans took to the stage to close the show, he embodied a ‘stiff-upper-lip’ persona, standing completely still throughout his set and more than aware of it. His gaze more the squint of a disappointed chemistry teacher, both disturbing and funny all at the same time. More than ready to make fun of himself and his upbringing, he shared his 'deep' observations of Liverpool in the walk from the station to the venue and invited us all to take a dump in McDonald’s whenever possible. Simon’s bizarre, slightly racist, outlook on life was definitely my pick of the night but none of the acts truly came anywhere near to splitting my sides.
It is difficult to get a feel of a place when it is so young but overall, the vibe for fine dining makes a brilliant mix with the dungeon-like setting for comedy. The venue certainly seems to know what it wants to be, and the people behind it deserve credit for creating something with its own identity. The slow service in the restaurant, the cold environment and the unnecessarily long gaps in between the acts were minor hiccups in an otherwise thoroughly enjoyable evening.
7/10 - Go and judge for yourself (but take a warm jumper!)
For further information how to book tickets and introductory offers at Comedy Hell, please visit: www.comedyhell.co.uk/
Day, Liverpool around 1 year, 4 months ago