Sunday comedy night at Cool Runnings packs them in

A stream of young people filed into “the Dungeon,” the basement performance space at Cool Runnings one Sunday, and by 8 p.m. it was standing room only.

Suddenly, a wiry fellow with spiky hair and a face that makes you want to laugh even before he utters a word, jumps on stage and launches into a riff ripped from that day’s headline. The regular host of Cool Runnings’ Sunday night comedy night holds up a copy of the Sunday Times with a picture of a middle-aged woman running from a storm in her underwear. “What are they thinking?” Vlismas said. “You are saved but you are on the front page of the biggest newspaper in the country in your bra and undies?”

As a constant stream of standup comics paraded on stage, Vlismas, the host, continued to be the best thing of the Sunday night tradition that the venue’s manager says the longest comedy show in South Africa.

“They haven’t missed a single Sunday night in ten years,” said Dylan Wild. “We are the oldest running comedy show in South Africa.

On other nights, Cool Runnings features bands that play on the comedy stage. “We don’t pay them and they don’t pay us,” Wild said of the musical acts. “We are their gateway to their audience.”

Fashioned as a Caribbean-style log cabin with large murals of Rastafarian iconography, Cool Runnings had a gentle, relaxing vibe when MyMelville dropped by this Saturday. The lilting reggae tunes helped a lot. An unpretentious dive, perfect to grab a beer with a friend, the outdoor bar was populated by clusters youngsters whiling away a Saturday afternoon.

Wild, the manager, said the shop was up for a rehab soon. “We encourage a very relaxed atmosphere here,” Wild. “But relaxed doesn’t mean you can roll a joint. We have prosecuted people for smoking joints.”

The Sunday night comedy show starts at 7:30 p.m. Entrance is R20.00 for students and R30.00 for non-students. 27A Fourth Avenue, Melville, 011 482 4786