A Fine Establishment Takes The Piss Out Of Its Punters

Going to see stand up comedy is one of our favourite ways to waste an evening. And we like Banana Cabaret at the Bedford in Balham very much. The Bedford is a massive venue and they’ve been running the Banana Cabaret nights there for years. They regularly get strong line-ups and there’s usually a good atmosphere with a mixture of comedy regulars and a casual, laid back crowd that doesn’t include too many hen nights.

However, we do have a few problems. Firstly, the usual cost without a concession is anything between £13 and £15 on a weekend which is far too much considering that the line-ups, although good, are rarely much better than those you can get at a cheaper club. Secondly, we hate the way that after the comedy is finished, it turns into a really tacky club of the type that you would never want to stay in for more than half an hour, unless you’re into rubbish student cheese. Thirdly, it is often very difficult to get a seat and they knowingly sell tickets to punters who are told to stand which, given that you’re paying a small fortune is not good enough when you’re likely to be there for several hours.

But worst of all is their absolutely shocking decision to put on a special new years eve event which differs little from their normal nights aside from one free cocktail and a buffet but to charge £65 for the privilige. The line-up of John Moloney, Will Smith (see above), John Fothergill and Steve Gribbin isn’t even particularly good. It’s a particularly shameless attempt to cash in on the usual new years eve nonsense.

Which is a shame, because, for a while now, we’ve been planning to write a piece about how much we like Banana Cabaret, but if they’re liable to take the piss out of their customers then all we can really say is that we recommend you take your business elsewhere.