There is a particular problem with Monday nights in Perth. The weekend is over, Friday still feels an unreasonable distance away, and the familiar complaint that there is “nothing to do” starts sounding fairly convincing.
Bassendean has come up with an answer.
Every Monday evening, Cap Off Comedy takes over the Bassendean Hotel for a free night of live stand-up, bringing together Perth comedians, touring drop-ins, local audiences and a rotating selection of community charities and fundraisers.
Run by Xavier Susai and Roz Kiamko from Grassroots Comedy, the weekly event is deliberately uncomplicated. Come down to The Basso, order dinner, find a seat and watch a comedy show. Entry is free, while anyone who wants to contribute can make a donation towards the charity or community fundraiser being supported that week.
For anyone searching for what to do in Perth on a Monday night, it is an appealingly low-risk proposition.
Free comedy in Perth every Monday night
The comedy starts at 7.30pm, with each week bringing a different collection of performers through the room.
That might mean established names from the Perth comedy scene, newer comedians finding their feet, interstate visitors, national acts passing through Western Australia or touring comedians looking for somewhere to drop in and do a set.
There is no expectation that every Monday will look exactly like the last.
That is part of the appeal.
Cap Off Comedy operates more like the traditional pub comedy rooms that have long been important to stand-up. There is an MC holding the evening together, a rotating showcase of acts, the occasional unexpected guest and a crowd close enough to the stage for performers to genuinely work the room.
For audiences, it means 90 minutes of live comedy in Bassendean without having to commit to an expensive theatre ticket.
For comedians, it is another stage in a city that benefits enormously from having places to perform outside festival season.
Start the night with Monday Night Write Club
The evening actually begins an hour earlier.
At 6.30pm every Monday, Grassroots Comedy runs the Monday Night Write Club, an informal gathering for aspiring, emerging and experienced comedians interested in spending some time working on material.
It is not a class and there is no requirement to arrive with a finished routine.
Some comedians come along to talk through their writing process. Others bring new jokes they want to run past another performer. Some use the hour simply as a dedicated focus session, sitting down and doing the writing they have been putting off all week.
Experienced comics are welcome. So are people who have only recently started thinking about stand-up.
Then, at 7.30pm, notebooks close and the comedy room begins.
For people looking for comedy writing groups in Perth, open comedy communities in WA, or somewhere to meet other Perth comedians, the Write Club adds another dimension to what is otherwise a straightforward Monday night show.
Dinner, drinks and stand-up at the Bassendean Hotel
The setting helps.
The Bassendean Hotel, better known locally simply as The Basso, has become a natural home for the night, giving Grassroots Comedy a regular Monday venue while offering audiences the option of making an evening of it rather than simply arriving for the first joke and leaving after the last.
There is food available before and during the evening, including the hotel’s Monday steak special, making Cap Off Comedy an easy dinner-and-show option for people around Bassendean, Bayswater, Guildford, Ashfield, Eden Hill, Morley, Midland and the wider eastern suburbs.
Grab a steak, order a drink and settle in for the show.
That uncomplicated pub-night atmosphere suits the comedy.
There are no velvet ropes and no need to dress for a theatre. Locals can wander in for dinner and discover that a comedy show happens to be starting. Regular comedy audiences can make the trip specifically for the lineup. Friends can meet after work without having to organise much beyond deciding who is driving.
And because Cap Off Comedy is free to attend, people can give it a try without wondering whether Monday night entertainment is worth another sizeable hit to the weekly budget.
Comedy that keeps some money in the local community
The charitable component is what gives Cap Off Comedy its name and its slightly unusual personality.
The room was established with community fundraising built into the format. Local charities, volunteer groups, animal rescues, community organisations and small independent fundraisers can be featured through the show, giving them an opportunity to raise both money and awareness in front of a new audience.
Donations are welcome but never compulsory.
The intention is particularly well suited to smaller organisations where a few hundred dollars can genuinely pay for something tangible, whether that is equipment, supplies, veterinary expenses, community activities or another modest project that rarely attracts major corporate fundraising.
It also gives supporters another way of fundraising.
Instead of another sausage sizzle, raffle or online donation drive, supporters can meet at the Bassendean Hotel, have dinner and spend the evening watching comedians.
For Grassroots Comedy, the arrangement sits comfortably beside the organisation’s wider emphasis on building sustainable live comedy outside Perth’s traditional entertainment precincts.
Grassroots Comedy beyond Northbridge
Grassroots Comedy has steadily developed a network of shows around Perth, including Experimental Comedy Club, Leederville Comedy Club, Northbridge Comedy Club and other suburban and regional comedy events.
Cap Off Comedy occupies a different space within that programme.
Monday is not traditionally the night most people associate with going out to see stand-up. That gives the room room to develop its own audience rather than simply competing with the already crowded Friday and Saturday entertainment calendar.
It also creates another regular opportunity for comedians.
A healthy comedy scene is not built entirely around major touring shows and a few weeks of FRINGE WORLD each summer. Performers need smaller rooms where jokes can be tested, experienced comics can work new material and audiences can discover comedians they have never seen advertised on a billboard.
A weekly Monday show provides exactly that.
What to do in Perth on a Monday night
Search for things to do in Perth on Monday night and the options tend to narrow considerably once the weekend disappears.
That makes Cap Off Comedy one of the more unusual Monday night events in Perth.
There is dinner at a historic suburban pub. There is a writers’ gathering for comedians at 6.30pm. There is a live stand-up comedy showcase from 7.30pm. There are local, national and touring comedians dropping through the lineup. And there is a community fundraiser attached to the evening for anyone who wants to contribute.
You can spend money on dinner and a donation, or simply turn up and watch the comedy.
Either works.
For Bassendean locals, it means having regular live entertainment within walking distance of Old Perth Road. For audiences elsewhere in Perth, it offers a reason to head east for a Monday night rather than automatically looking towards Northbridge or the CBD.
And for anyone who has spent years insisting that Perth shuts down at the beginning of the working week, there is now at least one less excuse.
Cap Off Comedy runs every Monday at the Bassendean Hotel.
Monday Night Write Club: 6.30pm
Cap Off Comedy: 7.30pm
Entry: Free
Donations: Welcome for the featured community charity or fundraiser
Venue: Bassendean Hotel, Bassendean, Western Australia
Come early for the Write Club or a steak, stay for the comedy, and see who drops in that week.
For more information click here
