The moment you entered The Classic you knew you were in the right place thanks to the no-expense-spared giant polystyrene letters spelling "Corbett?" on the stage. Apparently the F, A and Q didn’t fit so the statement became a tribute to the Kiwi rising inflection.

Which was apt given the night’s line-up was a medley of "eccents". It comprised Mickey D from across the Tassie (who can do a mean Māori fullah himself), Glenn Wool, the slow-drawling, mo-sporting, drier-than-Canadian-Club Canadian, and last-minute stand-in, Ben Hurley who took Brendhan Lovegrove’s chair for the night.

First out though, after an abridged version of the well-researched introduction More FM listeners are accustomed to, was Jeremy Corbett. He took great pains to lower the audience’s expectations from the outset – a fair call when he knew he was putting three comedians on a stage and asking them to chat rather than run through their routines. And if you went expecting the guests to talk about how they do what they do, you would have been disappointed. It was a supervised free-for-all. And all the more fascinating for it.

Mickey D was the first guest and things started smoothly. He talked about the intimacy of the upstairs venue and its exposed brick. Everything took a turn when Glenn joined them. Corbett’s attempts to focus on the similarities between NZ and Canada were beautifully thwarted every time (although no one can argue that they are indeed exactly the same distance from each other).

It turned out that Mickey and Glenn go way back. To London, the city of illicit substances, Christmas parties and the scent of human fecal matter baked on a winter jacket. Mickey had a few adventures, but the two questions the audience was silently asking at that point were, "Is that meant to be funny?" and "If I laugh will I look like a sicko?"

Ben braved the stage with a few more sedate tales of his own (phew!) and managed to look both bemused and ashamed at once. He had a gift of bring the conversation back to a safer place for 7pm on a Monday night, although Corbett was happy to let them run.  He seemed more intrigued than the audience about where the conversation would head next. And hey, it’s his show.

The experience was almost like being a fly on the wall. There were a few awkward pauses where you could literally hear eyebrows rising, but I’d definitely go back to see what happens when other comedians are mixed together in front of an intimate crowd.

Tuesday’s line-up includes Ed Byrne, Paul Ego and Ben Hurley (or will it be Brendhan?), and you can check out the www.comedy.co.nz website for the rest of the week’s guests. Or take a $20 gamble.

Do expect to laugh and cringe a little; let’s just say if comedians had to compete with the NZ Police to see which career’s work stories are better, the police wouldn’t stand a chance.
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