LOL Comedy Club at The Palace Theatre

You're settling into red velvet seats that have seen decades of performers, clutching a pint that's actually cold for once at a comedy venue. The Palace's ornate Victorian interior creates an oddly formal backdrop for whatever chaos is about to unfold on stage – there's something brilliantly incongruous about hearing filthy one-liners echo around these gilded walls. The lineups swing wildly between circuit regulars you'll recognize from Mock the Week reruns and complete unknowns testing material that should probably stay untested. When it works, the intimate setting and decent acoustics make for properly memorable nights. When it doesn't, at least you're surrounded by enough architectural grandeur to keep you distracted until the interval.