Tomek, Łukasz, Darek and Aśka
After good old kabaret Potem croaked (in 1999, see website
), some members felt a deep longing for making people laugh with real funny weirdness.So what did they do?
Founded a new cabaret, of course!
Comprising of the legendary female element Joanna Kołaczkowska, the mad mastermind Dariusz Kamys, the much picked-upon pianist Łukasz Pietsch and the utterly sexy Tomasz Majer,note "Hrabi" has been absurdly funny since 2002.
Their programs:
- Demo: various sketches, sort of a warm-up or foreshadowing for the next programmes
- Terapiatranslation : about emotions, with a therapy group as Framing Device
- Dracula: a merry romp along the Sliding Scale of Comedy and Horror, full of vampires, ghosts and ladies from the tax office
- Pojutrzetranslation : what will the future be like?
- Kobieta i mężczyznatranslation : Mars and Venus Gender Contrast
- Syf i malariatranslation : written by Władysław Sikora of the old Potem, self-parody
- Pienia i jękitranslation : a bunch of fan-favourite songs from the older programmes
- Savoir vivre: a manners lesson turned on its head
- Co jest śmiesznetranslation : a serious scientific analysis of what makes us laugh
- Gdy powiesz TAKtranslation : marriage (mawwiage?)
- Bez wąsówtranslation : a special programme for kids - no moustache appears in it
- Lubię totranslation : collection of fan-favourites
- Tak, że otranslation : simple and self-referential return to the source
- Aktorem w płottranslation : made together with the Kabaret Jurki
Their website (in Polish) can be found here.
If you can find any tropes in their sketches, they would be:
- All Abusers Are Male: Subverted in several sketches.
- Awful Wedded Life: A frequent setup.
- Basement-Dweller: Igor, the vampire from "Mamusia wampira". translation The teeth are fake.
- The Bard on Board: Some sketches parody him (notably of the Scottish Play), just like the Potem group used to do.
- Brutal Honesty: One sketch deals with what people really think vs. what they say out loud.Narrator: And if we said the truth...
- Caustic Critic: One of the sketches has the critic-author discussion framed as a boxing match, with a referee calling fauls (Your Mom is considered a faul).
- Deal with the Devil: Anomalia sells Walerian's soul and ends up losing her own instead due to Exact Words.
- Depraved Dentist: An interesting take on this trope in "Piosenka dentystki" translation where the narrator is not as much evil as... persistent.
- Dogged Nice Guy: Walerian and a number of other guys.
- Gender Flip: "Słaba płeć"translation gender-flips the usual stereotypes.
- Gold Digger: Anomalia from "Walerian i Anomalia" isn't even slightly ashamed of it.
- Magical Realism: Vampires, ghosts, kafka-esque (if Lighter and Softer) trial - anything goes.
- Men Can't Keep House: The monologue in which the wife talks her hubby through changing a baby.Wife: We have a washing machine. It's that white box you put newspapers on. Yes, we got it as a wedding present.
- Metafiction: Set Behind the Scenes sketches, characters from a different sketch showing up to resolve the situation, and so on, and so forth.
- Set Behind the Scenes: They seem to like this particular trope, coming back to it every now and then. Joanna Kołaczkowska is always Chewing the Scenery in these sketches like there's no tomorrow.
- Signature Style: Just like Potem, they deliberately avoid political jokes or references of any kind in their sketches. This makes them absolutely unique among Polish cabarets.
- Prima Donna Director: If the sketch is about actors, count on it - they will all be Cloudcuckoolanders (a Classically-Trained Extra optional) directed by a scarf-wearing man who feels himself Surrounded by Idiots.Actor: Well, if you direct us well, we'll play well.
- Writer's Block Montage: The writer's (mis)creations coming to life and acting out his feeble plot with all the asides he goes into, with a helping of visual puns.
- Visual Pun: Happens.
