You can always rely on Berlin to deliver the most unique and interesting events, and this month it really delivered. I can’t think of many other cities where you can play a murder mystery game created and performed by strippers, in a nightclub. The Berlin Strippers Collective have long been campaigning for better rights for strippers and sex workers, and have consistently raised awareness of issues that impact this unfairly marginalised community, as well raising much needed funds. This Scandal at the Strip Club event fulfilled their aims in the most entertaining way possible.
At the start of the night, we are introduced to each of the main characters, with a different stripper taking each role. A scene is set – an exploitative club owner is found dead in their office, and a number of suspects emerge. Was it the disgruntled stripper who hoped to take over the business, but was unceremoniously fired? Was it the hot upstart stripper who wants to become top of the tree? Or was it someone else entirely?
The aim of the game was to find out who committed the crime, and be the first to guess. To figure it out, the strippers each took to a different room of the club, and people could go from room to room and ask the strippers questions and pick up clues. At the end, the person who correctly guessed the identity of the killer and their motive was declared the winner. It wasn’t me. I wasn’t even close. As a finale, we were treated to a series of performances from members of the collective, with the winner even getting a lapdance. It was a fabulous close to a fun and inventive event. This was the third edition of Scandal at the Strip Club, and I really hope there will be a fourth.
A week later and I’m at another of Berlin’s most unique events – Berlin Atonal. The contemporary electronic music and art festival is always one of the highlights of the year, and it was amazing to see it take over the whole of Kraftwerk once again. This was the first time the festival had been running at full scale since the pandemic, and the format had evolved. There were two festival weekends, with the Universal Metabolism large-scale art event sandwiched in the week between.
The opening weekend featured a nightly performance from Florentina Holzinger, and I have to say this absolutely stole the show for me. On the way into the venue, I noticed trigger warning signs about the performance, and I’d heard reports of people fainting at Florentina Holzinger shows before. I thought this was all hyperbole, right up until two performers in the show are hoisted into the air by hooks that are piercing the flesh on their backs. I looked to my left and saw a man faint and fall to the ground. He was caught by a friend, stood up again and said he’s fine. A moment later and he was down again. It’s a testament to how visceral and powerful the production is, and I was floored by it too.
The format of Universal Metabolism was inventive as well, with live performances taking place sequentially in different parts of the grand space and other multimedia installations scattered throughout. It always feels incredible to roam the former power plant while some of the finest boundary-pushing music and art is happening around you, and it’s a very welcome return after the four year break.
I finally made it to my first Späti Party last month. Ben Olayinka started the series back in 2018 to support out a friend who could never get into Berghain and it has been running regularly ever since. They take over a different Späti each edition, adding a set of decks and DJs to the usual Späti fare of drinks and snacks.
This time they took over Junkys Point on Lohmühlenstraße. When I arrived the footpath was absolutely teeming and it seemed to be a nice mix of regulars and party-curious passerbys.I loved the street-party-for-the people vibe. I got the sense that people would stumble across it, and immediately contact their friends to tell them to join. Keep an eye for the next one and maybe you’ll be the person dragging your mates along.
Keen readers will remember that in my first Culture Report back in May I had gone to see Daniel-Ryan Spaulding in Revier Südost. This was at the beginning stages of his Power Gay set, and since then he’s been going from strength to strength, including an Exberliner cover story.
He took things up yet another notch by selling out Babylon Kino in Mitte. At 500 capacity, this is probably the largest gig to be sold out by a Berlin-based English language standup. His set was super tight. Material from the RSO set had been honed to perfection, and, as is his wont, he took his recent experiences of getting surgery and worked them into his act. Hearing about how his surgeon cut his nipples out like a cookie cutter and placed them aside to come back to later was unhinged and hilarious. It is amazing to see Daniel keeps growing, and he deserves all the success that comes his way.
Truly underground venues in Berlin are becoming thinner on the ground, but they still exist. I made it to an intimate gig in a (literally) underground basement venue in Kreuzberg that doesn’t advertise itself publicly. I was there for a showcase event by three Berlin-based experimental record labels, Archipel Editions, Famous Grapes Recordings and Faeth.
Each label programmed an artist for the lineup, making it an unofficial Thursday night threeway. The performance I caught was from a duo – Mi Ho on piano and Diego Ferri on electronics and sound manipulation. Ferri used a cassette player and cassettes as an extra dimension when creating the soundscapes, and I thought it was a creative and inventive method that was both visually engaging and sonically pleasing. It’s good to see the underground is alive and well in this city.
I rounded off my month in the same way I always do – by going to the Crticial Mass bike demo. It was cool to have two other Exberliner editors – Ruthie and Wanda – make it it to the ride for the first time too.
The weather was perfect and the atmosphere was frantic and fun. I rode solo for the latter half of the demo, and even helped to ‘cork’ the vehicle traffic in order to allow the cyclists to safely pass. It’s a guaranteed way to see motorists rage at having to wait in their vehicle for 10 minutes. There was a big turnout and I really think everyone in Berlin who can join, should join. See you at the next one?
