Expatica columnist Jacinta Nandi a.k.a Candi Girl details what's hot this month on the Berlin Spoken Word scene.

Football and comedy are thrashing it out this summer, and I kind of think football might win. First up, the My English Class gig at Rashidii's Living Room in Kreuzberg has been cancelled – Rashidii didn't want to compete with the footie, or soccer, as he put it (Americans are so cute, huh?). Rashidii's Living Room is a tiny bar near Gneisenaustraße which is literally the size of a living room. He has some incredibly snazzy microphone equipment and slightly disturbing views on Hillary Clinton. We love him, and will be appearing there in July. Watch this space for details.

Katie Griggs is also a bit worried about the whole footie thing: “So, my boyfriend says that as I am English I should be ignoring a certain football competition. Like, somehow it seems as if over the course of our three-year relationship he has failed to notice that I have, actually, always ignored every football competition going.”  So you're not getting in to the EM, then Katie? “Yeah, only this time I can’t ignore it as I've been given the task of filling a comedy studio on Saturday night which coincides with the game taking place between Turkey and Portugal.” Ah, that'll be alright, Katie, I'm sure your target audience for the Laugh Olympics doesn't include that many Portuguese or Turkish people? “Well, it's not that they wouldn’t be more than welcome of course, just so far we haven’t seen them queuing up in their droves like the Americans, Australians, Brits and Germans.” Luckily for Katie, her boyfriend really is boycotting the EM so he'll be along to support the show – and anyone-else who loves beer and comedy and hates football should pop along for a bit of improv fun.

Meanwhile, Ben and I are finally going along for a Laugh Olympics rehearsal – it's next Tuesday, and we're terrified. I am scared I will do a really unconvincing chainsaw impression, and just die of shame, and Ben is scared he will shout something innapropriate about killing a kid when he doesn't know what to say. Still, you never know till you try, right? My chainsaw might be brilliant. Everyone might be all like: oh, Jacinta, what a fabulous chainsaw! Can you give me some tips after the show?

So here are the details:

When:             9pm, doors open 8.45pm

Where:           Rosenhöfe, Rosenthalerstr 36, 10178 Berlin

Tickets:          8 EUR/6 EUR (students)

BVG:              Hackescher Markt/Weinmeister Str

 www.laugholympics-berlin.de

GOOD THINGS THIS MONTH:

It's a bit of a quiet month, this one. Football, sigh. The big question is, I guess: where will you be watching the games? Hmmmn? Will you be slobbing it out at home, like a big filthy pig, wearing tracksuit bottoms and no pants - or will you do a Chris Walshaw and go and watch them in a bar in Kreuzberg where you can soak up the atmosphere?

If you do get bored of football (and I mean, it can get a bit boring, can't it, if they don't score goals or do red cards on each other?) then check these babies out:

 08.06. FUEL Poetry and Performance Night

Fuel performance and live music show extravaganza is proud to present two performance writers as guests in June 2008, namely: Berlin-based poet/playwright Dave Weil, Canadian award-winning playwright Natalie Meisner and music from the excellent Marzipan Marzipan!

Sunday 8th June, 9 pm start, Wonderbar Studio, Wienerstr 45, Kreuzberg,
http://www.myspace.com/wonderclub
http://www.geocities.com/natalie_meisner/webpage.html
http://www.larsdideriksen.com/marzipanmarzipan/start.html

13.06. Midnight Poetry

An English-German-Spanish reading with Paul Salamone, Roland Bertschi & Ana Diaz
+ half year anniversary party - free entry!
They are still looking for authors & poets who would like to present their work at Midnight Poetry. Just check: www.midnight-poetry.net

Friday 13th June 2008 at 11.45 p.m, Coffee Karma, Sonntagstraße 30, 10245 Berlin
(close to Ostkreuz)

27.06.Beat Street presents The Versal 6 Berlin Release Party

Featuring Anna Arov, Megan Garr, Robert Glick, Kate Foley, Prue Duggan, and Alistair Noon.

Celebrating the release of the sixth issue of Versal, Amsterdam's English language literary magazine, featuring poets from a wide international community.

Live musical guest (TBA) and hosted by Michael Haeflinger and Robert Grant.

June 27, 2008, 9 pm, Coffee Karma, Sonntagstr. 30, 10245 Berlin

The big news is that next month the English Theatre will finally be ready, and it's gonna be refurbished and refitted and renovated and totally, like, disabled-people friendly, so everyone  knows where to go from now on, right:

July 1 - 19 · Tuesdays to Saturdays · 8pm:

ORPHEUS DESCENDING by TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

directed by Günther Grosser

Set and Costumes: Tomas Fitzpatrick
Lights: Christian Maith
Sound: Ralf Arndt

with:
Priscilla Be, Robert Lyons, Samantha Coughlan, Sabrina Ellenberger, Erik Hansen,
Harvey Friedman, Corinne Prochaska, Rita Grote

Tickets 16 Euro / 9 Euro concessions / Sozialticket 3 Euro / group rates available / On Friendly Tuesday all tickets are 8 Euro (except Opening Night)

Check out my blog on www.myspace.com/myenglishclass for more insights into my world