Jacinta Nandi a.k.a. Candi Girl details her own experiences with Berlin's vibrant Spoken Word scene and its players in the first of a series of monthly columns.

"My English Class" -- a monthly performance event featuring comedy, literature and songs -- is approaching its first birthday next month. This is the perfect excuse for looking back into how we all got ourselves into this mess in the first place. 

You probably think it was the glamorous lifestyle that sucked us into the world of stand-up comedy -- the chance of a threesome with Russell Brand and Noel Fielding -- or if they are busy, maybe the Chucklevision Brothers. But you would be wrong.

It was Berlin’s vibrant spoken-word scene that did it: The first time I read one of my stories publicly was during a Spoken Word performance night at Books in Berlin Bookshop in Charlottenburg. The event was organized by Lady Gaby (of "Fuel" fame), quite possibly the Queen of the Berlin Spoken Word scene.

Later, I cut my teeth at monthly open-mike events at the now defunct Café Rosa. When Café Rosa’s owner, Fiona Mizani, decided to create "Bordercrossing," Berlin’s English-language literary magazine, my alter-ego “Candi Girl” was born. She is me, basically, but a bit more of a slag. As Candi, The Girl Out of Ilford, I read stories about the life of a struggling, sex-starved single mum at the Bordercrossing Checkpoint, which was held at East of Eden bookshop in Friedrichshain. It was here that I met Jörg Kaier, “the Rock 'n' Roll Diktator,” and founded "My English Class."

"My English Class" is comedy, literature and song. It was all Jörg’s idea, to be honest, and once we had decided on a title, off we were. But finding a name wasn’t without its problems. I wanted to call it “Fetish.” I thought that Germans who love the English language, i.e. half our target audience, are, basically, fetishists. Jörg demurred, thinking that people would turn up wearing latex and chains. His suggestion was "D-Day." When I refused, he came up with “My English Class.” I liked it but I didn’t and in the end, I gave in because it was a million times better than "D-Day." So, with an okay name and a brilliant concept, we were ready to take over the world, or at least the world of the Berlin expatriate performance scene.

Our original plan for "My English Class" was to stick to the Spoken Word performance formula, one we know well. We were going to be the English-language version of all those German “Vorlesebühnen” everyone always hears about. But something happened to change our minds: namely Chris Walshaw, the director of the production company Megafalcon. He persuaded me to take part in a “Lab” performance night at the English Theatre Berlin and somehow managed to convince me to try stand-up. In October 2006, I got addicted. Some times, I was good. Sometimes, I was pretty awful. But with Jörg’s songs and my stories and stand-up, we tried to offer an English lesson with a difference -- one to remember.

"My English Class" nights have been performed at Café Ohio, East of Eden bookshop and St. George’s Bookshop. Guests have included Melissa Holroyd, Lady Gaby, Andy Snelling and A.L. Kennedy. We have gained two wonderful new members: Ben Knight, a twitchy, paranoid genius and a director, journalist and comedian, and James Harris, who came to us via Kafka Comedy, a German/English comedy night from Charlottenburg.

The Berlin English-language comedy and Spoken Word scenes are inextricably entwined,  slightly incestuous even. Now, we do get criticized for this a bit -- but is that always a bad thing? In any case, we would like to thank our Spoken Word/comedy family – and invite everyone out to join us.

Here are some opportunities:

Kafka Comedy is an occasional German/English comedy night organized by James Harris and, until recently, Naomi Christie, in Café Sartre in Charlottenburg.
www.myspace.com/komoedie

Kookaburra's English Night, organized by Kim Eustice is Berlin's closest equivalent to an American comedy club night with a mixture of local and international acts.
www.myspace.com/englishcomedynightberlin

FUEL is a monthly intercultural Spoken Word performance night, hosted by Berlin veteran Lady Gaby in Trödler Bar Kreuzberg.
www.myspace.com/ladygaby

Bordercrossing Berlin, launched last year, is Berlin's most prominent English-language literary journal. Edited by Fiona Mizani, this journal features the best of Berlin and European English-language literature and always welcomes contributions.
www.bordercrossing-berlin.com

BeatStreet, hosted by Rob Grant, is a new monthly event where expat poets read works in English.
www.myspace.com/beatstreetpoetryberlin

Indeed, in Berlin there are always events going on: at bookshops like East of Eden, Another Country, Saint Georges, performance spaces like Wallywoods and Sameheads -- and at new locations all the time. It is possible to go to a different English-language Spoken Word event every night of the week.

And as for My English Class? From Jan. 23 –26, we are launching our boldest and perhaps sexiest project to date: the run at the English Theatre Berlin of the intergalactic sex musical "The Prison Sex Show." Be there.