The Avenue of the Enthusiasts

Berliners are well known for their abusive communication skills. Other Germans often call their way of speaking "Berliner Schnauze" (Berlin Snout). So what happens when Berlin authors try to do an evening of cosy book readings? Answer: the audience goes home laughing and, of course, somewhat insulted.

The Avenue of the Enthusiasts (Chaussee der Enthusiasten) takes place each week in RAW Tempel on the site of an abandoned old railway yard near Warschauer Straße in former East Berlin. Six authors, up on stage, reading a bunch of funny stuff revolving around the zeitgeist of the week. Cost? Just 4 Euros. Can't go wrong really, unless you can't understand Berlinerisch. The evenings have been running for ages - always on a thursday night - and they have long since reached cult status amongst the students living in the area.

These two guys at the top were especially a good laugh - but be warned, it's not worth getting all "answery-back" if you are in the audience. The guy on the mic is probably cheekier than you, and he always gets the last word!