16 Jun 2011 - The Jews Brothers Band @ Thirsty Dog for BLOOMSDAY , celebrating James Joyce's Ulysses -" biggest literary piss-up

A traditional Irish event celebrating the writing of James Joyce's novel Ulysses, which takes place on June 16th the day the novel is set in 1904 when the "hero", Leopold Bloom, wandering Jew, perambulates around Dublin for 24 hours before returning home to his faithless wife Molly. Bloomsday has become the greatest literary piss-up in the world, a secular feast day, and also an acknowledgement that what is referred to as 'twentieth century English literature' is often written by the Irish.

In Auckland a boisterous Bloomsday cabaret annually occurs. Recenty it's been in the red-light district of K Rd, this year at the Thirsty Dog. Relishing its hero's Jewishness, the Auckland show bills itself as " the only Hiberno-Hebrew Bloomsday in the known world" and features music by local klezmer act The Jews Brothers Band - no schlemiels.

It's evolved into a three-hour staged production with readings by Dubliner Brian Keegan, dramatised sequences and songs that range dazzlingly from Verdi to Piaf by way of Thomas Moore and Sophie Tucker. And the occasional barber-shop quartet. Plus some celebrity cameos. $20 at the door. No reservations ( it's an Irish pub for godsakes!)