But the joy that comes from seeing the world’s only poncho-based comedy band perform right here in Launceston should warm your very soul.

Scheduled to perform alongside a stellar lineup of Tasmanian comedians at next Thursday’s Winter Epic comedy night, Emergency Poncho are first up on the Kingsway Bar stage and have promised audiences something special.

“We’re the only musical comedians in Tasmania at the moment so we’ve just tied up that market, and we’re the only poncho-based act I’ve ever seen which is good,” guitarist Dan Taylor said. 

“(Vocalist Gerard Lane) and I are good mates though and we’ve graced Launceston for about two years now so we’re starting to get good.

“We’ve got about 66 Myspace friends including Tom.”

The increasing demand for Emergency Poncho’s plastic-covered comedy proves they are indeed ‘starting to get good’.

The duo made their debut appearance at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival earlier this year and Taylor says they’re planning to take their tongue-in-cheek brand of humour to international audiences sooner rather than later. 

“We just keep on getting asked to play more and more and we always say yes. 

“We’re maybe going to go to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival next year which’ll be pretty fun.”

So what does an Emergency Poncho show look like?

“We wear an emergency poncho, so we call our audience the splash zone. 

“We like to have a good time and get the crowd involved as much as possible, which sometimes includes them getting up on stage with us and doing interpretive dance to Darryl Braithwaite’s The Horses.”

Oh, and there’s another thing you should know. 

“We pretend that we’re Mexican… when we get up on stage we say ole a lot and talk about fajitas and tacos.

“We’re not actually Mexican at all, but we have built a wall between Ulverstone and Devonport.

“It’s the penguin wall and it’s about a foot high, it just keeps out the fairy penguins because they’re trying to steal our jobs. 

“It’s pretty much just chicken wire, but it’s done a really good job of it so far.” 

Emergency Poncho will perform a 10-minute slot alongside Isabella Roldan, Stewart Bell, Andy Collings, James Warren, Gabbie Butler, Doug Schindler and Ned Townsend at Kingsway Bar’s Winter Epic comedy night on July 20.

The show starts at 8pm.

Entry is free.