May 4: The ambience is relaxed, the music soothing and the drinks best in business — an ideal setting to unwind after a hard day’s work.

But lounge bars in Guwahati will serve more than drinks. To add more spice to the evenings of their demanding clientele, they are now set to introduce a series of programmes, including laughter shows, which will feature performances of comedians like Raju Shrivastava and Ehsan Qureshi.

“Of late, lounge bars have become very popular in the city. The increase in their number has also given rise to a competition among themselves to serve their customers better. Expectation of Guwahatians going to lounge bars is very high,” said Santanu Pal, manager of Illusion.

Pal said considering the success of live performances by a Filipino troupe, Illusion has now decided to host laughter shows by personalities like Raju Shrivastava.

Uttam Medhi, one of the owners of Traffic, another lounge bar on GNB Road, said besides entertaining its customers, the joint also promotes young singers by inviting them to perform live shows frequently.

Mainul Husain, who has won accolades for singing the best of Mohd Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, Bhupen Hazarika and Jayanta Hazarika, performs at Traffic every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“We are now planning to rope in a troupe which can make people laugh and relax. Initially we will invite popular local comedy groups. We want our customers to forget their worries and go home with a big smile on their faces,” Medhi said.

Blues on RG Baruah Road is planning something different — it wants to organise the longest party in the town. An official of the lounge bar said it would not disclose more about the plans now, so that it could give a surprise to its customers.

“We are staging live performance every Saturday. Besides this we invite local artistes to perform different things including mime shows,” said an official of Gam in Ganeshguri.

Visitors to the lounge bar are happy. “At last, there is a reason more than the drink to go to the lounge bars. One can go to these bars with family to entertain themselves,” said Abhishek Baruah, an executive.