Being a Comedian for more than 20 years now, I can honestly say that I have performed in the worst places and the best places in the country. I will concentrate on the best places because I believe comedy should be a happy event and not a downer. What makes a Comedy Club fun and successful is the proper setting. It is all about atmosphere, seating arrangement and most of all, the intimacy factor. Comedy is an intimate medium that always works best in smaller venues of 400 seats or less. The bigger the venue, the less the crowd is part of the experience. I believe that Comedy Clubs and Small Theaters are the best, especially for a crowd worker like myself. With all that being said, here is my list:

My Favorite Comedy Venues Of All Time 1. The Original Improv(NYC, NY)- This club was the Grandaddy of all Comedy Clubs. It was the first and truly the best. It was nice and small, about 100 seats, intimate, and had such an aura about it. When you were on that stage, you knew that the likes of George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce and anyone else you can think of in Comedy, had performed there before you. What a great place it was. I miss it dearly and the owner, Silver Friedman, was great to me.

2. Rascal’s Comedy Club(Ocean Township, NJ)- This became my home base for many years and it was the perfect Comedy Club. It held around 225 seats comfortably and there wasn’t a bad one in the house. It was a rectangular room with the stage on one of the long walls, so every seat was close to the stage.

3. Rascal’s Comedy Club(West Orange, NJ) – This was a great 400 seat club that was downstairs of one terrific restaurant (I miss the Chicken Francais)and was the Flagship of The Rascal’s chain. We used to do a Comedy TV Show there every Thursday night called ‘Rascal’s Comedy Hour’ and it was so much fun. Being a headliner myself, I never get to see other headliners unless we are all on the same bill doing a benefit of some kind. But with the TV show, I was the Musical Director and writer for the show and I got to see everyone that came through each week. I really had a blast and the show lasted for about 9 years.

4. The Strand Theater(Lakewood, NJ) – What a terrific landmark and a great place to perform since they renovated it about 7 years ago. The acoustics are unbelievable and it is just the right size for a theater to perform comedy in.

5. Uncle Vinny’s/Ferrara’s(Point Pleasant, NJ) – This is a new club and has only been open for about 1 and a half years. It reminds me of The Original Improv with it’s intimacy of only around 100 seats. It’s a great restaurant also and the owners, Dino & Jerry, are a pleasure to work for.

6. The Comedy Stop at The Trop(Atlantic City, NJ) – What a terrific place. It is like a mini theater of around 250 seats with all of the casino showroom aura that a comedian loves to perform in. The room has since moved to the new Quarter Wing upstairs and is a little bigger and even nicer than before. Great atmosphere.

7. Catch A Rising Star at The Hyatt(Princeton, NJ) Another perfect setting for comedy. Only around 180 seats and nice and close to the stage. All views have no obstructions whatsoever and it is located in one beautiful hotel.

8. Penn’s Peak(Jim Thorpe, PA) – This is one of the most unique places that I ever performed in. It looks like a giant 1800 seat chalet on top of a mountain and that’s basically what it is. I generally don’t like large venues like this but they have large screens everywhere for all to see that aren’t close and their sound system is second to none. Plus there are balconies all around the stage. So even though it is 1800 seats, 1000 of them are still pretty close to the stage. Definitely a performers dream venue!

9. Viva DeBris(Syracuse, NY) – I truly miss this place. It looked like a little theater bowl of around 200 seats and they were all close. There was also around 20 seats that were right around the stage. No place to hide for those patrons. I also miss the owner, friend of mine and fellow comedian & magician, Joe DeLion. It broke his heart, and a lot of comedians’, when the Hotel Syracuse was sold and forced it to close down.

10. The Improv on Melrose(Hollywood, CA) – A great club with lots of show biz aura. As a patron, you never know who is going to walk in and do a set and as an entertainer, you never know who is going to be in the audience. One of the great Comedy Clubs of all time.

On my list for honorable mentions are Jokers Wild of New Haven, CT, Catch A Rising Star at Resorts in Atlantic City, NJ, The Brass Rail of Sekonk, MA, East Side Comedy Club of Huntington, NY, Tracy’s Comedy Club at The Bowman’s in Carney, MD, The Comedy Stop At The Tropicana in Las Vegas, NV, Wisecracker’s Comedy Club in Scranton & Wilkes-Barre, PA, Konkoma Komedy of Ronkonkoma, NY, The Music Box Theater at The Borgata in Atlantic City, NJ, Zanies in Chicago, IL and the College of DuPage in IL, that had the perfect state of the art theater I ever saw at a school.

Now there are surely many, many more fantastic venues for Comedy to be held but these are my favorites and if you ever find yourselves in those areas and you need a laugh, don’t hesitate to walk in and take a seat. You’re guaranteed to have a good time and if you don’t, it won’t be because the comics didn’t try their hardest for you. Thanks for reading, from THE COMEDY TORNADO!!

By: Paul Venier

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Business Marketing

I’m looking at doing some open mic in the area, but I’m unfamiliar with this region and its comedy club venues.

By: Marcus

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What Ever Happened to all those great stand up comics working clubs in the 80’s and 90’s?

If you are old enough to remember the comedy boom of the 80’s and 90’s you remember some great comics as well. The comedy boom for those of you that don’t know was a time when comedy clubs exploded in popularity. Prior to that time comedy clubs were found in big cities like New York and LA.

When the comedy boom hit cities that never had a club suddenly had a number of them. At one point Phoenix had seven clubs and the city was much smaller than it is today. Even small towns had one nighters in hotels and bars that were packing in crowds.

Pushed by cable television shows like “An Evening at the Improv” and others a five minute set could propel an unknown comic to headliner status in a matter of days. The comedy clubs were packed with laughing paying crowds offering hedge amounts of stage time for the comics to develop there skills.

Today we enjoy the talents of those that developed there comic skills during this time like Tim Allen, Ellen, and Jay Leno to name just a few. Most all of the sitcoms we enjoy today are the result of creative process started back in these times.

While today there are not nearly as many comedy clubs, the ones that are open have the a great pool of talent to choose from. Many of the great headliners that we not lucky enough to hit it big have continued to perform and hone there skills on stage. The quality of the talent for a good comedy club has never been better and the comedy fan has a great opportunity of seeing a polished and professional act.

The sad part of show business is talent is not the one thing that determines weather some becomes famous or not. In many cases the less talented got lucky or was in the right place at the right time or just had the right look.

We call this group of talented comics that have become stars rather than major stars funnier than famous. The nice thing for the comedy fan is they can still go see them at a great price at the local comedy club.

This is not to take away from the accomplishments of those that did become supper stars. We are fortunate they did. We just want to let you know about the other gifted comics still pounding the road working the comedy club stage and hope that some of them soon get the shot to step to the next level. In the mean time if you get the chance to see them, go do it they are well worth the cover charge.

By: Mark Doyle

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I wanted to give a a shot at stand up comedy some night at an open mic…I was wondering if there which bar would be the best choice around Boston, MA. I am just a novice and wanted to give it a try for some fun

By: Bryan R

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Im trying to put on a show in LA, but avoiding the major comedy clubs, maybe in a place that usually hosts bands and holds between 50-200 people. Also, good bars with a small stage would do, or small theaters. Anyone recommend anywhere good?

By: PleaseNoMoreNumbers

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business and marketing

I am conducting a small survey on comedy clubs. Any information would be great!

By: michael r

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My husband and I are looking for a comedy club that serves food and that isn’t improv for saturday night. We like stand up comedy better. Any suggestions?

By: its so hot

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Business Marketing