Venue where comedy is performed
Audience and performers at a comedy club
improv night
A comedy club is a venue—typically a nightclub, bar, hotel, casino, or restaurant—where people watch or listen to performances, including stand-up comedians, improvisational comedians, impersonators, impressionists, magicians, ventriloquists, and other comedy acts.[1] The term "comedy club" usually refers to venues that feature stand-up comedy, as distinguished from improvisational theatres, which host improv or sketch comedy, and variety clubs (which may also host musical acts).
Types
Comedy clubs are usually broken down by comedians into "A rooms", "B rooms", and "C rooms":
- A rooms usually cater to people with movie deals, people with television shows, and generally well known acts.
- B rooms are where the best aspects of both A rooms and C rooms meet. Young comics need B rooms as a stepping stone. These are rooms where someone doing a 10- to 15-minute set (hosting/MCing) can be asked, after they've been going up long enough, to do a 20-minute set (featuring) and so on. These clubs also typically allow dirtier material, since they can become established names for "dirty" comedy or shows that usually cover adult themes.
- C rooms act as "neighborhood" comedy clubs, for the most part. The headliners are not usually very well known or popular, and the audiences are random walk-ins.
