The Boston Comedy Club was an American

comedy club 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, ventriloquist ...

that was located at 82 West 3rd Street in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, New York City between Thompson Street and

Sullivan Street Sullivan Street is a street in Lower Manhattan, which previously ran north from Duarte Square at Canal Street, but since around 2012 begins at Broome Street, to Washington Square South, through the neighborhoods of Hudson Square, SoHo, the So ...

. The club was open from 1988 to 2005 and was a starting point for comedians such as

Sarah Silverman Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American comedian, actress, and writer. Silverman was a writer and performer on ''Saturday Night Live'', and she starred in and produced ''The Sarah Silverman Program'', which ran from 2007 to ...

Jim Gaffigan James Christopher Gaffigan (born July 7, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. His material often addresses fatherhood, laziness, food, religion, and general observations. He is regarded as a "clean" comic, using l ...

Neal Brennan Neal Brennan (born October 19, 1973) is an American comedian, writer, producer, director, and podcaster. He is best known for co-creating and co-writing the Comedy Central series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006) with Dave Chappelle and for his ...

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer and singer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1995, before going on to star in numerous Hollywood films, those of wh ...

Jeff Ross Jeffrey Ross Lifschultz (born September 13, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known as the "Roastmaster General" for his insult comedy, his multiple appearances at celebrity roasts held by the New York Friars Club, the ...

Bert Kreischer Bert Kreischer (born November 3, 1972), nicknamed "The Machine", is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, reality television host and actor. In 1997, he was featured in an article in ''Rolling Stone'' while attending Florida State University ...

Pete Holmes Peter Benedict Holmes (born March 30, 1979) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and podcaster. Musings on spirituality and religion are frequent themes in his works. Holmes gained recognition in the early 2010s as a stand-up comic, ...

Nate Bargatze Nathanael Lee "Nate" Bargatze (born March 25, 1979) is an American comedian. Early life Nathanael Bargatze was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 25, 1979, the son of Carole and Stephen Bargatze. His father is of Italian descent and is a fo ...

, and

Andrew Schulz Andrew Cameron Schulz (born October 30, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, television producer and podcaster. In addition to his stand-up, he is known for his work on MTV2's ''Guy Code'' (and its two spinoffs),

History

The Boston Comedy Club was founded in 1988 by comedy talent manager and producer

Barry Katz Barry Katz is a television producer, film producer and talent manager. He was the owner and founder of the Boston Comedy Club in New York City and helped launch the careers of many successful comedians, including Bill Burr, Dane Cook, Louis C.K ...

. Katz started as a stand-up comedian in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in the 1980s, later becoming a booking agent for other comedians. Katz also opened up a talent agency in New York City and

Louis C.K. Louis Alfred Székely (; born September 12, 1967), known professionally as Louis C.K. (), is an American stand-up comedian, screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker. C.K. won three Peabody Awards, three Grammy Awards, six Primetime Emmy Awards, and a ...

, whom Katz met while in Boston, was his first client. C.K. also helped Katz to install the wiring and lighting at the Boston Comedy Club and was the first comedian to perform there.

(co-creator of ''

Chappelle Show ''Chappelle's Show'' is an American sketch comedy television series created by comedians Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, with Chappelle hosting the show and starring in the majority of its sketches. Chappelle, Brennan, and Michele Armour were th ...

'') started as a doorman at the club and counted the experience as one of "10 Defining Moments" in his comedy career as per the list he put together for ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' magazine's pop culture website ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

''. It was at the Boston Comedy Club that Brennan first performed stand up and where he first met

Dave Chappelle David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006), which he starred in until quitting in the middle of p ...

and

all worked as "barkers" for the club in their early careers—barkers are responsible for announcing line ups and distributing fliers to people passing by the club's entrance.

started his comedy career at the club, performing there at age 17.

's first stand up performance was in 1994 at one of the club's

open mic An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether the ...

nights. The club closed its doors in 2005. In 2016 a re-creation of the club was built for Pete Holmes's semi-autobiographical television series '' Crashing''. During Katz's 2016 appearance on the ''Be Here For A While'' podcast hosted by comedian Rachael O'Brien, Katz was asked: "Why did you call the club 'The Boston Comedy Club' in New York?" Katz responded: "Because clearly I'm an idiot."

References

{{Reflist Comedy clubs in Manhattan Defunct comedy clubs in the United States Greenwich Village