The Comedy Workshop and the attached ''Comix Annex'' was a

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, ventriloquists, ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Opened in 1978 It was quite popular in the 1980s and the breeding ground for a group of influential comics, once known as the ''

Texas Outlaw Comics The Texas Outlaw Comics were a group of comedians based in Houston, Texas in the mid-1980s.Staff report (April 18, 1991). 'Texas outlaw' fires from the lip. ''Washington Times'' Formed at the Comedy Workshop comedy club in Houston, early members i ...

'' that included

Ron Shock Howard Ronald "Ron" Shock (October 19, 1942 – May 17, 2012) was an American comedian and storyteller who was best known for his reenactments of stories that he extracted from newspapers. Early life Shock was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico.Wea ...

, Riley Barber,

Bill Hicks William Melvin Hicks (December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material—encompassing a wide range of social issues including religion, politics, and philosophy—wa ...

, Jimmy Pineapple, Steve Epstein, John Farnetti, Carl LaBove and Andy Huggins. Comedian Brett Butler of

Grace Under Fire ''Grace Under Fire'' is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 29, 1993, to February 17, 1998. The show starred Brett Butler as a single mother learning how to cope with raising her three children alone after finally divorcing her ...

fame and SNL longtime writer T. Sean Shannon honed their skills as members of the CW competitive dysfunction. In addition,

Sam Kinison Samuel Burl Kinison ( ; December 8, 1953 – April 10, 1992) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. A former Pentecostal preacher, he performed stand-up routines that were characterized by intense sudden tirades, punctuated with his distinc ...

had his beginnings at the Workshop as well, with it being the location of where his 1993 posthumous comedy album, ''

Live from Hell ''Live From Hell'' is the fourth and final comedy album by Sam Kinison. It was released in 1993, a year after his death in an automobile accident. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album, Grammy Award for Best Spoken Comedy Album. T ...

'', was recorded. The workshop side of the Comedy Workshop was a spawning ground for

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

al comedic actors, with regular shows made up of Sketches, primarily those grown out of improvisational exercises. The founders were Steve and Vicki Farrell and Paul and Sharon Menzel. It grew out of the collaboration of the Farrells and Menzels at

Dudley Riggs Dudley Riggs (January 18, 1932 – September 22, 2020) was an improvisational comedian who created the Instant Theater Company in New York, which later moved to Minneapolis to become the Brave New Workshop comedy troupe. Family and early care ...

Brave New Workshop The Brave New Workshop (BNW), based in Minneapolis, Minnesota was founded by Dudley Riggs in 1958 and is the longest running sketch and improvisational comedy theater in the US. BNW continues the tradition, of writing, producing, and performing ...

in Minneapolis, Minnesota, when the founders came to Houston in the 1970s. Rich Mills, who went on to perform with the Farrells at the Radio Music Theater was a longtime collaborator. Pat Southard was the Workshop's indispensable Keyboard player and offstage collaborator, contributing musical cues, live sound effects (including billiard balls in a one foot square pool table) and occasional voices. Pat, along with Rich Mills moved on to the Radio Music Theater with the Farrells. Numerous alumni from the Workshop and the Comedy Workshop Touring Company went on to involvement in national projects. Pat Dougherty went on to write and produce the long Running sitcom Empty Nest, spun off from Golden Girls. Other notable performers at the Workshop or in the Touring Company include Jerry Young, Kathy Drago, Stewart Arnold, Pamela Richards, Roger Manning, Ken Polk, Ronnie Foster (sic), Karen Rosen, Toni Potts, Kevin Cawood, Shane McClure, Sylvia Cooper
EJ Nolan
Author, Dan Barton, Producer, Fred Greenlee, Ericc Davis, Louis Allen Epstein, Bill Silva, Philip Owens, Mike Shiloh, David Ayala, and Dee Macaluso, who was among many who worked both sides of the Workshop doing both Improv Comedy, as well as Standup in the Annex. The Workshop closed in the early 1990s and then became a

dry cleaners Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a solvent other than water. Dry cleaning still involves liquid, but clothes are instead soaked in a water-free liquid solvent. Tetrachloroethylene (perchloroethylene), known in ...

, which closed as well. The Comedy Workshop is now a high end liquor and fine wines store in 2013."Richards Liquors"
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References

Defunct comedy clubs in the United States Culture of Houston {{Leisure-company-stub