The Ice House Comedy Club is a comedy club located at 24 Mentor Avenue in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

. The Ice House continues to thrive and during its many decades of operation has entertained over four million people.

History

It was opened in 1960 by Willard Chilcott who, soon after, took on folk music icon Bob Stane as his partner.Toland, Terry
"Bob Stane: For the Man Who Owned Pasadena's Ice House - It's All For The Love of the Game"
'' No Depression'' magazine, March 3, 2011. Interview with Bob Stane. From 1960 to 1978, The Ice House, originally managed by Keith Pearce, aka, O'Brien, was a

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

club with acts coming from around the country to perform. During that same time, many comedians also appeared at the club. In 1978, the original owners were bought out by a trio of investors led by Bob Fisher who changed the format of the club to stand-up comedy.

Notable people

Among performers who have recorded some of the more than 75 live albums at the club are the Smothers Brothers,

Gallagher Gallagher may refer to: Places United States * Gallagher Township, Pennsylvania * Gallagher, West Virginia, an unincorporated place People * Gallagher (comedian) (1946–2022), American stand-up comedian * Gallagher (surname) Fictional characte ...

Lily Tomlin Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin (born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She started her career as a stand-up comedian as well as performing off-Broadway during the 1960s. Her breakout role was on the vari ...

, Pat Paulsen,

Richard Jeni Richard John Colangelo (April 14, 1957DOB according to Jeni's Website
and Social Security Death Ind ...

and George Lopez. Other comedians who have performed at the Ice House include: Bob Newhart,

George Carlin George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American comedian, actor, author, and social critic. Regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of countercul ...

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...

Jim Carrey James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and artist. Known for his energetic slapstick performances, Carrey first gained recognition in 1990, after landing a role in the American sketch comedy te ...

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...

Dennis Miller Dennis Michael Miller (born November 3, 1953) is an American talk show host, political commentator, sports commentator, actor, and comedian. He was a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1991, and he subsequently hosted a stri ...

Howie Mandel Howard Michael Mandel (born November 29, 1955) is a Canadian-American comedian, television personality, actor, and producer. Mandel voiced the character Gizmo in the 1984 film ''Gremlins'' and the 1990 sequel '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch''. I ...

Jerry Seinfeld Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a Jerry Seinfeld (character), semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom ''Seinfeld'', which he ...

, Billy Crystal, Steve Martin, Ellen DeGeneres,

Garry Shandling Garry Emmanuel Shandling (November 29, 1949 – March 24, 2016) was an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer. Shandling began his career writing for sitcoms, such as '' Sanford and Son'' and ''Welcome Back, Kotter''. He made ...

, Sinbad, Bill Hicks,

Bill Maher William Maher (; born January 20, 1956) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is known for the HBO political talk show ''Real Time with Bill Maher'' (2003–present) and the similar la ...

, Gabe Kaplan,

Paula Poundstone Paula Poundstone (born December 29, 1959) is an American stand-up comedian, author, actor, interviewer, and commentator. Beginning in the late 1980s, she performed a series of one-hour HBO comedy specials. She provided backstage commentary durin ...

, Rosie O'Donnell, Cheech & Chong, Tim Allen, Paul Rodriguez, Dana Carvey, Joey Diaz, Arsenio Hall,

Joe Rogan Joseph James Rogan (born August 11, 1967) is an American UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly ...

, Bill Burr, Chris D’Elia, Bert Kreischer and Ken Jeong.

References

External links

* Comedy clubs in California Event venues established in 1960 1960 establishments in California Tourist attractions in Pasadena, California Buildings and structures in Pasadena, California {{US-entertainment-company-stub