The Stress Factory is a

stand-up Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

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 ...

chain owned by comedian

Vinnie Brand Vincent S. Brand III (born July 6, 1963) is an American stand-up comedian from Middletown, NJ. He is best known for being the owner of The Stress Factory Comedy Clubs located in New Brunswick, NJ and Bridgeport, CT. Brand has also made televis ...

. The clubs are in New Brunswick, New Jersey and Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Incidents

Greg Giraldo's final performance

On September 24, 2010,

Greg Giraldo Gregory Carlos Giraldo (December 10, 1965 – September 29, 2010) was an American stand-up comedian, television personality, and lawyer. He is remembered for his appearances on Comedy Central's televised roast specials, and for his work on ...

performed his last comedy stand-up routine at the New Brunswick club, and was scheduled to perform the following Saturday and Sunday as well. However, the next day, Giraldo

overdosed A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended.

on prescription pills in his

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

hotel room, and then, all the other shows were cancelled. Although there are over 700 videos of recorded past events and shows from the Stress Factory on YouTube, the Stress Factory had removed any footage of Greg Giraldo's previous shows that happened before the incident. On October 3, 2010, TMZ.com posted a video on their web site of his final performance at the Stress Factory.

Pete Davidson walkout

On April 29, 2019,

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

comedian

Pete Davidson Peter Michael Davidson (born November 16, 1993) is an American comedian and actor. He was a cast member of the NBC late-night sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (SNL) for eight seasons, running from 2014 to 2022. Davidson's ...

walked out of a scheduled performance for the Bridgeport club after Davidson claimed the owner,

, "disrespected" him for mentioning Ariana Grande and

Kate Beckinsale Kathrin Romany Beckinsale (born 26 July 1973) is an English actress and model. After some minor television roles, her film debut was ''Much Ado About Nothing'' (1993) while a student at the University of Oxford. She appeared in British costume ...

on stage before his scheduled time slot. However, Brand claimed that he was only accommodating what Davidson's security guard told him to do by telling the audience to not call out those names while Davidson would have been on stage.

Technical difficulties during Eddie Griffin performance

On August 30, 2019, comedian

Eddie Griffin Edward Rubin Griffin (born July 15, 1968) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for portraying Eddie Sherman in the sitcom '' Malcolm & Eddie'', the title character in the 2002 comedy film '' Undercover Brother'', and Tiberius Jef ...

was scheduled to perform at the New Brunswick location. However, as Griffin took the stage, the club's circuit breaker went down causing the lighting and microphones to not work during his set. Griffin became frustrated with the technical malfunctions that he accused the owner,

, and the venue's management of racism to which reportedly Brand had dismissed those claims. Griffin was also scheduled to perform the following night, August 31, 2019, but cancelled the performances due to the technical difficulties even though Brand stated the circuit breaker would be fixed in time. Comedian Drew Fraser became the replacement for the Saturday shows and the patrons for Griffin's shows had their ticket money refunded.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stress Factory Comedy clubs in the United States Buildings and structures in New Brunswick, New Jersey Tourist attractions in New Brunswick, New Jersey