Comedy is an art form that has been around for centuries, and it's no surprise that the United States is home to some of the best comedy clubs in the world. From the iconic Comedy Store in Los Angeles to the historic Mitzi Shore stage in Nashville, there are plenty of places to get your laugh on. But which comedy clubs are the best? With that in mind, here's Comedyville's ranking of the 10 best comedy clubs in North America. The Comedy Store in Los Angeles has been a mecca for stand-up comedians and fans alike for over four decades.
It's a contemporary entertainment comedy club that has helped create LA's thriving comedy scene. The Comedy Cellar in New York City is an institution that recalls the crazy and dizzying days of the comedy boom of the eighties. It was founded in 1983, and no respectable comic from the 1970s or more has skipped a spot on the iconic Mitzi Shore stage, which is currently the base of operations for Marc Maron, Jerrod Carmichael, Ari Shaffir, Pauly Shore and others. The Annoyance Theater & Bar in Chicago offers customers a variety of rowdy shows, including Chicago's oldest musical, Coed Prison Sluts.
There's also an Annoyance Theater in New York City, but the original one is in Chicago. The Rittenhouse-area Helium Comedy Club in Philadelphia used to be the Sunset Strip in Philadelphia in the 1960s and 70s, with some of the trendiest (and first) cafes in the city center, live music venues, clothing stores, theaters and spaces focused on the LGBTQ+ community. It has large last-minute rooms that announce their anonymous and late arrival by text message (Louis CK has made more than one visit during what Helium titles his series “Top Secret Stand Up Confidential”), it welcomes big names and fantastic places —past and present— on a weekly basis without fail and, honestly, it has some of the best restaurants a comedy club can offer. The Second City in Chicago is a comedy campus with theaters, spaces for clubs only for monologues, a cabaret, a lounge and several smaller blackbox stages that facilitate Comedy Sportz.
It's no longer the small and stinky classroom that Del Close founded.
Funny Bone
, located on the old hippie stretch of Sansom Village in Portland, offers contemporary entertainment comedy club that has helped create Portland's thriving comedy scene. The club's comedy scene includes many famous names such as Greg Giraldo, Dave Attell and Nick Thune. There's also a Funny Bone located in Des Moines which is Iowa's only improv comedy club and it knows how to get (and keep) its reservation on Seinfeld Speak.The best comedy club in Iowa pays attention to fresh voices of new comedians and their diversity at all levels.
Yuk Yuk's
, one of Canada's oldest comedy clubs located in Toronto, is best known for creating one of Canada's best rising stars. The best comedy club in Canada often uses YouTube, podcasts, TikTok and other online entities and social networks to spread its word.Acme Comedy Company
, located in Minneapolis since 1981, has welcomed several renowned comedians to its stage including Frank Caliendo, Craig Ferguson, Nick Swardson and Josh Weinstein.On top of that they pay attention to fresh voices of new comedians and their diversity at all levels.
