The New York City comedy community recently added a new addition that’s already shaking up the scene: Westside Comedy Club.
Located at 201 W. 75th Street, Westside Comedy Club is situated in New York City’s Upper West Side, just blocks away from the prolific Stand Up NY. It is owned by Eugene and Thomas Wilson with Gina Savage, Nina Ashe, and Lori Sommer managing the club.
We decided to check out the 8:00 PM show on 10/13/2017 and give our thoughts on what stood out about this new comedy establishment.
Interesting location & pristine venue.
The club itself isn’t hard to find with “Westside Comedy Club” painted on the wall, you get the feeling like you’re about to go on stage with a door that says “Stage Door A.” That however isn’t the primary entrance. The main entrance is through the upstairs restaurant, Playa Betty’s, which has a Mexican surf theme and also services the club. Once inside, you go down the stairs and check in at the ticket booth.
The venue itself is gorgeous, boasting a room that seats 100 people with the stage on one side of the room and a full bar on the other end.
The room had an interesting vibe. Something I’d call “urban refinement.” Even though we were on the the Upper West Side, it felt like you could be downtown and had similarities to Comedy Cellar.
Notable names on the calendar.
For a new club, I was surprised to see such notable pro comics on the lineup for the 8:00 PM show. Nicole Korkolis hosted with her cute and witty stage persona. Joe DeVito opened the show selling the “average Joe in a harsh world” demeanor (I still can’t get over how he goes to Walmart to boost his self-esteem). Neko White gave us the urban flare of the show while Harrison Greenbaum gave us what I felt was close enough to being the LGBT portion of the show (he’s not gay according to him). Big Jay Oakerson rounded out the show letting the room know he’s “open to trannies” and had a conversation with a young woman in the audience who plays bike polo. I was just as confused as you to learn that is actually a thing.
Future lineups include pros like Mike Cannon, Chris DiStefano, and Sherrod Small.
Great service.
The most important thing any club has to offer its guest is service.
The order came out quickly and promptly, but what I was more surprised to see was how warm and welcoming the staff was with the patrons. I’ve been to many comedy clubs and don’t see that often where the guests are able to interact warmly with the staff. I even saw the owner, Eugene Ashe, interacting with the crowd before the show which I found to be rare.
Overall, the Westside Comedy Club has all the right elements to become a premier New York City comedy establishment and we recommend you check it out to see for yourself.
For more information on shows check out https://westsidecomedyclub.com/.