Profile

This Upper West Side comedy club has been hosting name-brand comics since Robin Williams took to the stage shortly after its opening in 1986. Since then it's been one of the city's incubators of stand-up nobility, having featured Roseanne Barr, Dave Chappelle, Jerry Seinfeld, and Jon Stewart. (Owner Cary Hoffman says that the latter asked him to be his manager, but "I wasn't into management then. What a dope!"). The interior isn't much to look at: The walls are decorated with two small signs for the club and a few caged lightbulbs. Small black tables provide cramped seating for 175. But the stage is packed with ripe talent, such as Jim Gaffigan, Mitch Fatel, Lynne Koplitz, and Russ Meneve (who says of having sex with a clown: "I thought I was getting this really rough hand job; I looked down and my penis was twisted into a giraffe"). The club also hosts occasional spots for blockbusters, like Chris Rock, Seinfeld, and Williams. — Danny Freedman

Sun.–Thu., $15; Fri.–Sat., $20; all days have a two-drink minimum

Open Mic
Mon., Wed. and Fri., 5:30 p.m.–7 p.m.