Go to Laugh Boston for touring stand-up, Nick's Comedy Stop for the old-school room, and Improv Asylum if you would rather see sketch and improv. Then check the age rule before you buy, because these three differ more than you would think. No two of them set the same door age, and one splits its late show off for adults.
Boston has the pedigree. Time Out names Conan, Leary, Poehler and Clarke among the people who got going here. Pedigree does not sell tickets, though. These rooms do, and the history of the rooms is mostly a history of who managed to keep one.
A comedy town is a town with a stage
Comics need a room more than they need a scene, and the rooms here have a mixed record. Improv Asylum's own history says its founders were performing in the back room of the old Hard Rock Cafe on Clarendon Street, where the dressing room was an elevator shaft that no longer worked. The troupe lost its performance space when the cafe turned the room over to music.
The numbers in that story are small. The founders took out an SBA loan for $75k. They then found the vacant European Restaurant on Hanover Street. The theater says its first Boston comedy show was in May of 1998. It now advertises live shows 7 nights a week.
Set that next to the room the Time Out list ranks second. ImprovBoston began, in its own account, by playing small bars and restaurants around Boston and Somerville. It later moved into a 140 seat theater in Central Square. Its closing notice says that without a theater to call "our own," its chances of surviving were very low. Our reading is that the survivors below are the ones with a room that holds still. That is a pattern in what each says about itself, not a law of comedy.
Laugh Boston: the big seated room
Laugh Boston is the Seaport showroom for touring comics. It bills itself as a 300-seat, state-of-the-art venue. It sits in the lobby of the Westin Hotel. Its home page boasts 5,000 square feet of configurable space.
The club is 16+ and checks IDs. Its shows are generally R-rated, so expect an adult set even though 16- and 17-year-olds can get in. If you want an adults-only night, pick a different room.
There is no food or drink minimum, according to the club's FAQ. That means the ticket is the whole price of the seat. Doors open to the bar an hour before show time, so arrive early and have a drink first.
The cost that is not on the ticket is the garage. The club says it validates parking, reducing the rate to $17 (normally $40). That gap is the best argument for the Silver Line walk over the car, and our Seaport plan has the distances.
Nick's Comedy Stop: the room with no kitchen
Nick's Comedy Stop is the old-school room. It has been home to live stand-up since 1977, by its own account.
Eat first. It has a full bar and, per Time Out, no food. The club is 18+ only. It lists stand-up on Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm.
The neighborhood is a small puzzle. The club's own site puts it at 100 Warrenton Street in the historic Theatre District. Time Out calls it a comic theater staple in Bay Village. The two sources use different neighborhood names, so go by the street address. The site's parking tip is the Stuart Street Garage. The practical read: dinner nearby, then the show, then a ride, with no pit stop in between.
Improv Asylum: pick the show, not just the night
Improv Asylum is the pick for improv and sketch, and it is the one place on this list that runs an all-ages show and an adults-only one. The seasonal Main Stage show is listed as all ages. Raunch is billed as adults-only improv.
That late show is also where the cast can grab a drink and go uncensored, so pick the show that matches your group. The Main Stage show runs Saturdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays. Pair it with a North End dinner, and see our North End night for who is open when.
Beverly: a small room and a big one
Off Cabot is a small lounge with room for 125 seated and 150 standing. Its page calls it a hotspot for North Shore comedians. The Cabot opened this lounge in 2022 with John Tobin Presents. It says the room entertains over 15,000 guests yearly at ticketed events.
The Cabot in Beverly is the larger 850 seat venue. Check the listing for the age limit, and use the North Shore guide to plan the way back.
One to cross off
Older lists still send people to ImprovBoston in Central Square, which posted that it would wind down full operations December 31st, 2023. Its notice says the theater served over 40 years. Skip it, and be suspicious of any list that has not noticed.
Open mics, honestly
We do not list open mic nights. They move, change hosts and vanish, and a stale list is worse than none. Check the venue's own calendar or social page for the current week. If you would rather try it yourself, Improv Asylum offers stand-up classes.
Before you go
- Buy tickets from the venue's own site. Laugh Boston warns that resellers can leave you uninformed of last-minute changes.
- Bring ID.
- Plan the ride before the show, not after it. See getting home after last call, and pair the night with a Seaport plan if you are at Laugh Boston.