Laughter Lounge

Had a really great night here. I seen 4 great comedians, one of which was superb and had me and my friend crying with laughter. He did a little bit of magic, great crowd participation, though i was very glad i wasnt sitting in the front row!
They were all talented though and much better than I expected having been to many average stand up comedy nights over the years.
the food was ok nothing special but good enough value and certainly nothing to complain about.

Had a brilliant night out with work. Had some nibbles which were lovely. The staff were on the ball and the entertainment was top notch, I will definitely be returning

I love comedy. Good or bad, stand up always makes me laugh — often for different reasons — but it always guarantees a fun night out. The Laughter Lounge is a great spot for a full evening of entertainment for a decent price. Bonus: if you get there before 8pm and get yourself a free drink included within admission.
If you follow the Irish comedy circuit, you’ll defiantly see some familiar faces popping up time after time, but they generally keep their sets fresh. Most love a bit of audience participation, particularly the MCs, so stay away from the front couple of rows unless you’re feeling brave! I’m a scaredy cat so tend to hide in the sea of people in the middle rows but more power to you if you wanna take them on!
Tickets are priced at around € 20 — usually finishing up at around 11pm, but there’s never a pressure to run out the door after the show. Music on, bar open, you can hang around til well after midnight and soak up the atmosphere. The only downside to this place is the food: avoid at all costs, but don’t let it put you off coming here.

I liked the laughter lounge for its amazing facilities but I do have to say, it’s a little bit too commercial-​y in my opinion (almost everything seems to be an opportunity to sell you the food). I know they were checking people’s bags to make sure they didn’t ‘smuggle’ snacks in… which is just a tad bit too far in my opinion. :-/​
The host is wonderful and he does try to engage the entire audience while singling out and attempting to shut the hecklers down.
Comedy is always fun, but to tell you the truth, I enjoy the comedy cellar @ the International Bar just as much (maybe more) perhaps for its coziness that this place lacks.

Went here last night and although the comedy was alright (the MC could definitely have been better) all I’m going to remember from the night is their weird bouncer who was clearly on a serious power-​trip.
Since when is it customary to search through peoples’ bags going into a comedy show? I had a water bottle in it and this bouncer grabbed it out and threw it in the bin, I told him it was just water but his answer was «You would’t bring a water bottle to a restaurant» –No I wouldn’t bring a water bottle to a restaurant, but the Laughter Lounge is not a restaurant you berk. It was so unnecessary.
That wasn’t the last of him though, throughout the entire show he stalked around us making it obvious that he was checking to make sure we weren’t sneaking in alcohol or something, and we had bought a bottle of wine from the bar so I have no idea what his problem was.
During the show we didn’t talk much at all, not that it’s against the rules to talk at a comedy show, and not that it would make any difference if we did anyway because the venue is so huge, but at one point my friend said something to me and this bouncer came straight up to us and gave out to us for talking saying that we’d be kicked out if we didn’t stop?!
All I can say is this bonehead bouncer was totally out of line and I would be very hesitant to go back purely from that experience.

«You know that sinking feeling you get when you’ve lent your mate money, haven’t had it back yet and then you see them drinking down the pub? Well if you’re out tonight, and you happen to be chatting with some Germans, just do the polite thing and hide your pint, yeah?»
Well I laughed!
I can’t really fault the Laughter Lounge — great open venue with consistent talent at it’s helm. It’s also great value — the other day when we got there, you got a free Sol if you were in before 7.30pm. If you’re in a group of 10 or more, they do all sorts of deals like free transport from anywhere in Dublin to and from the venue.
Oh also — slices of pizza at the midway point for 2.50 a go. Just when you’re about to get peckish. Nice work lads, very clever!

I picked this as the venue for my sister’s hen night. We went for the package for € 29.95 which includes your ticket, food platters and a cocktail, with a bottle of bubbly for the hen.
They don’t tell you that you have to be in before 19:30 for the cocktail. I argued the point and they gave it to me then but I was disappointed that I had to do that as this wasn’t made clear to me, we had been in the pub next door since 6pm and could have easily made it in before half 7. We were there just after and nothing was even mentioned about the cocktail until I brought it up.
The bouncer was fairly agressive, saying I couldn’t bring any of the items I had for the hen down to the floor with me, saying I had to hand them in to the coat-​check. He took confetti champagne off me. Again, this is something that could have easily been made clear beforehand. Arguing seems to help in this venue as he let me take the other items down to the floor area after some back and forth.
The platters were lovely and so were the cockails. The bar staff is quite slow though so I would reccommend getting your drinks in multiples.
There was a cocunut throwing game at the side for a free bucket of sol, but this was not advertised at all, and so missed by many.
The show was «La Carnival» So the first performer brilliant, Lindsay Benner, she used the music brilliantly and she made all these different faces and stuff. She juggled and she was just excellent!!!
The second guy «Ross Vegas» wasn’t great at all, he had some great skill for the beatboxing and doing acrobats and stuff but he was a bit amateur. The last guy was «The Space Cowboy» who swallowed a sword, danced with his hat and rode a unicycle that was 9 foot high while juggling knives.
I had to ask for the free bottle of bubbly, and it was placed to the side of the dancefloor, and I didn’t notice it until late.
The disco was fairly dead later on in the night, only about 30 bodies there but we brought our own fun so we stayed on.
I wouldn’t rule this out as a venue as it was a fairly good package, I think they could definately brush up their overall presentation and make this a much slicker experience for all involved.

So I felt like laughing and wanted to lounge. The laughter lounge seemed the perfect spot.
They get you in like 2 hours before the show starts to fill you with drinks and give you a taste for the cocktails. This means the more rowdy among the crowd can heckle the crap out of the last comedian.
The atmosphere is good and they know how to get the crowd going but the comedians themselves can be very hit and miss. Much like any comedy club I imagine. The first two comedians were alright although one of them talked to the crowd so much I got the feeling he had forgotten his entire act and was resorting to the last desperate ploy of a rubbish stand-​up. Comedians tell jokes. Talking to the crowd is fine in moderation but when it starts to constitute 90% of your slot then you’re just being lazy. Write some damn jokes!
The final act was none other than Fred Cooke (aka Fergus from the Spar ads). I thought he was much better than people gave him credit for but the crowd didn’t help him out one bit. No less then three hen/​stag parties were present.
We didn’t stick around for the disco as I heard it was something to be avoided.

This should be considered a review of the Laughter Lounge L (LL) as experienced seeing the Craic Pack (CP)-both were so much fun it like a twofer evening.
The LL is a pretty straight forward venue with basic tables and chairs and a small stage. It’s both big enough to be a dance club after the comedy shows and small enough that with the right seating arrangement, it feels pretty intimate. Plus there are some nice. comedic touches…
It’s a little disconcerting to try to use the urinal with giant blow up pictures of women with rulers, cameras and, yes, even magnifying glasses looking down… right down, at the anatomy in question, but the restrooms (I have to take the information on the women’s loo on faith, but my missus says they were fine) were unusually clean and bright for that kind of venue, so I figured they were worth mentioning. Did I mention the magnifying glass?
We were there to see the Craic Pack (for my US readers, CRAIC is Irish for feckin’ hilarious). This is a troupe of improv comedy actors, and speaking as 1) a huge fan of improv (REAL, unscripted, seat-​of-​your-​pants improv), 2) a huge huge fan of Whose Line is it Anyway, and 3) a one-​time actor and improv sketcher myself (many many many years ago), these guys 100% rocked the house.
Where else can you see a scene about a Moldovian blindfold factory that also makes toasters and participates in the EU workers exchange program, watch the adventures of a Crucifix Accountant, AND get a free drink if you’re there before 7:30 for the 8pm show? And there’s lots of audience participation, including the chance to tell the actors to f* off from time to time.
We didn’t stay for the after-​show dance club, but admission to the dance club part of the evening is part of the admission for the show, so it adds a nice bit to stretch out the evening.
Bottom Line: I can’t think of a more fun way to go out spend and € 12 on a weeknight, esp. because of that free drink. For a couple of tenners a person, a group can have just about the best legal time in the city.

Useless as a pub but great as a venue. Some really good comedy acts play here and most of them aren’t even that expensive. They sweep away the tables and chairs after the show and it becomes a club, late bar and all. Pints can be pricey but it’s a good night when you can afford it.
There’s also a pool table in the backstage area, I keep ending up in there.