Greenwich Village Comedy Club

I am a comic so I might be biased slightly but this place is great. Manager Mel and bartender Tiff are both very friendly. At any time of the week, they have a great lineup and you can catch up and coming rising comics (like myself ;)) here for a good price. The stage and the audience area is close and intimate. It might not be comedy cellar but certainly you will have fun here! A lot of mixed crowds. Visitors from abroad as well as locals.

I was pretty skeptical at first because of the previous reviews. Basically this place is hit or miss, luckily I caught a hit. The comedians were pretty funny and I was part of a decent crowd. The 2 drink minimum is enforced fully and beers are pricey ($ 9 a Heineken plus tip and tax added on the bill). Not a bad thing to do if you can grab discounted tickets just make sure you check the line up beforehand.

Oh man, we had a rough night here. We planned poorly and didn’t get into the Comedy Cellar. Since we were in the village anyway we decided to go here for a show as they had plenty of seats. To be fair, the host and one or two of the «billed» comedians were funny. But then it went downhill really fast. It seemed more like an open mike night and it was just awful; it went on and on for more than 2 and a half hours. I understand that comedians need to work on their material, but I felt kind of captive in my seat waiting through well over ten performers. We hung on so as not to be rude to the performers, but left absolutely exhausted from trying to laugh politely. Definitely would recommend shorter shows and more screening here, as it seemed unfair to the comics who were decent.

I saw Anthony kapfer here, and he was super cool. The mc was also pretty good, but the vibe was a weird confusion of nyc art freaks on the mic and tourists who have no idea what to make of a small dank basement and some rough sets. Think frat boys at a goth club. Weird. I’m glad I checked it out, but not for the comedy beginners.

We went here the other night there was no cover and no drink minimum it was someone on the street who was telling us to come on in so we did.
Myself my friend and literally for other people were in the audience which must’ve made it very difficult for the comedians.
They had an MC and probably close to 15 or 20 comedians I lost count.
Out of all of them several were pretty funny most of them were dreadfully painful to watch and one was phenomenal.
Finally on the show was over we were so thankful because we were sitting there for 2 ½ hours we didn’t want to get up in the middle of the show because we felt the comedians needed somebody in the audience.
When it was over they immediately began a new show and the new MC immediately got up and started saying all welcome to the show and going on with spiel and it was bad.
We stood up and he said oh you doing?
We said I was sorry we have to leave now we been here for a long time.
And we went out the door.
It’s like being held comedy hostage.
I would probably go to the place underneath the Olive tree restaurant. It seems when I passed by there was a lot of laughter coming from there and they were crowds of people.

I came here with a group of friends and for the most part it was funny and laugh-​provoking… But the comedians did not expect anyone to talk back. I have really funny friends and the comedians were not ready for that. They insulted him personally and us as a country after too boot. Will never go back.

Went here last night while my husband and I were in NYC for the weekend. We were part of a bar crawl and were told we did not have to adhere to the 2 drink minimum (bud lights are $ 8!!!). We ordered 3 drinks and then the waiter came over at he end of the night telling us we needed to buy our 4^th drink. The leader of the bar crawl told him the manager said we didn’t and they continued to argue for several minutes. What an ass. No tip for him! Wouldn’t go back. Comics were OK.

You can find a lot better clubs. The talent is hit or miss. The cover and menu is expensive. If you want a cheaper alternative, usually there are kids in the neighborhood throwing «free» comedy nights at other bars. There is no cover, but at least one drink is required. Sure they might not be that funny, but it won’t cost you 80 bucks like this place.

We had reservations for the Comedy Cellar on the next night, but we were walking in the neighbourhood and sellers got my friend to buy 2 tickets for this (dump) place and gave her an amazing deal of 2 for $ 40 instead of $ 50, but the show was in an hour, so we went walking around (in the bitterly freezing damp cold february night) and came back on time, but NO ONE was there…
We waited, then someone came and said that they had to clean the snow and ice off from the stairs, and to come back in 20 minutes!
By now you can guess where this review is going, and CHANGE YOUR MIND about giving this place a shot… but I will continue.
We come back and walk down to this disgusting basement dump (compared to the Comedy Cellar, even street alleys are warmer and cleaner than this!) only to find out that there is only one other couple in the club.
I ask when the show will start and the (creepy)door man/​seller/​manager says in about 20 minutes!
By now I knew that this was a BIG MISTAKE and I wasn’t gonna sit on their dirty chairs, in their cold, damp, cruddy basement, all 4 of us, waiting for a possibility that in another 20 min. there could be more people and there might be an actual show going on!
I asked the couple if they had a good feeling about all this, and decided to get our money back and go to the COMEDY CELLAR instead.
And we did just that and had an amazing time at the COMEDY CELLAR.
How this place is this «up and running» is a mystery.
It will cost you as much money to go to either one, so the decision is ultimately yours.
Do you wanna go to a CREEPY BASEMENT DUMP or to a (world) renowned comedy club?
We never saw any acts at this place, because we were wise enough to figure that this place was a scam.
Visited February 2015

This comedy club on McDougal is located in the basement giving that back in the day Greenwich Village vibe.
Ryan Decalos comedy show featured a wide range of comics. Sean Ryan was outstanding and Ryan Decalos was funny.
Some comedians were vvets and some were newbies but it was entertaining.
Policy of two drinks.
6pm show great value great fun.

Their idea of comedy: Dirty jokes. Some awful comedians… Some were good but nothing impressive.

Other reviews are pretty accurate. Some of the comedians were funny, some weren’t.
— they hound you about the $ 2 minimum and are actually kind of rude about it.
— the vendors selling tickets on the street listed a lineup of comedians that didn’t perform. Almost all of the people they said would be there were not.
— the place itself is a dump. In fact, 5 minutes into the show the air conditioner completely soaked me with nasty AC water. Gross.
— I completely agree with the previous references to this place as a «fire death trap.» We were crammed into this place.
— comedy was decent. Some of the people were funny. Some were just uncomfortable.

The ticket vender just wants to sell you tickets. He’ll lie and tell you that you can buy drinks even if you’re in standing room. Because he wants to get you in the door.
I had to stand because I came late. Understandable. But the waiters flat out refused to sell me drinks. Because I didn’t have a table and he couldn’t remember where to put my bill in.
I was eventually given a seat (no table though) because I was standing in front of the kitchen so I convinced the bartender to serve me but i had to listen to 40 mins of mediocre comics sober and that’s not funny.
Out of the 12 comics about 4 were genuinely funny. Per other reviews that seems to be the general percentage. So go if you’d like to laugh 33% of the time you’re there but don’t go late because ppl who stand don’t get drinks.

It seems that I came the same night as Kapil A. (June 1) I am not sure why they let two children in or why the parents brought the kids, but it was awkward for the patrons and comedians. The highlights — Nick Alexander the host was on point all night and Petey DeAbreu killed. A younger comic who had an act centered around his Russian family in Connecticut, who sadly is not listed on the Comedy Club’s website, was subtle and hilarious.
In fact, all was well until the racist veteran comic’s set. Few of the later comics picked up on the fact that the crowd wasn’t into their racist jokes. One comic intimated that his German date would like to put him into a brick pizza oven, which was not funny and was in bad taste. A similarly offensive joke centered on a friend crashing planes into the comic.
Even more problematic was that a number of comics persisted to deploy racist jokes targeted of the audience members from the Middle East. No one laughed because these jokes were not funny, but apparently many of the comics felt the need to rehash these racist comments. Maybe they were testing the crowd to see how much racism would be tolerated. Whatever the reason, they failed. In short this was bad form. If no one is laughing its not because they don’t get the joke, its because its a bad joke — move on to a new topic. Being a good comic means being quick on your feet and most of the comedians performing on June 1 showed that they could not adapt. Too bad. Nick and Petey did a great job warming the crowd up, but the later comics couldn’t close the deal.

Comedy comes here to die. Literally… These must be the dregs of comedic society. We were solicited by a salesman after realizing that the comedy show at comedy cellar was sold out.
There were maybe 15 comics that did bits. Maybe 2 were funny… The club let in a 12 and 13 year old… All the comics kept fixating on the fact that there were children there… Odd since they were talking about R-​rated topics. This was very annoying.
One of the veteran comics was just plain racist. Aggressively racist and no one was laughing. It was honestly uncomfortable.
I left this place feeling crappy.
If you find the following funny: rape, racism — particularly against Islamic & Jewish people, or poorly timed and delivered comedy then maybe this place is for you.
I feel like I need to bleach my brain after this insanity.
I will never get those hours back, my only regret in life.

Met a street hustler that was selling tickets for this place right outside the Comedy Cellar. Since it was a popular Saturday night, the Cellar had a huge waiting list.
He initially wanted face value $ 20/​ticket with 2 drink minimum per person. We talked down to $ 10 per person cover, which wasn’t bad for the last show on Saturday.
Acts were pretty good but don’t sit near the stage if you’re sensitive. You’ll get roasted on your ethnicity or relationship with your significant other.
Lucky for us, we find these jokes funny. That’s why the reviews are on two extremes. If you’re sensitive on those topics, I would avoid.

A lot of these reviews attribute their low ratings to the comedians making fun of them, and the drink minimum. Please look past that. I took a date here last night and had a wonderful time. A good comedian works with his surroundings, not an entirely prewritten set, and if you couldn’t guess, a comedians surroundings are the audience and the venue (and they poked fun at both!) As for the drink minimum, a business needs to make money, and if you’re going out in NYC and not having two drinks (given that you drink alcohol) you NEED a little more comedy in your life!
All that aside, most of the comedians were hilarious, and really engaged the audience. It was definitely a show that had to be seen in person. You can’t experience that on Comedy Central. I had a great time, and will definitely be back!

Never again.
Took a chance on this place and was pretty disappointed. Bought the tickets on the street normally $ 20 each, and worked the guy down to $ 10 each.
The venue is very intimate, we went on a Sunday night so only 13 people came to the show; they sat us all right in front of the tiny stage.
There is a $ 15 drink minimum (each drink is $ 8 – 10 and they don’t have a wide selection), which they don’t tell you when you buy the tickets, and a couple sitting across from us was told 2 drinks came with each ticket purchase. The guy fought them for it when asked to pay and he never came back for the rest of the show.
Get ready to be made fun of, it