The Night Comedy Came Back to New York City: April 2, 2021
Comedy is Back at Gotham Comedy Club, The Comedy Cellar, New York Comedy Club, The Stand, The Comic Strip, West Side Comedy Club, Stand Up New York Broadway Comedy and the Grisly Pear
People are laughing again in New York City as of Friday, April 2nd. The day was Good Friday, a holy day for many people in the world. It was also a holy day for the comedy community in New York City as the clubs were allowed to re-open again after one whole year, at 33% capacity. Until 11 P.M. that is. After that you could stay, … as long as you promised not to laugh! (JK about the staying after 11 part!). I hadn’t really realized what a toll having Covid double pneumonia took on me until it was time to leave the house to mingle with other humans. I hadn’t “jumped around” for more than a year, but the genuinely gracious reception I received at each place I went to made it easier for me to handle being out.
March 29th was my one-year anniversary of getting out of the hospital, and in my lengthy recovery I owed a great deal of it’s success to the emotional strength and support I received from the comedy community, from the club owners who always welcomed me and made me feel at home, to people like Ron Bennington, Bill Burr, Colin Quinn, Jim Norton, Gad Elmaleh, Corinne Fisher and Harrison Greenbaum. Although I supposedly still have antibodies, I haven’t gotten the shot yet, so I’m still nervous to be around people, which I hate, but which people tell me is totally understandable. I feel like I was left with PTSD. It’s especially frustrating because during quarantine I wrote a book about overcoming fear and other obstacles so I knew I had to get it together, and with much trepidation I ventured out to cover the re-opening of the comedy scene, and doing it next week, or anytime after wouldn’t have the same significance. I had to do it on the first weekend or not at all! So I put on my two masks and my purple surgical gloves, checked my Purell which I’ve already been wearing hanging off my belt for several years, and basically threw myself out the door to see who was where.
The Comic Strip
My first stop was The Comic Strip, one of my home clubs. It’s the club I did two books about and spent so much time there with my pal owner/founder Richie Tienken who sadly left us just a few short weeks ago.
It felt weird going into the club knowing Richie wouldn’t be there, but the staff greeted me as if I had just been in there yesterday. It’s so funny to me that there are a lot of people I don’t recognize behind a mask but everyone seems to have no trouble recognizing me! (LOL) Not one person had a doubt!
So I went into the show room to catch Alli Breen on stage killing it with a very decent sized socially distanced crowd.
I took a seat off to the side to watch, expecting I might see some awkwardness from comics who mostly have not been on a stage for quite a while, and there was none.
There seems to be an unwritten rule in comedy that comics tend to think they have to be on stage at least once every night in order to stay sharp, but Alli’s flow was flawless. No hesitation or thinking of what to talk about next. It was like she’s been on stage the whole time. She didn’t miss a beat!
After she got off I asked her about it and she said it was one of her biggest worries that she might forget something but she didn’t. A few comics told me they felt a bit “rusty” but after the first few laughs they fell right into the groove.
Alli told me she’s got a regular weekly spot on the Bob and Tom radio show as “The Love Guru” where she gives dating advice, and she was off to do a set at another club.
While we were talking Vlad Caamano , (sorry Vlad I don’t have a little thing to put over the “n”!) the co-star of the CBS show Tommy with Edie Falco, came in and we caught up on things. He shared the good news that he’s getting married in June, and in the photo he showed me his wife has an even bigger, more perfect smile than he has!
There was no hanging out by the comics and only one came in at a time just before they were due to go on stage.
I wanted to stay at The Strip a while longer, but with a deadline of 11 P.M. and many clubs to hit, I had to leave to go to my next location.
New York Comedy Club: 24th Street
I made my way down 2nd Avenue to New York Comedy Club on 24th Street, got the same warm greeting from the staff, but just missed the show there. They were already setting up for the 9 P.M. show so I headed down to their East Village location on 4th Street to catch up with owner Emilio Savone, who happened to be there with his partner Scott Lindner.
Emilio said “ This feels really great. To me what this has done is it’s reaffirmed to me that this can definitely be done safely. I’ve been going to restaurants and have been out and about and when Scott and I came and saw the customers coming in to both our city clubs it hit me that comedy is probably one of the safest things you can do.” I asked him about the process and he said, “Customers are coming in they’re going right to their seats, we’re staggering the way they’re coming in, and it’s not like people are hanging out at the bar. The tricky thing is with the comics. They don’t know what to do when they get off stage cause they’re used to hanging out!” He continued, “ A big part of the comedy scene is hanging out and they’re like, ‘So do I leave now, could I hang out?’ And it sucks that I have to tell them they can’t because Scott and I have worked very hard to build this kind of fun hang, which is what people look forward to, but they take it well.” “It’s also very sweet to see how other people are reacting. People have come by with champagne and want to do a toast, and it’s really hard to say no, cause we have to abide by the rules. But for me it’s been freaking amazing. Really awesome.” I asked him how many shows he’s got going because he has multiple venues and he said, “Tonight we have 7 sold-out shows including our outdoor penthouse shows in Gramercy. We’re doing things in a very diligent way, so it’s great. “
Then I spoke to Scott who started by saying, “ First I want to say congratulations that you’re out and about. We’re all happy that you’re safe and healthy. Tonight feels great. It feels like a taste of what was before. It feels extremely safe, and when I saw the first comedian go up after a year of not having comedy it was really incredible. It was an emotional thing for me.”
Several of the owners said how emotional it was for them to see comics working again. Scott continued, “We put a lot of work in over the last couple of weeks to comply with all the regulations and we hired back about a quarter of our previous staff, because a lot of the staff left the city. The best thing was to see everybody laughing and to see people having a good time, and enjoying themselves again.”
People really need comedy now more than ever.
Gotham Comedy Club
My next stop was another home club for me. Now that I think about it all the clubs feel like home clubs for me. I had contacted Chris Mazzilli earlier in the day, and he told me he’d be there for their two shows one at 7 and the other at 9:30. I told him I wanted to reclaim my usual table #69 that was in a perfect spot for me to take photos, and as it happened was one of the last places I was at with Chris by the way, just before I got sick, but he broke the news to me that Table 69 was gone, but not to worry that he’d always find a place for me. When I got there just after 9:30 I ran into his brother Steve first who told me they had a sold out show and he was really excited about the night. Then I entered and ran into Richie their long-time head of security who I almost didn’t recognize with his pony tail, beard, mask and weight loss. Seems he contracted Covid this past December and also had a rough time of it but fortunately pulled through after the doctor told him they might have to put him on a ventilator. I think that scared him into getting better because luckily he was able to avoid it.
Marion Grodin was hosting , funny as ever, and looked great with her new short hairdo. Chris said she’s one of the best hosts in town. He and I walked into the showroom to take some photos, and I did a big hello to Harris Stanton who was waiting to go on, and Chris and I looked at each other and both said how great it was to see people laughing again.
Then we went downstairs to chat in the room usually reserved for the headliner. For a while until they see how things are going it’s going to be all All Star nights at Gotham with the great line-ups they always have.
But the best thing had already happened before I arrived. Jerry Seinfeld who loves Chris and loves the club had announced that he would be the first comic on stage, and when he showed up the audience went crazy. And when Jerry left, a crowd of about 20 TV journalists were waiting outside to interview him.
Chris had this to say ” It’s an awesome night! Awesome, awesome night, and I’m really, really pumped to see people back at the club and laughing, the comics are happy to be on stage. It’s a homerun all around.”
And then I asked him about Jerry Seinfeld coming in to hit the stage first. Chris said, “ He actually texted me earlier today and said he wanted to come down tonight and be the first comic on stage for the re-opening, and that was so fantastic. He’s always been great and supported the club, and he’s a terrific friend.”
“It was a perfect way to kick it off. He’s been a great friend to the club and the club loves him.”
Chris said he found out about a month ago that April 2nd would be the date and they had a lot to do to get ready. About 75% of their staff came back, but some of the younger ones left town and went to live with their parents.
Chris had been coming in a day or two a month just to check on whether everything was functioning and running properly.
They had to get inventory, bring their AC units up to Covid standards, and fix a partial ceiling collapse due to a leak from the snow, plus a pipe broke so that had to be done, and then they had to retrain everybody, pull two thirds of the tables out of the showroom, and even change the menus because everything is online now, but it all came together. Chris said, “It was a lot of work but worth it and every show has been sold out.”
It’s always hard for me to leave places where I’m made to feel so welcome, but I wanted to try and hit one more major club before the 11 P.M. comedy curfew.
The Stand Comedy Club
I left Chris, and headed over to 16th Street to see my buddies at The Stand.
As I entered I was greeted by Adele who’s always the best host, and who I recognized even with her mask, and she directed me to a table where owner Cris Italia was sitting with Mark Normand who had just gotten off stage.
Everyone was masked and Cris called me over to join them and greeted me with a big hug. I’ve been missing hugging people for a year, and despite still being tense around people I was glad to reciprocate.
Mark is one of the few comics who tackle the difficult subjects as far as today’s P.C. standards go, but he does it with such grace and intelligence, and great writing skill that the audience has no choice but to come along for the ride. He points out hypocrisy very well in the way that Andrew Schulz does too, and recently wound up opening for his new bud Jerry Seinfeld.
I asked Mark how he felt and this is what he said word for word, in his inimitable intonation “ Heyyyyy Gurian, now that you’re here, it’s official, comedy is back in New York! You can feel it in the air, there’s an energy, there’s a vibe, I’m gay, I did The Cellar, I did The Stand, great clubs, Seinfeld’s at Gotham, Schumer did The Cellar, we’re all doin’ blow, things are back baby!” And after I stopped laughing I said, “ Can I quote you on all that exactly?” And he said “ Sure!” The man is hilarious!
I asked Cris for a quote, but he referred me to partner Patrick Milligan who said “ It’s very exciting, and it feels really good. It’s just great to be back and hopefully the restrictions will loosen up soon and we’ll be able to expand capacity and stay open later.”
You are not fully back until @JeffreyGurian interviews comedians at your venue! pic.twitter.com/8qE5v4d8ZX
— The Stand NYC (@TheStandNYC) April 3, 2021
They had two shows, an early show in the big room downstairs and a 9 P.M. show in the upstairs room. As we were sitting there schmoozing which felt so great after spending much of the last year alone, Big Jay came over to say hi, after doing the show in the upstairs room and I got another big hug from his other half, Skankfest producer Christine Evans!
At that point I was feeling a bit tense from socializing more than I had in a whole year and had to leave anyway because it was close to 11, but I didn’t realize that Cris had snapped a photo of me interviewing Mark. So when I left the club my Twitter feed went off and I saw this really kind Tweet he posted from The Stand account that said, “You’re not really back until @JeffreyGurian interviews comedians at your venue!” and that was very special. Then I went home to get some rest with plans to hit the rest of the clubs the next night.
The Comedy Cellar
First on my list was The Comedy Cellar, so I texted owner Noam Dworman to let him know I was coming. I got there early and to be honest, to this day it’s always still a little bit intimidating even to just walk into the Olive Tree Cafe.
You never know who you’re going to see there and if there’s an empty seat for you to join someone, or if you’re going to be left standing awkwardly feeling like you don’t belong! I’ve seen it happen to people!
First person I ran into in the street was my old buddy Colin Quinn. We both recognized each other even with our masks and gave the old forearm bump. He said he was going on later and I told him I’d see him inside.
I went into the Olive Tree expecting to approach “the table”, the famous table in the back where only the comics can sit, which is right near the door that leads downstairs to the stage. But it was so dark it took a minute for my eyes to adjust, and then nothing looked familiar. Every table had a plexiglass barrier between it and the next one.
I found myself standing next to Sean Donnelly who was hosting a show right there in the Olive Tree Café. They had built a real stage where in the past Noam had often had a musical group performing. Now it was another Comedy Cellar performance stage. Eagle Witt had just taken the stage and it’s so awesome for me to see comics like Eagle, who I know since they started out, and see them passed at The Cellar which is notoriously hard to pass.
Next thing I knew manager Liz Furiati came up behind me before I could even snap a photo and said “Remember Gurian, no flash!” She only calls me Gurian! And when I asked her how she knew it was me, she laughingly said “Are you kidding? I spotted you a block away!” LOL
Noam has strict rules about photos being taken at The Cellar, but he’s kind enough to give me special dispensation, and yet I still always check with him first to make sure he’s cool with it.
I texted him and he said to come over and meet him in the back room of the Fat Black Lounge which holds yet another Comedy cellar stage. Liz said she’d walk me over and when I went in it was Noam, Estee, the legendary booker of the club, Colin Quinn, Judy Gold, Carmen Lynch who I had just seen the night before at Gotham, Wil Sylvince, Nimesh Patel, Matteo Lane, the aforementioned Eagle Witt and Nathan Macintosh.
Everyone was just enjoying being together again, and Noam and I went to a private table so we could talk and I could get his take on things. He told me he had taken both shots so I was cool with him having no mask as we spoke. Noam said about re-opening, “It’s pretty emotional, and relieving, and I’m nervous about it but all in all I’m very happy.”
When I asked him in what sense he was nervous he said, “ In a few senses. First of all if this goes on a long time with limited capacity and an early curfew I’m in danger of losing a lot of money, because it’s really better to be closed in that situation, but more importantly, and you know “worried” is not really the right word, because I’m pretty optimistic, but I would just breathe a sigh of relief when I would see things actually return to normal in terms of business.”
He went on to say, “A lot of people have speculated that people might be gun-shy about going out to clubs again, and socializing in close proximity, plus a lot of people may have left the city, and I think it’ll be alright but that’s what I meant when I said I was worried.”
The Vegas Comedy Cellar is still closed and may be open in about two weeks and no real decision has been made about that yet, but in the New York spaces there are now 5 comedy stages, downstairs at the Cellar in the original room, The Olive Tree, the back room at Fat Black, the main room at Fat Black, and The Village Underground which is a really big room.
They did a bunch of Covid style renovations and even modernized the bathrooms which I will have to go and see for myself, since they’re known for having the very biggest stars and the very smallest Men’s Room. You actually have to touch other men, whether you want to or not, while making your way to the stall! LOL Now it’s all touchless!
I told him I couldn’t wait to use that bathroom since it’s always been so small, and he said, “ It’s still small, but now you don’t have to touch anything.” I should have added, “ Except the other men!” Lol
When I asked about Amy Schumer coming in he said, “ Yeh, Amy came in and she only did The Olive Tree stage, which is interesting because she liked it and she had a good set, and then she left, but it was very sweet of her to come down on opening night to support the club.”
Noam was thinking that with these new vaccine passports they’re talking about having in New York that maybe they’d allow for later shows once everyone can prove they’ve been vaccinated. They are now running 12 shows a night, and were sold out so far for every show they posted.
He suggested that I might have PTSD from what I went through, and as we ended he said, “ It was terrible when you got sick. We were all worried about you, and we’re all so happy that you’re ok.” Those things mean so much to me.
Then just before I left he told me that the table we were sitting at is now considered the new “table”! So inadvertently I was back at “the table”!
The Grisly Pear
When I left The Cellar I schmoozed with the doormen for a few minutes and then headed down MacDougal Street to check in with Kenny Warren at The Grisly Pear, the bar show he and his partner Gabe Dorado turned into a legit comedy club. Even the door guys were in a good mood and hugged me as I came in. Everyone was just so happy to be back at work.
I found Kenny in the back and he said, “ You know how I feel, like when someone says they just came home from jail or something like that, that’s the feeling! Not that I felt that, cause I never been in jail, but it feels great, like freedom again, we get a chance to do what we want to do again, indoors, legally, and that’s the word. I’m glad that people stepped up during this pandemic and they used their patios and rooftops and alleyways and backyards and we kept it going, but there’s nothing like being back on stage.”
Keeping the 11 P.M. curfew in mind, I left Kenny and drove uptown on the West Side thinking to still check out Carolines, Broadway Comedy, West Side Comedy and Stand-Up New York, but Caroline Hirsch had issued a statement that they were staying closed because they couldn’t make a go of it with anything under 50% capacity.
Broadway Comedy Club
I couldn’t find parking for Broadway Comedy after circling and circling but what I can tell you was that a bunch of masked comics were hanging outside in the street, and masked patrons were waiting to enter the club. Janice Messitte was thrilled to let me know that her Friday night show at Broadway was back on and she invited me to come do a set, which I always appreciate.
Westside Comedy Club
Playa Betty’s restaurant, upstairs from Westside Comedy Club was slamming indoors and out, and I was hoping to see owners Eugene and Nina Ashe there, especially coming off the success of their recent film “Sophie’s Love” starring Tessa Thompson, Nnamdi Asomugha, Eva Longoria and my buddy Tone Bell, but that was not to be.
.I went downstairs, but the club was closed and no one had any information on whether it planned to re-open. I sure hope it does as it was New York’s newest comedy addition and a great stage.
I was starting to feel tired and nervous from jumping around, and being out and mingling with people but I couldn’t NOT go to my last stop Stand Up New York whose owner Dani Zoldan had been suing the state to re-open, and had been doing comedy shows outdoors during the shutdown.
Stand Up New York
It was great to see my old pal Greg Judge behind the bar but I was looking for GM/booker Jon Borromeo for my last quote of this story. Then he came in right on time, and this is what he said when I asked him about how he felt about re-opening after a year, … word for word, “ I mean, first of all it’s not an opening weekend without Jeffrey Gurian coming into your club. That’s like anointing us Jeffrey, like now we can officially open, this is great, and thank you so much for being here.”
After I was finished blushing, he went on to say, “It feels good dude. I opened the show on Friday, and after 13 months it was extremely emotional for me. We’ve been getting a lot of great press in the last few weeks, the NY Times, every single news station, 1,2 4, 5, 7 and 11 and it really helped and we’ve been sold out every single show. We’re doing shows at 7 and 9 and are really excited to be open even if it’s for 33%. It feels really good to be home!”
We ended with more big hugs and as I was leaving he said, “If there’s one person I wanted to see this weekend it was definitely you”, and I have to tell you that there were many times over the last year when I experienced intense loneliness, as I’m sure many people have, but having people greet me the way they did and say the things they didn’t have to say, really meant the world to me to know I have a secure place within this very special comedy community.
In closing I want to announce that after 12 years of shooting over 500 videos for my Comedy Matters TV channel at my own expense, I was convinced to start a Patreon page and I’m starting with one full hour of very rare Patrice O’Neal footage that I shot as a co-host of The Black Phillip Show which we did back in 2008. The site is www.Patreon.com/comedymatterstv
I also hope you’ll check out my new book which opened as a #1 Release on Amazon in Medicine and Psychology, Adult Children of Alcoholics, Group Therapy, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, called “Fight The Fear-Overcoming Obstacles That Stand In Your Way”
Now go out and have some laughs!!!
JERRY SEINFELD FIRST TO HIT THE STAGE AT GOTHAM
LINE-UP AT THE COMIC STRIP
ALLI BREEN ONSTAGE AT THE STRIP
WITH GOTHAM OWNER CHRIS MAZZILLI
CARMEN LYNCH ON STAGE
MARION GRODIN HOSTING
WITH MARK NORMAND WITHOUT MASK
(L-R) COLIN QUINN, NOAM DWORMAN, ESTEE ADORAM, MATTEO LANE, WIL SYLVINCE, JUDY GOLD, CARMEN LYNCH, NATHAN MACINTOSH
WITH COMEDY CELLAR OWNER NOAM DWORMAN
EAGLE WITT ON THE NEW OLIVE TREE COVID FREE STAGE
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