Philadelphia Comedy Venues

Venues are grouped by neighborhood. If you have any pictures or reviews of a venue that you would like to submit, please e-mail them to chris@pastandup.com.

You can also see listings for the outlying counties, Delaware and New Jersey.

Center City

HELIUM COMEDY CLUB. 2031 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103. Open mics on Tuesdays, national headliners Wednesday-Saturday. One of the best clubs on the East Coast. Seats just under 300 people, in close quarters with relatively low ceilings -- basically, the way comedy clubs should be. Plus there are two decent bar/lounge areas outside the showroom. Definitely worth checking out. Helium site

THE ADRIENNE THEATER. 2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103. This is the facility for InterAct Theater. The basement, known as the Playground, is one of the performance and classroom spaces used by Philly Improv Theater and ComedySportz, among other groups.

TRAGOS LOUNGE. 40 S. 19th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103. They used to have open mics on Mondays, but that's not the case any longer (Jan. 2008). "A chill yet fun and upscale Lounge in Rittenhouse Square ... Open 6 days a week with different types of music and open to all types of people. We have a large downstairs bar, and a huge upstairs lounge with a dancefloor, lounge area, table seating, a VIP Lounge with Bottle Service, and our world famous Tequila Lounge" .... Tragos MySpace

THE TROCADERO. 1003 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Open mics on the second Monday of each month. The Troc is a music club, and a very well-known one, but on occasion they do open their doors to stand-up, sktech, and the like.Trocadero site

DR. WATSON'S PUB. 216 South 11th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Lots of live music here (MySpace), but there are also sketch comedy shows quite a bit. Neighborhood bar feel, and this place has been around since the '70s. Dr. Watson's site

FINN McCOOL'S. 118 S. 12th St., Philadelphia, PA 19107. Open mics on Monday. Venue info

Manayunk

GRAPE STREET. 4100 Main Street, Philadelphia, PA 19127. Open mics on Wednesdays. Grape Street site

KILDARE'S PUB. 4417 Main Street, Philadelphia, PA 19127. Open mics on Tuesdays. Kildare's site

North Philly

LIACOURAS CENTER. 1776 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19121. On the campus of Temple University, it's home to Owls basketball. They also get some big-name entertainers in on occasion, both music and comedy. They have to be big names, because it's a 10,000-seat facility. Damn. Liacouras Center

Near Northeast

WALKING FISH THEATER. 2509 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19125. In the Fishtown neighborhood. Every city has a Walking Fish - style theater; it's the theater that's off the beaten path and basically is willing to host anything that sounds remotely interesting. They do classes, performances and more at this theater, including comedy shows. Available for rental. Walking Fish site

Far Northeast

COMEDY CABARET. 11580 Roosevelt Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19116. Open mics on Wednesdays, shows on Friday and Saturday nights. This is sort of the flagship of the Comedy Cabaret chain. It's located in the Travelodge Philadelphia Northeast. Lots of local talent gets a chance to work stuff out at the Cabarets. Comedy Cabaret site

Northern Liberties

THE FIRE. 412 West Girard Ave Philadelphia, PA 19123. Open mics on Mondays. Fire site

Old City

THE ACTORS CENTER. 257 N. 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106. It's an acting school, and also home to "The N Crowd" improv shows. Actors Center site

THE KHYBER. 56 S. Second Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Primarily a music venue, but occasional home to a comedy show (including the monthly Die Actor Die). Khyber site

South Philadelphia

LAFF HOUSE. 221 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147. Open mics on Wednesdays, shows Thursday through Saturday. Polite company would call this Philly's "urban" club, which means most of the weekend entertainment caters to black crowds. The open mic has been running for ages. Laff House site

THE LICKETY SPLIT. 401 South St. Philadelphia, PA 19147. Open mics on Sunday. Their business strategy is built around pizza, beer and live entertainment -- you can't really argue with that. MySpace page

TORI'S. 119 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147. Open mics on Tuesdays. A southwestern/Mediterranean restaurant. Tori's site

SHUBIN THEATER. 407 Bainbridge Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147. A small renovated space that's host to all kinds of performances, including occasional comedy shows (some of which are unconventional). Shubin profile

University City

MARATHON GRILL (MarBar). 40th and Walnut Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19104. Open mics on Wednesdays. College hang-out. Marathon Grill site