Cap City Comedy Club
Austin, Texas
After thirty-five years—launching the careers of such comedy legends as Bill Hicks and Ron White—the original, beloved Cap City closed due to COVID, then reopened in 2022 in a North Austin strip mall. No problem: Touring comics like Jay Pharoah and Damon Wayans Jr. still clamor to play the venue’s new three-hundred-seat room.
Comedy Key West
Key West, Florida
A crab’s trot from the ocean, this funky little club hosts national headliners (Jamie Kennedy, Dave Williamson) as well as locals who have mustered the courage to perform in its seventy-five-seat seascape of a room. Order an apropos “Mic Drop” IPA and get ready to laugh alongside tourists, eccentrics, and anyone else who has wandered in from Front Street.
DC Improv Comedy Club
Washington, D.C.
When it comes to the ideal club, comedians talk about the room— this can encompass the acoustics, the crowd’s vibe, an appreciation of the art. Open since 1992 on Connecticut Avenue, a few blocks from the White House, DC Improv checks those boxes for funny people like Overcompensating’s Mary Beth Barone.
Dead Crow Comedy Room
Wilmington, North Carolina
Dead Crow has earned a robust reputation among comics like SNL’s Andrew Dismukes for its 160-seat space that presses the crowd right up to the stage, Thursday open-mic nights featuring forty or so comedians, and garden bar.
Zanies
Nashville, Tennessee
Zanies nurtures one of the country’s hottest comedy scenes. Nate Bargatze saw his first stand-up act there, and now hones his material on its stage just south of downtown. Nateland comics like Aaron Weber and Dusty Slay appear regularly, too. Here’s how Zanies’ booking and talent director, Lucy Sinsheimer, spots the real deal:
“When I first started, I was going to open mics all the time. Now we have the Lab at Zanies, where we foster local talent. I just love comedy. I’m good at seeing somebody and identifying whether they have that it factor. Amber Autry—I met her a couple years ago. There was something about her, this energy, this charisma. She lived in Chicago, and she was getting on shows, but not doing long sets. I said, ‘If you move here, you can do this here.’ Now she’s selling out every club she goes to. That’s my favorite part: to watch somebody go from doing a guest spot to headlining and selling out their own show every month.”
Want more laughs? Find more stories from our comedy issue:
>> Behind the Curtain of Nate Bargatze’s Comedy Empire
>> Six Razor-Sharp Southern Comedians Who Are Keeping Us in Stitches
Justin Heckert is a writer based in Charleston, S.C. His stories have appeared in Vanity Fair, WIRED, Garden & Gun, ESPN The Magazine, Esquire, GQ, The Economist, The New York Times Magazine, Slate, the Oxford American, and numerous other publications. He was twice named Writer of the Year by the City and Regional Magazine Association and in 2023 received the Knickerbocker Award for Journalism from the New York Video Game Critics Circle.
