Comedy in Atlanta

Atlanta Comedy

words by > Bret Love

Knock, Knock

* It may not be Chicago or LA, but Atlanta—yes, Atlanta—has become one of the nation’s premier comedy cities (and the pun’s just beginning).

Mention the words “Southern comedy” and most people immediately think of Jeff Foxworthy and his blue-collar brethren, who never met a redneck joke they didn’t like. But in the decade since the 1996 Summer Olympics fi rst thrust Atlanta into the international spotlight, the city has evolved into a decidedly more metropolitan comedy mecca, with over a dozen clubs and theaters offering standup or improv comedy on a regular basis.

“I only play six cities—Boston, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, LA and Atlanta,” says veteran comedian Jeff Garlin, star of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and fi lms such as Daddy Day Care. “I’m sure there are some people who think of Atlanta as a place where only people like Larry the Cable Guy can play, but they’re wrong. The audiences are enthusiastic, smart and probably the best in the country. Atlanta is like Miami—it’s definitely in the South, but it’s not like I’m going to a rebel truck show to do my standup.”

 

In addition to attracting the nation’s hottest touring comedians, Atlanta has become a fertile breeding ground for local comics, launching the careers of funny folks such as Brett Butler, Chris Tucker and Don “D.C.” Curry. “There are so many rooms you can play in the area, it’s amazing,” says Marshall Chiles, the manager/talent booker for the Funny Farm Comedy Club and a touring comedian himself. “It’s easier to get started and make a good living here.”

Ten years ago, pretty much the only game in town was The Punchline (www.punchline.com), which was recently named one of the Top 10 comedy clubs in the country by USA Today. From Robin Williams to Jon Stewart, nearly every major comedian of note has appeared on its storied stage over the past 23 years, and it remains one of Atlanta’s most popular comedy nightspots.

Now in its fifth successful year, the Funny Farm Comedy Club (www.funnyfarmcomedyclub.com) is the city’s young, hip upstart, often attracting sellout crowds to the upscale Roswell suburbs to see top-notch acts such as Bob Saget, Richard Lewis and Kings of Comedy star DL Hughley. The club is part of the vast StarTime Entertainment complex, which also houses a movie theater, arcade, sports bar, mini-golf courses, batting cages and go-kart track.

 

Uptown Comedy Corner (www.myspace.com/uptowncomedy), which has recently reopened, has proven a valuable showcase for local comedians like Bruce Bruce and Earthquake, while also attracting nationally known urban comics, such as Jamie Foxx and Paul Mooney. The newest club on the scene, Showcase Comedy Lounge (www.showcasecomedy.com) operates inside the Landmark Diner in Buckhead, offering a handy option for in-town residents and visitors who don’t want to venture out to the city’s perimeter in search of a laugh. In addition, restaurants and nightclubs like the Twisted Taco (www.twistedtaco.com), Star Bar (www.starbar.net) and The Earl (www.badearl.com) regularly feature standup comedy nights.

Atlanta’s standup comedy scene has grown exponentially over the past decade, but the explosion of improv comedy in the city has begun to earn equal attention on a national level. Improv—which should be familiar to anyone who’s ever seen Comedy Central’s “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”—is a form of spontaneous theater in which all characters, dialogue and situations are made up on the spot, often based on suggestions from the audience. This interactive approach typically leads to hilariously unpredictable results.

Improv comedy has been huge for decades in Chicago, LA, New York and Toronto, where troupes such as the Groundlings, Second City and the Upright Citizens Brigade have produced some of the world’s most beloved entertainers (including virtually every performer ever to make the cast of “Saturday Night Live”). But Atlanta’s improv scene has really only taken off in the last three years, as annual events such as the Atlanta Improv Festival and Improv in the Park began to draw the disparate elements of the local talent together.

“Atlanta’s scene is very dynamic within the range of game-style improvisation,” says JaCKPie Theatre Workshop co-founder Jim Karwisch, who trained at Chicago’s legendary iO Theater before moving to Atlanta in 2001. “But we are just beginning to hit our stride. I see us on the verge of a boom for improv here in the city.”

Atlanta’s oldest comedy troupe, Laughing Matters (www.laughingmatters.com), has been entertaining people for over 20 years now, with a regular gig at local watering hole Manuel’s Tavern. Known for family-friendly humor and musical improv, the troupe’s members have appeared on TV shows like “Malcolm in the Middle” and “The Simpsons.”

Dad’s Garage Theatre (www.dadsgarage.com) is arguably the city’s hottest improv troupe, having been named Atlanta’s Best Theater Company by local critics three out of the last four years. In offering short- and long-form improv as well as original plays and irreverent productions, it’s certainly the most eclectic.

Atlanta favorites for over a decade, Whole World Theatre (www.wholeworldtheatre.com) fi nds the humor in humanity, emphasizing character development over cheap laughs. The Basement Theatre (www.thebasementtheatre.com) has attracted a loyal following thanks to its “Cineprov” shows, and gives improvisers a chance to explore new ideas with their weekly “CrawlSpace” workshops. The JaCKPie Theatre Workshop (www.jackpie.com) exposes audiences to the long-form improv style with “Meet X,” a show in which a slew of seemingly unrelated characters eventually reveal interweaving destinies. Other local troupes of note include the all-African-American ensemble Black Top Circus (www.ijmc.com/blacktop), all-female funsters Gorgeous Ladies of Comedy (www.gorgeousladiesofcomedy.com) and Let’s Try This! (www.dramatech.com), which is based at Georgia Tech.

 

While Atlanta may not be quite on the level of Chicago or LA among the world’s premiere comedy cities just yet, there’s plenty of evidence to support the notion that it’s well on its way.