New York City in 2025 is still the hardest, sharpest, and weirdest comedy scene on the planet. Legends drop into tiny basements unannounced, TikTok kids work out their first ten minutes, and tourists stumble into the best show of their lives by accident.
But clubs close, move, rebrand, and reopen constantly. So this guide focuses on who’s open right now and where you can actually see live stand-up and improv tonight.
As of late 2025, here’s the most accurate, research-backed list of open comedy clubs and major comedy venues in NYC.
How This List Is Organized
- Section I – Manhattan Stand-Up Clubs
Full-time, ticketed comedy clubs (the “proper clubs”). - Section II – Brooklyn Comedy Clubs
Dedicated clubs + venues with heavy comedy programming. - Section III – Improv & Sketch Theaters
- Section IV – Notable Indie & Alt Rooms
Bars/theaters with strong recurring comedy lineups.
I’m not listing every bar show in the city (impossible), but this will cover all the major hubs you and other comics actually care about.
I. Manhattan Stand-Up Comedy Clubs (Open in 2025)
1. Comedy Cellar (MacDougal St + Village Underground + Fat Black Pussycat)
The nerve center of NYC stand-up. Three rooms, packed every night, with the heaviest lineups in the city. (Comedy Cellar)
2. Gotham Comedy Club (Chelsea)
Classic A-room on West 23rd with a polished showroom, TV tapings, and club-style weekend lineups. (Gotham Comedy Club)
3. The Stand Comedy Club & Restaurant (Union Square)
Modern, bi-level club with strong lineups seven nights a week plus full restaurant and bar at 116 E 16th St. (The Stand Restaurant & Comedy Club)
4. Broadway Comedy Club (Midtown/Times Square)
Multi-room club at 318 W 53rd St with a full calendar of nightly stand-up and some improv shows. (Broadway Comedy Club)
5. New York Comedy Club (Multiple Locations)
Long-running club brand with multiple NYC locations (Gramercy and East Village, plus newer expanded locations) offering nightly showcases of club regulars and touring comics. (New York Comedy Club)
6. Comic Strip Live (Upper East Side)
Historic Second Avenue club, operating since the 1970s and still running nightly shows, open mics, and classes. (Comic Strip Live)
7. Stand Up NY (now based at Bond 45, Times Square)
Legacy UWS club that’s now partnered with Bond 45 in the Theatre District, continuing its showcase-style club shows. (Stand Up NY)
8. West Side Comedy Club (Upper West Side)
Basement club under Playa Betty’s on W 75th. Quickly became a major club with big-name drop-ins and strong weekend lineups. (Punchup)
9. Greenwich Village Comedy Club (MacDougal St)
Village club at 99 MacDougal St with nightly stand-up, often featuring comics seen on TV and themed shows (including LGBTQ+ and South Asian shows). (Greenwich Village Comedy Club)
10. Grisly Pear Comedy Club (Greenwich Village & Midtown)
“The Grisly Pear” runs multiple comedy spaces (MacDougal St and a Midtown location on W 54th St), known from HBO’s Crashing and booked “by comics, for comics.” (Grisly Pear Standup)
11. The Comedy Shop (Greenwich Village)
Rebranded from the old Lantern space, the Comedy Shop is a busy West Village showroom hosting nightly stand-up and cultural events (they even got press for Love Island watch parties). (ExperienceFirst)
12. Comedy Village (Times Square / Hell’s Kitchen)
One of the newer Times Square clubs at 352 W 44th St, marketing itself as the neighborhood’s new home for stand-up with multiple daily shows. (Comedy Village – Times Square)
13. St. Marks Comedy Club (East Village)
Dedicated club room on St. Marks Place with a full slate of shows and mics, popular with up-and-comers and indie producers. (Punchup)
II. Brooklyn Comedy Clubs & Heavy Comedy Venues
Brooklyn has gone from “a few shows” to a full-blown parallel comedy ecosystem with its own clubs and cult rooms.
1. The Tiny Cupboard (Bushwick)
Indie stand-up club and board game bar at 10 Cooper St. Branded as one of the most affordable and experimental comedy clubs in the city and a launchpad for up-and-comers. (The Tiny Cupboard)
2. EastVille Comedy Club (Boerum Hill / Downtown Brooklyn)
Long-running club now based in Brooklyn, hosting nightly shows and frequent open mics with a mix of veterans and newer comics. (Your Brooklyn Guide)
3. Old Man Hustle BKLYN Comedy Club (Williamsburg)
Intimate club-style room with nightly stand-up and a strong cocktail bar, regularly listed among the key Brooklyn comedy venues. (Your Brooklyn Guide)
4. The Bell House (Gowanus)
Not “just” a comedy club, but a major venue for stand-up, live podcasts, and specials in a warehouse-style space. (Your Brooklyn Guide)
5. Union Hall (Park Slope)
Basement venue beneath a bar with a full schedule of stand-up, variety, and themed comedy shows—one of Brooklyn’s most beloved rooms. (Your Brooklyn Guide)
6. Littlefield (Gowanus)
Hybrid music/comedy/art venue hosting recurring high-profile stand-up shows and themed comedy nights. (Your Brooklyn Guide)
7. Dumbo Comedy (DUMBO)
Weekly stand-up hub in a multi-use gaming/entertainment space, known for strong lineups in an intimate room. (Your Brooklyn Guide)
8. Second City New York (Williamsburg)
Brand-new flagship comedy complex at 64 N 9th St, featuring multiple theaters, a training center, improv, sketch, and some stand-up programming. (Brooklyn Paper)
9. Brooklyn Comedy Collective (at Eris, Williamsburg)
Alt-comedy and improv powerhouse focusing on experimental shows, character work, and classes. (Your Brooklyn Guide)
10. Laffaholics Comedy Club (275 Park, Brooklyn)
Black-owned Brooklyn comedy venue known for weekly shows and strong support of performers of color. (New York Post)
*(Brooklyn also has more hybrid spaces like The Cobra Club, Friends and Lovers, House Party Café, Essence Bar & Grill, etc., all with active comedy programming.) (Your Brooklyn Guide)
III. Improv & Sketch Comedy Theaters
These aren’t stand-up “clubs” in the traditional sense, but they’re core to NYC’s comedy ecosystem.
Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) – Manhattan
Reopened NYC presence with theater + training center, focusing on improv, sketch, and character shows.
The People’s Improv Theater (The PIT) – Flatiron
Improv, sketch, stand-up, and classes across multiple stages.
Magnet Theater – Chelsea
Long-running improv and musical improv hub with teams, jams, and classes.
National Comedy Theatre NYC
Shortform improv theater with regular shows and a focus on audience participation.
Brooklyn Comedy Collective & Second City NYC
Brooklyn-based improv and alt-comedy engines with classes, house teams, and experimental formats. (Brooklyn Paper)
IV. Notable Indie & Alt Rooms (Recurring Comedy Shows)
These venues aren’t 100% comedy, but they host recurring, legit comedy shows that matter in the scene:
- Caveat (Lower East Side) – “Intelligent nightlife” with themed and storytelling-based comedy. (Your Brooklyn Guide)
- Q.E.D. Astoria (Queens) – Comedy + classes + podcasts; a major Queens comedy hub. (Your Brooklyn Guide)
- Sesh Comedy (Lower East Side) – Intimate, highly curated independent stand-up room. (Your Brooklyn Guide)
- Karma Lounge, Parkside Lounge, Village Lantern – Long-time Manhattan bar venues with regular indie stand-up nights. (ExperienceFirst)
You can decide whether you want these listed in the “official club list” on your blog or in a separate “indie rooms” section.
Closing Thoughts
Is this literally every single mic-able bar with a comedy night in NYC? No. That list changes weekly.
But for real clubs, major venues, and core indie hubs as of November 2025, this is about as close to complete as you can reasonably get without living inside Google Maps.
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