Work is underway on the city's premiere comedy club in The Cobblestone District (see back story). Comedian Kristen Becker's dream of a destination comedy club is taking shape, and is scheduled to open approximately December 13. The layout of the club can now be seen, with Elements Bar and Grill (lead photo) coming together in the former Benchwarmers location and Helium Comedy Club (see below) occupying what was once Morrissey's.
Helium is being designed for banquette seating for 240 people, which will create an extremely intimate setting that will also sound incredible once the sound clouds are dropped from the ceiling. "Comedy is an intimate art form," Kristen told me. "These are people who are willingly sharing their thoughts with complete strangers... and laughter is spontaneous and contagious. You don't get that "laughter wave" when people are seated at tables, not like intimate banquette theater-style seating."
The dining arrangement between both Elements and Helium allows for flexibility for both dining service and comedy shows. Elements can accommodate 80 people in the dining area for full service, and another 20 people seated at the bar. Helium will offer a scaled down menu, which will put an emphasis on the comedy. Come spring there will also be patio seating, and at that point Kristen may even open the club for lunch service. On top of that, the state of the art venue will also be leased out for corporate events and other functions. With top of the line audio and video capabilities, there will most likely be continued daily use aside from the dedicated Thursday through Saturday evening comedy shows.
While comics have not been booked yet (a couple weeks out), there are a select number of comics that have secured performance dates, including:
Jim Norton for for December 28 through New Years Eve (purchase tickets)
Rich Vos second week in January
Rob Schneider January 24, 25, 26
Brian Posehn - January 30 - Feb 2
Joe DeRosa - performing in February
Garfunkel and Oates - performing in February
Thursday through Saturday shows unless otherwise noted
Twitter: HeliumComedyBuff
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