Carolines on Broadway is a venue for
stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up.
Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...
situated at
750 Seventh Avenue, on
Broadway between 49th and 50th Streets, in the
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
neighborhood of New York City.
History
Caroline Hirsch opened Carolines as a
cabaret in the
Chelsea neighborhood in 1981 with two friends. Hirsch advocated to make it a comedy club and booked
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...
as its first performer. In 1983,
Paul Reubens performed at the club, helping the club grow in popularity.
In 1987, Carolines moved to
South Street Seaport where it became established as the country's top comedy venue. It also served as home to the
A&E series, “Caroline's Comedy Hour,” which ran for six years and won a
CableACE award for "Best Stand-Up Comedy Series." In 1992, the club moved to its current location on Broadway
inside
750 Seventh Avenue.
Carolines celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2003 with a gala comedy concert at Carnegie Hall that featured performances by many comedians who previously performed at the club. Attendees include
Richard Belzer,
Lewis Black,
Mario Cantone,
Rich Vos,
Judy Gold,
Gilbert Gottfried,
David Alan Grier
David Alan Grier (born June 30, 1956) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work as Bernard on '' Damon'' (1998), as David Bellows on ''Life with Bonnie'' (2002–2004), as Joe Carmichael on ''The Carmichael Show'' (2015� ...
,
Denis Leary,
Kevin Meaney,
Paul Mooney,
Colin Quinn,
Caroline Rhea,
Jeffrey Ross, and, in a surprise appearance,
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...
.
The club closed temporarily in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Supported by federal aid for live performance venues, it reopened in May 2021. On December 6, 2022, the club's owner announced that due to an imminent substantial rent increase by its landlord, the
Kuwait Investment Authority, the club would be closing at the end of the year with December 31st as the last show.
References
External links
*{{official website, http://www.carolines.com/
Comedy clubs in Manhattan
Times Square
1981 establishments in New York City