The Comedy Workshop and the attached ''Comix Annex'' was a

comedy club A comedy club is a venue where a variety of comedic acts perform to a live audience. Although the term usually refers to establishments that feature stand-up comedy, stand-up comedians, it can also feature other forms of comedy such as improvisati ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Opened in 1978 It was quite popular in the 1980s and the breeding ground for a group of influential comics, once known as the '' Texas Outlaw Comics'' that included Ron Shock, Riley Barber,

Bill Hicks William Melvin Hicks (December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994) was an American stand-up comedian and satirist. His material— encompassing a wide range of social issues including religion, politics, and philosophy— was controversial and ofte ...

, Jimmy Pineapple, Steve Epstein, John Farnetti, Carl LaBove and Andy Huggins. Comedian Brett Butler of

Grace Under Fire ''Grace Under Fire'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 29, 1993, to February 17, 1998. Created by Chuck Lorre, the series starred Brett Butler as Grace Kelly, a single mother and recovering alcoholic raising t ...

fame and SNL longtime writer T. Sean Shannon honed their skills as members of the CW competitive dysfunction. In addition,

Sam Kinison Samuel Burl Kinison ( ; December 8, 1953 – April 10, 1992) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. A former Pentecostal preacher, he performed stand-up routines that were characterized by intense sudden tirades, punctuated with his distin ...

had his beginnings at the Workshop as well, with it being the location of where his 1993 posthumous comedy album, '' Live from Hell'', was recorded. The workshop side of the Comedy Workshop was a spawning ground for

improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

al comedic actors, with regular shows made up of Sketches, primarily those grown out of improvisational exercises. The founders were Steve and Vicki Farrell and Paul and Sharon Menzel. It grew out of the collaboration of the Farrells and Menzels at Dudley Riggs'

Brave New Workshop The Brave New Workshop (BNW), based in Minneapolis, Minnesota was founded by Dudley Riggs in 1958 and is the longest running sketch and improvisational comedy theater in the US. BNW continues the tradition, of writing, producing, and performing a ...

in Minneapolis, Minnesota, when the founders came to Houston in the 1970s. Rich Mills, who went on to perform with the Farrells at the Radio Music Theater was a longtime collaborator. Pat Southard was the Workshop's indispensable Keyboard player and offstage collaborator, contributing musical cues, live sound effects (including billiard balls in a one foot square pool table) and occasional voices. Pat, along with Rich Mills moved on to the Radio Music Theater with the Farrells. Numerous alumni from the Workshop and the Comedy Workshop Touring Company went on to involvement in national projects. Pat Dougherty went on to write and produce the long Running sitcom Empty Nest, spun off from Golden Girls. Other notable performers at the Workshop or in the Touring Company include Jerry Young, Kathy Drago, Stewart Arnold, Pamela Richards, Roger Manning, Ken Polk, Ronnie Foster (sic), Karen Rosen, Toni Potts, Kevin Cawood, Shane McClure, Sylvia Cooper
EJ Nolan
Author, Dan Barton, Producer, Fred Greenlee, Ericc Davis, Louis Allen Epstein, Bill Silva, Philip Owens, Mike Shiloh, David Ayala, and Dee Macaluso, who was among many who worked both sides of the Workshop doing both Improv Comedy, as well as Standup in the Annex. The Workshop closed in the early 1990s and then became a dry cleaners, which closed as well. The Comedy Workshop is now a high end liquor and fine wines store in 2013."Richards Liquors"
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References

Defunct comedy clubs in the United States Culture of Houston {{Leisure-company-stub