This story could test my “funny” skills, so I’m either going to wow you with my humour or play it totally straight.
Read on about Edmonton’s newest comedy club to see which way it goes.
“The Laugh Shop” is opening a second location in Old Strathcona. (editor’s note: That’s not really all that funny.)
If you’re not into the comedy club scene, I’ll inform you they currently bring in comedians to mass-produce laughter up at a Londonderry Mall location. Edmonton also has a selection of other fine, hilarity-inducing bars. I’ll note those later, it’s time for the Laugh Shop to shine.
If you’re wondering where the new Laugh Shop is going to be, I’ll tell you. It’s replacing Stolli’s, at the northeast corner of Whyte Avenue and Calgary Trail. Or, for those grid system sticklers, 82 Avenue and 104 Street.
The funniest building on Whyte Avenue.
If you never downed cheap Jagr bombs at Stolli’s, it’s the building with a Starbucks on the corner, Chili’s on the Calgary Trail side and Headcase Hats and Perugia Salon upstairs. I think that’s enough name-dropping.
By the way, this means Stolli’s is out.
Laugh Shop Marketing and Promotions Manager, Alyssa Harris, tells the edmontonian they’ve been waiting for a place on 82 Avenue.
“We’ve been specifically looking at Whyte,” she said over the phone.
“But there are only so many liquor licenses,” she continued. “We had to wait. Stolli’s just ended (their license) and it ended up working out.”
There’s nothing at the building itself to lead you to believe a comedy club is creeping into existence above your head.
“We are opening in time for The Fringe,” Harris said. “We’ll be Stage 2, the only air-conditioned venue, and un-censored.”
Harris didn’t know when construction would begin but said the Whyte Laugh Shop would seat 150 people looking to turn their frowns upside down.
I mentioned earlier that Edmonton’s got a nice selection of comedy clubs (or “Ha ha houses” as I like to call them) and here are the ones not called Laugh Shop:
Harris doesn’t think opening a second location will hurt the level of comedy you encounter.
“As far as we’re concerned it just makes Edmontonians more aware of all the comedy. It’s awareness, not competition.”
I expect nothing less than hilarious comments on this story.
For all my jagrbomb jokes, I never actually knew what was in one until now. So thanks for keeping me informed.
Also, I’ve known you for seven years and I’ve never heard you use the term “ha ha houses”…
We’re learning a lot today.
Cool, I knew they had a Sunday night show under Hudson’s, but it’s nice to see them expand to a full-fledged place.
RACISM!!!!!!!!!!!!
My favourite part of this story is that Stolli’s is closing.
Did you see the sign they last summer had that said “Voted the Safest Bar in Edmonton”? It was written on a sheet of printer paper in black sharpie and taped to their folding sign on the street. I was like, “Voted by who?”
I wish we still had the cellphone video of that handmade sign…
Spoiler alert: Another story about a closed bar coming up today.
Also, I didn’t even know that Stolli’s had closed until writing this story.