They are cleaning up a dirty joke joint!
A decade-old comedy club is upgrading from the distant isle of Manhattan to Brooklyn this month. The Eastville Comedy Club will hold a grand opening at its new Boerum Hill location on July 19, and the new digs are a step up from the grungy basement where its comedians performed on the other side of the East River, said its owner.
“The East Village place is an old divey kind of piece of crap. It was cool in the East Village 10 years ago, but our new place is going to be industrial modern with a hint of like a retro thing to it,” said Park Sloper Marko Elgart, who co-owns EastVille Comedy Club with this wife Tia. “It’s a brand new building as opposed to the beat up old basement.”
In addition to upgrading the joint’s aesthetics, Elgart plans to add new events at the Atlantic Avenue location that will appeal to the family-heavy neighborhood — including magicians, and comedians with PG-rated jokes, he said.
“We’re going to have shows for kids during the day — magicians, kid-friendly comedians, [and we’re] also going to have storytelling shows,” said Elgart.
When it opens, the stand-up place will stand alone as Brooklyn’s only full-time comedy club, and Elgart hopes that will mean a packed house most evenings, especially since the chuckle hut is in the heart of America’s Downtown, right next to a mass transit hub, he said.
“That’s why we chose it on purpose. I do hope we’re gonna be busier but it’s hard to predict these things,” he said. “It’s right by the Barclays Center — kind of like the new Times Square, just not douchey. There’s a lot going on in that area.”
The opening night is sure to feature a lot of laughs, with an all-star lineup that includes comedians Janeane Garofalo, Todd Barry, and Christian Finnegan, said Elgart.
EastVille Comedy Club opening night at (487 Atlantic Ave. between Nevins Street and Third Avenue in Boerum Hill, www.eastv
