The Comedy Store — Attraction in West Hollywood

I came to The Comedy Store with the hope of laughing in the middle of all the chaos going on in the world. The venue has a legendary reputation for showcasing some of the best comics globally — brilliant writers who craft clever material and land memorable punchlines. Icons like Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Dave Chappelle, and Ali Wong have all graced its stage. Naturally, I trusted that whatever show I caught would uphold that standard.

Unfortunately, I was wrong.

As a tourist visiting Los Angeles for the first time, I bought a ticket without knowing exactly who I’d see. I figured any comic performing at The Comedy Store would be worth my time. Instead, I sat through 45 minutes of Jeff Dye, who opened the night with a set that felt more like an angry rant than a comedy show. While Amir K delivered some genuinely funny material, most of what I saw was shockingly outdated and offensive.

Some of Jeff Dye’s “jokes” included: • “On Tinder, I’m looking for women between 18 and 19.” (from a man clearly in his 40s) • “We give way too much freedom to gays and feminists.” • “My Starbucks order is super gay.” • “Feminist women don’t do anything; they don’t even help around the house.” • “Even my Apple Watch thinks I’m having a heart attack when I masturbate.” • “Women are smaller than us — that’s why we don’t hit them.”

I was frozen in my seat, stunned that this kind of material was being performed, let alone celebrated. The audience around me was laughing and clapping along, and I felt like I had stepped into a time machine — or a right-wing rally — rather than a modern, creative comedy show.

What disturbed me most was the sheer level of hate and resentment toward minorities that seemed to fuel his set. It was as if I was watching someone with every privilege — driving a Cybertruck, living comfortably — stand on stage and complain about how the small freedoms and visibility of minorities somehow affect his day. There were no clever stories, no insightful observations — just bitterness, lazily disguised as humor.

This experience felt like being in hell. It reminded me of outdated “comedy” from the 1940s, full of prejudice and lacking any genuine wit or originality. I left disappointed, angry, and sad to see such a legendary venue give its stage to such low-level material.

I had hoped for smart, boundary-pushing comedy like that of Michelle Wolf, Hannah Gadsby, or John Mulaney — comics who challenge and surprise their audiences, rather than pander to outdated prejudices.

I would strongly encourage anyone visiting The Comedy Store to check the lineup carefully. This place has hosted brilliance in the past, but not everything on its stage lives up to...

Edit: After we posted this review, we found out our server, who I wasn’t going to name, but will now, Binky, thought it would be a great idea to fraudulently add a $25 tip for herself. Our total with the 18% standard gratuity came to $200. Credit card statement shows $225. Bad service is one thing but stealing is another. Binky if you see this, get mental help.

We’re long-time supporters and attendees of The Comedy Store.

We and 3 of our friends went last night to a great show in the main room but had our evening stolen from us by one of the most horrendous service experiences I’ve ever had from their servers. I’m only going to highlight the 3 most ridiculous things she did.

First of all, she wouldn’t let us order food items until we all hit the “2 drink minimum,” which is not their policy and hasn’t been for as long as we’ve been going. We’ve ordered food before the minimum several times. She started a literal argument with one of my friends in the middle of the show about this.

She asked one of my friends if he would like a straw, he didn’t hear her and asked if she would repeat herself. She rolled her eyes, yells out “ugh whatever,”flipped her hair, and walked away.

Her tone and attitude was so outrageous that not only us but the people around us were asking what was wrong with her.

There is an 18% grat added to all checks. When I signed our $200 check, I did not add extra gratuity but did add “Don’t be so rude,” to the check and she went ballistic.

In the middle of the last comic of the night, she told us to get up out of our chairs and go talk to her manager. We stayed in our chairs until the end of the show.

We stopped and spoke to the “manager” who was a security guy, (lol) our waitress was right next to him. We quickly explained why we were upset, said we don’t want further dialogue about it and are not looking for a refund.

As we’re walking out, the server screams at us in front of everyone and says “nice minimum tip!” As if she somehow even deserved the 18% minimum.

If this was simply a case of bad customer service, we would’ve gotten over it. This server had a very creepy, personal vendetta against us for reasons completely unknown.

We will...

I have been a patron of the Comedy Store for close to a decade and unfortunately I had a very costly night because of their lack of clarity and unapologetic response. Here is the email exchange between the Comedy Store and one of their regular patrons: Hello, Good morning. I was at the Fahim Anwar show last night (great show) and woke up this morning to a $100 charge on my debit card. I bought a total of 4 cokes for my friend and I also left a 20% tip. Unfortunately, I did not expect a charge of $100 and am negative in my bank account and have incurred fees. If this is an authorization hold, I was not warned about this and the bank sees it as a pending charge which is subtracted from my account. Also because it is Friday any pending charge will be held over til Monday. I have been a regular at the comedy store for many years and very disappointed by this matter and hope you can please help me to resolve it. Thank you for your time and have a great day.

Hi Nathaniel Hanna,

We do a pre authorization on all cards now from the point of sales service. The 100 dollars should drop off within 24 hours and you will be charged only for the drinks you received.

Hello, Thank you for the quick response. So to clarify every time I go to the Comedy Store and use my debit card I will need at least $100 in my bank account? I would recommend posting that on your website to inform the patrons before they are charge $30 for overdraft charges. I'm disappointed that my 4 cokes cost me $50 and that your response is no apology but instead a confirmation that you do not care about your patrons. Thanks again for your time.

This is a real bummer situation for one of my favorite places on Earth to visit.

And as of Monday afternoon, the money is still in an authorization hold and has not been returned. And still no apology or...