The Classic : Comedy Club — Restaurant in Waitematā

I’ve been to this place twice. It’s my first two stand up comedy experiences. The first time is James Keating’s Autistic Flair. The second time is Annie Guo’s Guo Back To Your Country.

Before I talk about my experience, let me show you the whole process. You buy tickets from their website. Before the show, you come here early and sit in their bar waiting (Check my video for their bar’s layout). If your show is on the ground floor, your showroom is the fancy one connected to the bar. If your show is on the first floor, 10 min before the show beginning, staff will lead you out of the bar, you go upstairs through a side door (Check my photo for the side door). There’s a checkin at the entrance of the showroom, you don’t need to show your ticket, they only need your name. Then they will tell you where to sit.

Now talking about my experience.

Autistic Flair Unfortunately I sit in the second last row. Ngl the space is kinda cramped for an autistic. The girl sit behind me laughed at everything. I can’t filter out all the laugh and concentrate on the comedy. I was sensory overload af. Then I think hmmm what’s this all about. You know that autistic John Wick movie The Accountant? That guy try very hard desensitising himself. He rolls his shin with a metal rod like he’s making pizza. Btw I’m glad the heroine didn’t end up with him otherwise in the second installment she will die in the flashback and the accountant has to take a revenge for her, just like Zoolander 2. Anyway he rolls his shin like he’s making pizza. So he can be normal. So he can join normal activities like others.

Guo Back To Your Country Maybe universe is trying to help me or something this time I was sitting in the 3rd row first and end up sitting in the front row. Front row is so spacious and with Annie’s magical accent, I can understand everything. Stand up comedy is actually pretty awesome if only I don’t sensory overload. Eye contact in the first row is scary thou.

For the second experience, I will give this place 5...

The Classic Comedy Club in Auckland is, well, a classic in the sense that it hasn’t seen a meaningful upgrade since the early 2000s. Let’s be clear: comedy is the star here, and thank god for it, because the venue itself? It’s doing its best impression of a flat with a dodgy landlord who’s just waiting for the lease to run out.

The vibe is dark and dingy, and not in that charming, underground kind of way—more like the “you might want to keep your shoes on in the bathroom” way. The foyer, the first place you encounter, is a bottleneck of awkward discomfort. With barely enough seats for a handful of people, everyone else ends up crammed together, anxiously shifting on tired feet while waiting for the show to start.

And the bathroom? A true highlight of neglect. The tap, clearly a product of the infamous “landlord special,” blasts out scalding hot water like it’s trying to exfoliate your skin off. Forget washing your hands without a strategy—you’ll need one.

Sure, the comedy saves it. The performers are great, and the laughs will distract you from the surroundings. But as a venue, it’s a 3/5 at best, and that’s being generous. If you’re coming, come for the talent, not the trimmings—because those haven’t been updated since the jokes about dial-up internet were...

Good stand up comedy BUT the people that run this club act like tyrannical power trippers. They are extremely rude, act as if they are God's and threaten to kick out people without warning.

We sat down and the show hadn't even started and someone in the crowd was laughing and joking with their friends and was yelled at, the mood in the room went quiet fast and people seemed a bit off.

Get off your high horse, you're a small club. The comedians, bravo, good job, no issues with the entertainment and upcoming comedians but the club needs a revamp with the staff attitude.

After 3 years of coming to shows we will no longer be supporting this place any further.

Perhaps an hour of customer service or business experience would help...