Funny Bones: The Comedy Scene in Raleigh

When you think of Comedy in Raleigh, three names come to mind.

First and foremost is Charlie Goodnight's Club. This club regularly features headliners from the national standup circuit. Up coming acts are Mark Eddie from WH-1, Greg Morton the voice of many favorite cartoons and Nick @ Nites star Louis Ramsey. The shows run from Tuesday to Saturday evening. They are often fully booked, so call ahead for reservations. The shows are in smoke free room.

As part of the Charlie Goodnight experience two restaurants are part of the same establishment. Champagne Charlie's is on the top floor and has delicious offerings of steak, chicken and seafood dishes. It has an extensive wine list with many outstanding choices. In addition the bar is well stocked. For those who like to smoke they have a Cigar Friendly bar within the establishment. The other restaurant/bar is Old Bar on the lower level serves Mexican style entrees. Dinner is offered Wednesday to Sunday.

There are a lot of stairs in the building and the hallways are a bit narrow. The restaurant/bar on the lower portion is a bit dark and reminds one of a truly old bar. The atmosphere is quite different. The younger folks may prefer the Old Bar and it's casual environment while the family/business folk might like the more refined environment upstairs.

Charlie Goodnight's Bar and Comedy Club
861 W. Morgan St. (919) 828-5233
Raleigh, NC
www.charliegoodnights.com

The second establishment is Comedy Worx Improv.

Comedy Worx started in 1989 in a North Raleigh restaurant that went out of business shortly after they started their. Comedy Worx is both a location and a Improv company. They didn't arrive at there current location until November 2001.

They, as a group, perform at Improv clubs in the U.S. and Europe. After fifteen years of hosting the Altlantic Coast Comedy Conference they have decided to challenge Chicago for the title center of the center of the Improv Universe.

There normal show times are Friday and Saturday at 8:30 PM.

An additional feature of the Comedy Worx is the large number of Improv comedians they have trained. To date they have trained more than 1000 stand up comedians. They do private shows for major corporations, churches and colleges around NC.

Comedy Worx Improv is Raleigh's oldest Improv group.

Comedy Worx Impov
431 Peace St. (919) 829-0822
Raleigh, NC
www.comedyworx.com

Our third establishment in this review is also a comedy company.

The Raleigh's 'Village Idiots' was founded in 1995 at the Art in Motion Dance Studio. In 1999 which forced the Idiots to move to Cary. In March 2002 the Idiots returned to Raleigh to their current location in the North Raleigh Arts and Creative Theater. They returned as a group called Mid-Life Crisis. Fortunately they got past the and have regained their minds as "Raleigh's Village Idiots".

They, like Comedy Worx, also sponsor workshops to develop new talent for the performing arts. The Idiots current troupe is directed by Matthew Krevat who was trained under Chicago City Limits Improv. He has a band of five performing Idiots in his regular cast.

The schedule for their appearances is best found on the NRACT website. In addition for those with a desire to learn Improv or Theater, this site has a plethora of offerings.

Raleigh Village Idiots @
North Raleigh Arts and Creative Theater
7713-51 Lead Mine Rd (919) 866-0228
Raleigh, NC
www.idiots.net
www.nract.org