Goodnights Comedy Club has a legendary reputation due to the many famous acts that have performed at its location on West Morgan Street since 1983.
When one walks through one of the hallways, they can see the headshots of many famous comedians such as Dave Chappell, Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock who have all performed on the Goodnights stage. Goodnights manager Brandy Brown elaborates on the venue’s notable reputation in the Triangle.
“Goodnights is really just one of those places that is just about the comedy at the end of the day and I think that is becoming rare,” Brown said. “There are very few classic comedy clubs. We’ve always had the reputation that if you want to see stand-up comedy you should come here.”
Goodnights is open most nights of the week, and when they are not presenting nationally touring comedians, they are catering to local comics.
“There is an ignorance about comics,” Brown said. “They don’t just pop up out of nowhere. They have to work on their stuff. They come and they do open mic and midweek shows where we help them hone their skills.”
Brown said that if someone is ever looking for something to they can always walk through the doors of Goodnights and there is something going on. Brown said that their open mic nights and midweek shows are a great place for NC State students to come hang out. Every Tuesday, the comedy club offers free open mic nights, while Wednesday shows usually cost between $10-12.
One of Brown’s favorite young local comedians is Vishal Krishnasami, a third-year studying business administration and finance. In addition to being a regular at Goodnights, Krishnasami hosts shows across NC State’s campus.
Krishnasami explained that his interest in comedy started in high school and as soon as he came to college, he started going to open mics at Goodnights. He has been a regular for about four months now, which means he gets paid to tell jokes.
“You can do comedy classes at Goodnights, or just do what I did and do open mic nights and just fail a bunch until you’re okay,” Krishnasami said. “It’s not easy and you can’t think it is. Show business is one of the hardest things. But if it’s your dream you’re going to do it. So ‘why not?’”
On any given Tuesday, Krishnasami can be found at Goodnights from around 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. He encourages other students to come out on Tuesdays and see live comedy due to the wide range of talent from beginners to more experienced comics.
“There’s an uptick happening again in comedy with Netflix and big names like Kevin Hart,” Krishnasami said. “It’s becoming mainstream again, but I think live stand-up comedy is what needs to come back. No matter how hard you laugh on a Netflix special, you’re going to laugh 10 times harder when it’s live because of the atmosphere. You want to be around other people at a place meant for comedy. It is an event filled with camaraderie, not something to do alone in the living room.”
Krishnasami’s on-campus comedy shows support the Nourish International charity and feature professional comics.
“At the show, I get to do another 10 minutes and I get awesome comics to come here and put on a show for college students who don’t get to experience live comedy, even though there’s a great comedy club right next to them,” Krishnasami said. “At the end of the show, if you give an extra donation we raffle out tickets to Goodnights which have a $30 value.”
The next Nourish International show is Sept. 14 in Currituck Ballroom in Talley, with tickets costing $5.
Krishnasami and Brown both stressed the importance of live local comedy. So whether it’s to perform oneself or just enjoy a show, Goodnights Comedy Club is worth checking out for those looking for a laugh.
