Downtown Las Vegas comedy club closing for ‘consolidation’
The side of the building screams comedy, with a mural of such icons as Don Rickles, Richard Pryor, Joan Rivers and Pauly Shore, but the club is about to go silent.
Wiseguys Comedy Club at 1511 S. Main Street in the Arts District is quietly closing the curtain. The venue’s last shows are June 27-29, with Jon “Polar Bear” Gonzalez headlining.
The first and only comedy club in the Arts District opened in 2021. Proprietor Keith Stubbs says he is funneling his bookings to the 350-capacity Wiseguys Town Square, which opened about two years ago and is doing solid business. The Arts District venue tops out at 200.
“We’re just consolidating everything at Town Square and moving all of the shows there,” Stubbs said in a phone chat Monday. “We’ll be open five or six nights a week there. We’ll be open more nights, we’ll have more shows, and I’ve got a longer lease there.”
Stubbs has a 10-year lease at Town Square. His lease in the Arts District was due to expire this year. Plaza CEO Jonathan Jossel and Tao Group managing partner Jason Strauss own the property under the Corner of Main Street LLC. Jossel said Monday the parcel might be home to apartments, with the lower level a lavish column-writing annex for yours truly (that part is a joke).
Stubbs is the rare operator who runs the same entertainment brand and concept in Las Vegas and Ogden, Utah. That’s the home of a Wiseguys club. He’s also operating in Salt Lake City and that city’s suburb of Jordan Landing. The Wiseguys experiment at Westgate fizzled after about a two months last October.
Stubbs says he will absorb the staff from the Arts District club to Town Square.
“All the staff is gong to move over, no one is losing their job,” the comic and operator said. “Things are tough out there, but we’re doing good business. One club will work well.”
Cool Hang Alert
Christine Shebeck, Naomi Mauro and Rachel Oliver-Cobbin co-star in “Sisters in Song” at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Myron’s. This is a new show with three bonafide belters. Shebeck has backed Sheena Easton and Debbie Gibson; Mauro has shared the stage with Celine Dion and Michael Buble; Oliver-Cobbin has performed with Atlantic Starr. Bill Zappia is music director. The trio will delve into Roberta Flack, the Bee Gees, Barbra Streisand, Joni Mitchell and more, much more. Go to TheSmithCenter.com for intel.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
