Comedian Mike Dambra performs at Punch Lines Comedy Club in Saint John. Image: Submitted
A Saint John comedy club that got its start in a lounge on the east side now has a home of its own in uptown Saint John.
In November, Chuckles Comedy Club, which had previously been run out of Chuckles Lounge in Parkway Mall, became Punch Lines Comedy Club with its new location at 9 Sydney Street.
Julie Tower, who co-owns the comedy club with business partner and comedian Shane Ogden, says the reason for the move came from their desire to grow and create their own brand.
“Not that we didn’t love Chuckles, but you still want to be your own brand, your own business, all of those things,” she says. “Rather than taking the name with us, which we weren’t able to do, we just thought ‘let’s just re-brand and do it that way.'”
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With the new location, the comedy club’s capacity has grown from 110-115 people to 150-160. They also have done some work to the space, which was a former nightclub.
“We did a lot of carpentry work and changed the room a little bit and made it more fitting,” says Tower. “My husband made all the tables and chairs. Essentially, we just wanted to be our own and on our own.”
For Ogden, having the club uptown means being more a part of the city’s culture.
“It’s part of being in the entertainment district. You can go to a nice dinner with your significant other or a group of your friends. What’s better than getting together with the people you love and laughing?” says Ogden. “When our name is associated with their excellent time together, that really speaks to the spirit of what we’re trying to do with bringing comedy to uptown Saint John, which just adds to the experience of our great city.”
As Chuckles Comedy Club, the business was already known for bringing talented comedians from across Canada to Saint John. But with the new space and brand, Ogden says they are able to bring things to the next level.
“Now we’re able to do that and be a part of the entertainment district uptown and bring even better comedians and improve on our experience,” he says. “We’ve already had five years of putting on shows, now we are a well-oiled machine. We’re very capable of bringing in even better and better experiences to people and that’s really what being independent means to us.”
Right now, Punch Lines hosts around two shows a month, with that number going to one during the summer months. At Christmas time, they plan to host one show a week.
Now that they have their own space, in the future Punch Lines hopes to eventually offer weekly shows, but with both Tower and Ogden still working full-time jobs, they want to be measured with their growth.
“We’re not ready to dive in both feet and push for weekly. We want our club to be very successful first before that happens,” says Tower.
“We want to have weekly shows, but we would rather have bi-weekly shows that are full and exciting and have a big crowd, rather than split our crowds down to every single week,” adds Ogden. “But eventually, building on our success, when we do have multiple consistent sellouts every two weeks, then we’ll add the weekly shows.”
Looking even further ahead into the future, the goal is to open more Punch Lines Comedy Clubs in New Brunswick.
“In the long-term, we want to have a club in Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton,” says Ogden. “That would be our ultimate dream.”
