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The best places to see comedy in Sydney

From stand-up venues to regular nights

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By Time Out editors Posted: Thursday February 11 2016

Sure, we all like to laugh – but sometimes you want something more specific. Established acts? Up-and-comers? Open mic? Let us direct you where you wanna go.

Comedy venues

Regular nights

Giant Dwarf

If you're looking for comedy beyond stand-up or open-mic, this is the place. Run by the Chaser team, this room hosts popular storytelling night Story Club, ITS Sydney's ongoing improv series, and Comedy(ish).

Redfern

The Comedy Store Sydney

This dedicated comedy club (run by Sydney Comedy Festival organisers Century Venues) offers up the cream of the touring comics with big local names and the occasional international guest. It’s also the Sydney home of the annual Raw Comedy competition.

Moore Park

The Enmore Theatre

This 1,600-seat Art Deco landmark, also part of the Century Venues stable, is your go-to venue for major international comedians, and a major venue of the Sydney Comedy Festival.

Newtown

Cafe Lounge

This cafe and bar has become a comedy hub thanks to long-running Monday weekly Comedy Lounge, and more recent Saturday and Sunday weeklies – all booked by Rhys Jones.

Surry Hills

Harold Park Hotel

This was a comic institution in the ’80s and ’90s, but it lapsed after the pub’s sale and closure in 1999. Around 2014 the comedy offerings started to ramp back up, and the Hal now hosts The Laugh Stand (see below) on Tuesday nights.

Forest Lodge

A Mic in Hand

The Friend in Hand’s Thursday open-mic night is a comedy institution for its welcoming, give-it-a-good-shot attitude. It’s also the place of choice for high-profile comics to try out new stuff.

Friend in Hand , Glebe Thursday September 29 2016 - Thursday January 26 2017

The Comedy Lounge

Café Lounge packs ’em in every Monday night for cheap pizza, drink specials and short stand-up sets from newcomers and old hands alike.

Cafe Lounge , Surry Hills Until Monday January 23 2017

Green Lights Comedy Nights

Alexei Toliopoulos and Nikko Malyon run this room, and emcee the monthly stand-up line-up.

The Gaelic Club , Surry Hills Friday September 30 2016 - Friday January 27 2017

Happy Endings Comedy Club

El Rocco Room is a great venue, but we also love that its Saturday night stand-up club Happy Endings gives comics decent-length sets rather than churning through dozens of five minute performances.

El Rocco Room , Potts Point Saturday October 1 2016 - Saturday January 21 2017

John Conway Tonight

Sundays at Cafe Lounge are now hosted by John Conway, that national man of mystery – and Australia's answer to Fallon, if Jimmy were blonde, drunk and being attacked by bees, and if his guests were mostly made up.

Cafe Lounge , Surry Hills Sunday October 2 2016 - Monday January 30 2017

The Laugh Stand at Harold Park

The Laugh Stand hold the reins of Harold Park's Tuesday-night stand-up menu. Expect to see a mix of comedy vets, young and emerging talent.

Harold Park Hotel , Forest Lodge Tuesday October 4 2016 - Tuesday January 17 2017

Molotov Comedy

Having built up the biggest open mic night in Sydney, Mug and Kettle have now retitled and moved to a new home – next door to their old home – at Beats Eats Drinks (B.E.D.) on Glebe Point Road. Molotov Comedy will still be a sign-up-on-the-night affair: comedians should turn up from 6.30pm to add their name to the list, with 4 minutes guaranteed stage time and running order drawn from the hat. Your regular show runners are local comedians Paige Hally and Tom Sanderson, with the odd drop-in emcee – see the Dates & Times tab for weekly line-up info. Mug and Kettle also run Treehouse Comedy at the Forresters, and Eveleigh Comedy at the Eveleigh Hotel. Looking for impromptu comedy? Here are some other top open mic nights in Sydney.

B.E.D. (Beats Eats Drinks) , Glebe Wednesday September 28 2016 - Friday December 23 2016