A San Diego comedy club praised by Joe Rogan was supposed to be expanding to Idaho. Instead, it looks like the joke’s on us. The American Comedy Co., which claimed that it would be opening in the Gem State, turned out to be a no-go — at least in the originally planned location in downtown Caldwell.
In late 2020, the owners agreed to lease space at 815 Arthur St., next to Indian Creek Plaza. But that transaction fell through, according to an email from Candy Willcuts, marketing manager with TOK Commercial Real Estate. “Unfortunately, we can’t comment further on the details,” she added. An email Friday to an American Comedy Co. co-owner was not returned. At one point, the California club announced on Facebook that it would be “super-spreading to Idaho.” It indicated that tickets would go on sale for shows from Jeremy Piven and Harland Williams. “We do already have acts booked for the second location in Idaho,” a co-owner confirmed in an email to the Idaho Statesman in December 2020, “and are very excited for the opportunity.”
The feeling seemed potentially mutual. After all, comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan once described the San Diego venue as “@#$%in’ perfect” in an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience.” Fortunately, there’s already an established comedy club in Boise: The Lounge at the End of the Universe, 2417 Bank Drive, off Vista Avenue and Overland Road. After surviving the pandemic — “barely,” it quipped on Facebook — the Lounge has settled into a local groove. It’s now “a full-time comedy club and cabaret that encourages creativity through comedy and performing arts.”
