Did You Hear The One About The New Comedy Club?
SAINT JOHN – A new club will have the province in stitches this fall.
Uptown Saint John will soon be the home of a Yuk Yuk’s comedy club.
The project is being led by former-sailor Steven Barnes, who wanted to bring the comedy franchise to New Brunswick after checking out the club in Toronto.
“It was my first time ever at a comedy club,” Barnes said. “I had such a positive experience there that I called Yuk Yuk’s up that week and said ‘How do I bring Yuk Yuk’s home with me? This is something that I have to do for Saint John.'”
But like all startups, Barnes needed proof of concept. So starting last September, he organized monthly Yuk Yuk’s comedy shows at the Saint John Trade and Convention Centre.
“I was doing the Trade and Convention shows as an almost market-testing show to see if there was a market for it,” he said. “And I thought it was very strong. We put on Wednesday evening shows with the comedians who were going on to do the weekend [Yuk Yuk’s shows] in Halifax.”
The shows were a huge success, with most of them being sold out or close to it. The early shows also were an effort to find an investor for the club, who they found in local Stephen Nickerson.
“He attended all shows. Once it was mentioned publicly that I was looking for an investor, Stephen immediately reached out and like me, agreed a Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Club would be a ‘game changer’ in the Uptown nightlife scene,” Barnes said.
The monthly shows also served another purpose.
“The Trade and Convention Centre shows were also to see how the businesses would react, and it was overwhelming the support,” Barnes said. “A lot of them are seeing the benefit of having a comedy club in the uptown too. To complement the nightlife or to add to their business.”
The Saint John Yuk Yuk’s will be on Grannan Lane, below where the new Italian By Night will soon be located. Historica Developments has already started work on the new space.
With the Yuk Yuk’s franchise comes all of the comedians listed with it. Comedians signed with the franchise are given exclusive rights to tour the clubs across the country.
“It keeps the comedians very busy and gives them a good chance to tour coast-to-coast doing what they’re very passionate about,” Barnes says.
When it first opens, the club will run like a typical Yuk Yuk’s with shows on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. However, Barnes says the club will eventually host events the rest of the week, including a pro-amateur comedy night.
“There’s a lot of opportunity to grow to grow the venue itself, while still be focused on Yuk Yuk’s sole [purpose],” he said.
Barnes says having a Yuk Yuk’s isn’t just a good thing for Saint John, but for New Brunswick as a whole.
“I don’t think it’s going to be seen as a ‘Saint John Yuk Yuk’s club,’ but as a New Brunswick comedy club, especially southern New Brunswick,” he said. “So we will be inviting people from Moncton, Fredericton, Charlotte County, even northern New Brunswick to come down, stay in our hotels and see what Saint John is about.”
Going from sailor to entrepreneur has been a big transition, but Barnes says he’s excited to bring a business to Saint John that will have a positive impact.
“I’ve always wanted to do business in Saint John, however I didn’t just want it to be a business for the sake of opening a business. I wanted to add value or a way to grow Saint John. I wanted to watch what I’m doing have an impact on this city,” he said.
“But I never found that until I started working with Yuk Yuk’s that I can bring something I’m actually passionate about and feel really strongly about and being a community place to bring everyone together.”
They say a good laugh is a cure for everything, after all.