Saint John Is Getting A New Comedy Club In The Space Where Yuk Yuk’s Used To Be
SAINT JOHN– Just over three months after it was announced the Yuk Yuk’s comedy club in Saint John was closing its doors, its former owner has announced that he’s opening a new club to take its place.
Steven Barnes will be opening the Crickets Comedy Club next month. The club will be located at the former Yuk Yuk’s location at 32 Grannan Lane in uptown Saint John.
Barnes told Huddle the decision to close Yuk Yuk’s last year came from a combination of a slower summer season the high overhead costs of operating under the national franchise.
He says the idea to open an independent club came after meeting Chris Mulawyshyn, who owns and operates the original Crickets Comedy Club in Thunder Bay. They had been friends when Yuk Yuk’s Saint John was still open, but when it did close, they saw an opportunity.
“He’s trying to grow his brand recognition of Crickets Club too. He has his flagship club in Thunder Bay and was looking to expand that mostly out west,” says Barnes. “But it’s always good to get some brand recognition out east and when the opportunity came up, he saw it as an opportunity with a really nice venue and a chance to bring it back to life here.”
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Like with the Yuk Yuk’s Club, shows will be held at Cricket’s three nights a week, with that number probably scaling back in the summer. Pricing will also be around the same. When it comes to talent, Barnes will be booking shows through his own, and Mulawyshyn’s networks.
“In the two years the Yuk Yuk’s club was here, I met some of the most incredibly funny Canadians, so I do know a lot of these comedians already,” said Barnes. “Chris has been involved with this a little bit longer than I have as well too. He’s going to help me fill in the headliners because he doesn’t know the east coast and we like to utilize the local talent as much as possible for our MCs and our middle performers.”
The club is expected to be open by the end of February, with a few soft-opening shows taking place throughout that month. The Yuk Yuk’s Saint John didn’t pan out, but Barnes says he’s excited to open up another club again under a different model.
“I’m really looking forward to reopening. I think I learned a lot with the first club and it’s going to be quite a big difference coming into it with more help too, where we have Chris coming along this time,” he says.
“We’re all looking forward to being back and bringing back the best in Canadian comedy every single weekend in uptown Saint John.”