Caroline's
Encyclopedia
Carolines on Broadway is a venue for stand-up comedy located in Times Square
in New York City
on Broadway
between 49th and 50th Street. It is one of the most established, famous, and recognized stand-up comedy
clubs in the United States
. Its marketing slogan is "America's Premiere Comedy Nightclub." Many of the top headliners in the U.S. have performed at Carolines, including Paul Reubens
, Jerry Seinfeld
, Jay Leno
, Bill Hicks
, Andrew Dice Clay
, Gilbert Gottfried
, Andy Borowitz
, Joy Behar
, Jon Stewart
, Patton Oswalt
, Colin Quinn
, Artie Lange
, Norm Macdonald
, Elayne Boosler
, Michael Richards
, Richard Belzer
, Chris Rush
and Mitch Hedberg
. Other popular stand-ups that have headlined at Caroline's include Patrice Oneal
, Jim Norton
, Greg Giraldo
, Adam Ferrara
, Dave Attell
, Rich Vos
, Bill Burr
, Bob Kelly
, Kevin Nealon
, Harrison Greenbaum
, Josh Peck
and Stephen Lynch
.
Caroline Hirsch opened her eponymous cabaret in Chelsea, New York, in 1981. She started booking comedians, and these were so popular that soon she was booking nothing else. Needing a larger venue, Caroline's moved to South Street Seaport
where it gained national recognition as the venue for A&E Network
's Caroline's Comedy Hour television series, which won a CableACE award for Best Stand-Up Comedy Series. In 1992, the club moved to a 300-seat space in Times Square. The new club received the American Institute of Architecture Award for Best Interior Club Design and was featured on the cover of Interior Design magazine.
Before he died of cancer, the final stand-up appearance of Bill Hicks
' career was at Caroline's in January 1994. Mitch Hedberg
also performed his last shows at the club before he died in March 2005. More recently, in December of 2009 Carolines played host to the first public reunion of Dave Chappelle
, Paul Mooney, and Charlie Murphy
since the cancellation of The Chappelle Show.
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
between 49th and 50th Street. It is one of the most established, famous, and recognized stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
clubs in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Its marketing slogan is "America's Premiere Comedy Nightclub." Many of the top headliners in the U.S. have performed at Carolines, including Paul Reubens
Paul Reubens
Paul Reubens is an American actor, writer, film producer, and comedian, best known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s and started his career as an improvisational comedian and stage actor...
, Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...
, Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
, Bill Hicks
Bill Hicks
William Melvin "Bill" Hicks was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material largely consisted of general discussions about society, religion, politics, philosophy, and personal issues. Hicks' material was often controversial and steeped in dark comedy...
, Andrew Dice Clay
Andrew Dice Clay
Andrew Dice Clay is an American comedian and actor who played the lead role in the film The Adventures of Ford Fairlane.Clay has been in several movies and has released a number of stand-up albums...
, Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Gottfried is an American actor, voice actor and stand-up comedian, best known for his trademark comedic persona of speaking in a loud, grating tone of voice. He has played numerous roles in film and television, perhaps most notably voicing the parrot Iago in Disney's Aladdin , and...
, Andy Borowitz
Andy Borowitz
Andy Borowitz is a comedian and New York Times bestselling author who won the first National Press Club award for humor. He is best known for creating the satirical website , which has an audience in the millions...
, Joy Behar
Joy Behar
Josephina Victoria "Joy" Behar is an American comedian, writer, actress, and a co-host of the talk show The View. Behar has a commentary program, entitled The Joy Behar Show, on CNN's sister network, HLN...
, Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
, Patton Oswalt
Patton Oswalt
Patton Oswalt is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor and voice actor. He is best known for portraying Spencer Olchin in the popular sitcom The King of Queens, voicing Remy from the film Ratatouille and Thrasher from the Cartoon Network original series Robotomy.-Early life:Oswalt was born...
, Colin Quinn
Colin Quinn
Colin Edward Quinn is an American stand-up comedian and writer best known for his five years in the cast of Saturday Night Live, as the sidekick/announcer of MTV's late 1980s gameshow Remote Control and as host of Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn on Comedy Central from 2002–2004.-Early years:Quinn was...
, Artie Lange
Artie Lange
Arthur Steven "Artie" Lange, Jr. is an American actor, comedian and radio personality best known for his tenures with the The Howard Stern Show and the comedy sketch series MADtv....
, Norm Macdonald
Norm MacDonald
Norman Gene "Norm" Macdonald is a Canadian stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He is best known for his five seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, which included anchoring Weekend Update for three years...
, Elayne Boosler
Elayne Boosler
Elayne Boosler is an American comedian.Boosler was born and raised in Brooklyn, the youngest child and only daughter of a Russian-acrobat father and a Romanian-ballerina mother...
, Michael Richards
Michael Richards
Michael Anthony Richards is an American actor, comedian, writer and television producer, best known for his portrayal of the eccentric Cosmo Kramer on the television sitcom Seinfeld....
, Richard Belzer
Richard Belzer
Richard Jay Belzer is an American stand-up comedian, author, and actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as John Munch, which he has portrayed as a regular cast member on the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as in guest...
, Chris Rush
Chris Rush
Chris Rush is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor, radio personality and author. He is best known for his stand-up routines and albums along with being a writer and editor on the satirical publication National Lampoon Magazine.-Early life:Rush was born in Brooklyn, New York. He is of...
and Mitch Hedberg
Mitch Hedberg
Mitchell Lee "Mitch" Hedberg was an American stand-up comedian known for his surreal humor and unconventional comedic delivery. His comedy typically featured short, sometimes one-line jokes, mixed with absurd elements and non sequiturs...
. Other popular stand-ups that have headlined at Caroline's include Patrice Oneal
Patrice Oneal
Patrice Lumumba Malcolm Oneal , usually credited as Patrice O'Neal, was an American stand-up comedian, radio personality, and actor. He was known for his cutting, often confrontational crowd work during which he often played couples against each other...
, Jim Norton
Jim Norton (comedian)
James Joseph "Jim" Norton, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, radio personality, author, and actor. He is an on-air personality, often dubbed the 'third mic' on The Opie and Anthony Show, which airs on Sirius XM Radio...
, Greg Giraldo
Greg Giraldo
Greg Giraldo was an American stand-up comedian, television personality, and retired lawyer. Giraldo was best known for his appearances on Comedy Central's televised roast specials, and for his work on that network's television shows Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, Lewis Black's Root of All Evil, and...
, Adam Ferrara
Adam Ferrara
Adam Ferrara is an American actor and comedian who is currently playing the role of Chief "Needles" Nelson on the critically acclaimed FX series Rescue Me and is also a co-host on the U.S. version of Top Gear...
, Dave Attell
Dave Attell
Dave Attell is an American stand-up comedian and the host of Comedy Central's Insomniac with Dave Attell and The Gong Show with Dave Attell.-Stand-up beginning:...
, Rich Vos
Rich Vos
Richard Ira "Rich" Vos is an American comedian. Originally from Plainfield, New Jersey, Vos has been a working stand-up for decades. Colin Quinn described Vos in his early days as a "Jersey Hack"....
, Bill Burr
Bill Burr
William "Bill" Burr is an American stand-up comedian, radio host and actor.-Life and career:Burr was born in Canton, Massachusetts. His father was a dentist, and Bill worked as a hygienist for a short time. He began stand-up at age 23 after attending Emerson College. In 1995, he moved to New...
, Bob Kelly
Robert Kelly (comedian)
Robert Kelly is an Irish-American stand-up comedian from Boston, Massachusetts. He frequently performs at the Comedy Cellar...
, Kevin Nealon
Kevin Nealon
Kevin Nealon is an American actor and comedian, best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1995, acting in several of the Happy Madison films, for playing Doug Wilson on the Showtime series Weeds, and providing the voice of the title character, Glenn Martin on Glenn Martin,...
, Harrison Greenbaum
Harrison Greenbaum
Harrison Greenbaum is an American stand-up comedian and comedy writer. He is known for his energetic stage presence and his quick wit, as well as the unique subject matter of his jokes.-Personal life:...
, Josh Peck
Josh Peck
Joshua Michael "Josh" Peck is an American actor, comedian, director, and voice actor best known for playing Josh Nichols in the Nickelodeon live-action sitcom Drake & Josh. He began his career as a child actor in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and became known to young audiences after his role on...
and Stephen Lynch
Stephen Lynch (musician)
Stephen Andrew Lynch , is an American stand-up comedian, musician and Tony Award-nominated actor who is known for his songs mocking daily life and popular culture. Lynch has released two studio albums and two live albums along with a live DVD...
.
Caroline Hirsch opened her eponymous cabaret in Chelsea, New York, in 1981. She started booking comedians, and these were so popular that soon she was booking nothing else. Needing a larger venue, Caroline's moved to South Street Seaport
South Street Seaport
The South Street Seaport is a historic area in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located where Fulton Street meets the East River, and adjacent to the Financial District. The Seaport is a designated historic district, distinct from the neighboring Financial District...
where it gained national recognition as the venue for A&E Network
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
's Caroline's Comedy Hour television series, which won a CableACE award for Best Stand-Up Comedy Series. In 1992, the club moved to a 300-seat space in Times Square. The new club received the American Institute of Architecture Award for Best Interior Club Design and was featured on the cover of Interior Design magazine.
Before he died of cancer, the final stand-up appearance of Bill Hicks
Bill Hicks
William Melvin "Bill" Hicks was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material largely consisted of general discussions about society, religion, politics, philosophy, and personal issues. Hicks' material was often controversial and steeped in dark comedy...
' career was at Caroline's in January 1994. Mitch Hedberg
Mitch Hedberg
Mitchell Lee "Mitch" Hedberg was an American stand-up comedian known for his surreal humor and unconventional comedic delivery. His comedy typically featured short, sometimes one-line jokes, mixed with absurd elements and non sequiturs...
also performed his last shows at the club before he died in March 2005. More recently, in December of 2009 Carolines played host to the first public reunion of Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle
David Khari Webber "Dave" Chappelle is an American comedian, screenwriter, television/film producer, actor, and artist. Chappelle began his film career in the film Robin Hood: Men in Tights in 1993 and continued to star in minor roles in the films The Nutty Professor, Con Air, and Blue Streak. His...
, Paul Mooney, and Charlie Murphy
Charlie Murphy
Charles Quinton "Charlie" Murphy is an American actor, comedian, and writer notable as being a cast member and writer on the Comedy Central sketch-comedy series Chappelle's Show...
since the cancellation of The Chappelle Show.