Broad Comedy’s first home was in the back room of a pizza place in downtown Urbana. And it was so. fucking. fun. Crowds and performers slowly started to take notice during the first year, leading Stephanie to bring Lisa Graff & Andrew Schiver on board as producers and hosts of the monthly open mic. They encouraged other underrepresented groups to sign up and perform, opening the floor to any and all minority groups and members of the LGBTQ+ community, and building BC’s base even more.

Eventually outgrowing the pizza place, BC tried out some larger venues in downtown Urbana, settling at the Rose Bowl Tavern, where they’ve hosted the open mic for several years. After Stephanie moved on to pursue her career in academia (and Andrew & Lisa got busy with school/jobs/kids/moving away), Gretchen Conlin & Michelle Lore were brought on as additional producers to help keep the show running. And they really did run with it! BC now does regular shows at venues all over C-U, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Michelle & Gretchen, and their love for our comedy community.

Over the years we’ve had countless open mics (I mean…we could count, but who has the time?), writing workshops, showcase shows, late night hangs, group texts, and general tom-foolery (tanya-foolery? must foolery be gendered?). We’ve had hundreds of performers, thousands of audience members, and only a handful of hecklers. It’s a great time, and the great times just keep getting greater.

Check out our Event Calendar to see what’s coming up, or reach out using the contact form below. We hope to see you at a show soon!