Last summer, we profiled three young comedy shows held in unconventional locations. Happily for LA comedy fans, all three shows are still going strong and even more new shows have popped up in surprising venues since then.
The Blind Barber Secret Show is one of the newest shows in an unusual spot. It’s not only surprising that “they have a comedy show there” but even that there’s a there, there. The Blind Barber is a hair salon by day and, for those in the know, a speakeasy in the back by night. Tucked inside the Best Buy plaza in Culver City, if you were just walking by, you’d have no idea there’s a dimly lit room in the back with mixologists pouring old-school and updated classic cocktails to complement a creative menu, including the most beautiful grilled cheese sandwich I’ve ever seen.
Even if you did know about this cozy little hipster spot, you probably wouldn’t know that once a month Nick Anthony, Grant Lyon, Andy Peters and Dave Waite produce a kick-ass monthly comedy show there. While we’re a little sad to be blowing their secret wide open, AmericasComedy.Com was happy to catch up with co-producer Grant Lyon recently to talk about the show.
AC: Why is there a comedy show at a barber shop speakeasy in Culver City?
GL: Because it’s an event, it’s not just a show. That’s what we really try to push. We don’t want it to feel like “just another comedy show” we want it to feel like an evening. And I think that the idea of “Oh, this is special just for you, this is only for people who are on the list” is cool. This is a place that you won’t know about unless somebody tells you about it. So it really does feel like an event.
I mean, that’s the thing, there’s so much entertainment – not just comedy – there’s so much entertainment in LA, that to stand out for the thousands of things that are happening every night is a hard thing to do. So, when we were thinking about it, we really were thinking about, “OK, how is this different?”
I mean, you can go see great comedians for free at Tiger Lily, at Holy Fuck [Note: Not anymore, this interview took place just outside the final night of Holy Fuck Comedy]… you can see just as good of comedians as we’re having on our show, so we have to make it something else.
I feel like with our show, the venue draws people in and the quality of show keeps them coming back. And I’m not depressed about it. The idea of this secret speakeasy place, that’s the fun part about it and we just have to take advantage of that and keep putting on good shows so people say, “Oh, this is worth coming back to.”
The only reason I even knew about this place is that my ex-girlfriend worked at a hair salon across the street and started going there. But when we’d first go there, there were not many people at all. Then, when we found out they wanted to do a show, we thought “Oh, this could be awesome.” I just liked hanging out there and now I get to hang out more.
AC: You said they were very accommodating and very enthusiastic about having a comedy show there.
GL: Yes! very much, surprisingly so. I know people are going to hate me for saying it, but it really fell into our laps.
So, we were all just there drinking one night because Dave Waite had just moved into town from New York so we took him on a pub crawl around the westside bars and we ended up at the Blind Barber around 1 am. And at 2 am they literally said, “Hey, you either gotta play musical chairs right now or you gotta leave.” And we were all like, “Well, musical chairs, of course.” So we ended up playing a big game of musical chairs with all the staff and all the people still left in the bar and then just got to talking with people.
And when I was closing my tab, one of the managers said, “Are you a writer? You look like a writer.” And I was like, “I guess, I mean, I’m a comedian.” and he said, “Oh really? We’ve been thinking about doing a comedy show here!” And I just talked to him for 20-30 minutes that night. I didn’t even think, “Oh *I’ll* do a comedy show here.” I was just explaining to him what needs to happen – where to put the stage, how to make sure they weren’t ambushing bar patrons and then they followed up and asked if we wanted to do the show here.
You know, I produced a show in the Bay Area for many years, but it’s so much work producing a show. I haven’t produced a show in Los Angeles because the idea of it is overwhelming. But then when there was a collective of us, that was awesome, so we can all share the workload and it became a no brainer.
Plus, it increases our reach. We’ve filled up every show. Now the word has spread enough, but the first couple of ones were largely people we knew personally. Then they would tell other people and those people would tell other people… it’s been a lot of word of mouth. It’s the best part because, then people want to be there.
AC: And then there’s a party afterward at the bar.
GL: Yeah, like I said, we wanted to make it an event. the bar – which is really cool of them – they stay closed on the nights we’re doing the show before the show starts. So, literally everybody in the bar is there for the show.
The first night, we had way too many people, which is a good problem to have, but everyone was hot and uncomfortable. And if you’re ambushing people who are just in here to have a good evening, they’re going to hate it… and hate you for doing it.
So that first time there were already 40 people in there for the bar and then we had 80 people show up from our guest list so people were really smooshed in. So, afterwards, the bar was like, “Ok, we get it now. We didn’t think this many people from your list would actually show up.”
So, now they keep it closed and starting at 7 pm, people from the list can come in and have dinner or enjoy their really good whiskey drinks… and, if you want to talk to anybody in there, you know they’re there for the show, so you have a good icebreaker. Then the show happens, then afterwards it turns back into a cool bar. I always stay there until 1 am and get drunk. So it’s fun for me.
AC: So, if someone wanted to find out how to get on the super secret guest list, where should they go?
GL: We actually did just start a Tumblr as a way to show a gallery of photos. We have the people from CleftClips and they’re taking such awesome photos. And now you can also find out about upcoming dates and lineups. And you can always email us at barbersecretshow@gmail.com.
We try to be fair. If you don’t get into a show because it’s too full, we invite those people first to the next show. And it’s a pretty good time.
