Joe Rogan calls California comedy club ‘perfect.’ Now a second one to open WHERE in Idaho?

First off, 2C, don’t get fired up at me about the headline.

I have mad respect for Canyon County. Nampa was named the best-run city in America this year, right?

The Boise snob in me is just, well, surprised. Or maybe jealous?

The American Comedy Co., which is based in downtown San Diego, is planning to expand to Idaho. But not to our capital city, which lost its dedicated downtown comedy club this year.

Nope. This California stand-up mecca will invade downtown Caldwell.

No joke.

The American Comedy Co. plans to open at 815 Arthur St. That’s next to Indian Creek Plaza. On its Facebook page, the club says it is “super-spreading to Idaho” in spring 2021. Tickets will go on sale soon for Jeremy Piven and Harland Williams, it says.

“We do already have acts booked for the second location in Idaho,” co-owner Rebekah Hollister confirmed in an email, “and are very excited for the opportunity.”

Will Caldwell’s comedy club have a restaurant and full bar like the one in San Diego?

That I don’t know. Hollister did not respond to a follow-up request for a phone interview.

What we do know is that the American Comedy Co. has at least one big-time fan. Comedian Joe Rogan described the San Diego club as “@#$%in’ perfect” in an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience.” There’s video proof on the American Comedy Co.’s Facebook page.

We also know that the American Comedy Co. won’t be crazy-tiny. It leased 4,795 square feet in Caldwell’s Eagle Building. The San Diego club, which opened in 2012, is “a cozy 200-seat venue with an old-fashioned speakeasy feel to it,” according to its website.

“A-list comic stars such as Drew Carey, Christopher Titus and Charlie Murphy have graced the stage at the American Comedy Co.,” the website continues. “Although the San Diego American Comedy Co. hosts top comedians, it also welcomes open-mike comedic performers and up-and-coming comedians as well.”

A thriving comedy destination would be excellent news for the Treasure Valley. Bar and restaurant Liquid, 405 S. 8th St., remains open. But it pulled the plug on comedians over the summer because of the coronavirus pandemic. The comedy torch is supposed to be passed to the Lounge at the End of the Universe, 2417 Bank Drive, off Vista Avenue and Overland Road. But COVID-19 is crippling restaurants, bars and performance spaces.

Jen Adams, owner of the Lounge at the End of the Universe, co-organized a #SaveTheLounge Go Fund Me page. “This virus isn’t going away and without being able to accommodate people, we are dead in the water,” she wrote in a Nov. 19 update.

Whether Boise supports a full-time comedy club or not, Caldwell has a chance to be successful. Jeremy Aevermann, owner of Liquid in Boise, said that when his bar hosted comedians, a significant number of customers came from Canyon County.

Plus, he said, downtown Caldwell businesses are faring better during the pandemic than most in downtown Boise.

“They’re open and killin’ it over there,” he said. Indian Creek Plaza, specifically? “Every time I go there, that place is just packed, like wall to wall, with people.”

With the entire Treasure Valley growing rapidly, a dedicated comedy club outside of Boise does not seem unreasonable. A more central location such as Nampa or Meridian might have been a better choice, Aevermann said. But the rental cost of commercial space in Caldwell does tend to be affordable, he added.

“I wish them luck,” Aevermann said. “It could make it. I made it for 10 years.”

This story was originally published December 22, 2020 at 5:00 AM.