Are you looking for something to do in the Peoria area and in the mood for a few laughs? Or maybe you’ve seen a comic on a stage and thought about giving it a try.
Well, you’re in luck. Boosted by aspiring performers and open-mic nights, Peoria’s vibrant local comedy scene is on the rebound after struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Regan Shute is one of the regular performers at Jukebox Comedy Club on Farmington Road. She still recalls her first time on stage, a little more than three years ago.
“There was a sign on the door, that we had a blizzard. I made it through the blizzard to get to the open-mic; nobody else did. It was canceled and move to the next night, Thursday,” Shute said. “So I had to come and do my first set right before the headliner for a paying crowd, and I about wet my pants.”
Shute said she managed to avoid any accidents and overcome that initial nervousness.
“It actually went well, because there was a huge table of nine barge workers who popped in for some weird reason on that Thursday night. And I’m considered a clean comedian, but my first joke I ever told was not clean; the punchline was dirty,” she said. “As soon as I said it, I’m up there in my little pink sweater and my little pearls, and I just – Boom! – punched with this in-line that was very dirty. It took them a minute and then it just erupted, blew up. The rest of my set sucked, but after that I was like, ‘I’m hooked.’”
“I would say it’s growing. There’s always people who want to try comedy.”Jake Merch, Suckerpunch Comedy
Shute noted her foray into local comedy came just before COVID-19 forced shutdowns that resulted in the club scene grinding to a halt. She said things have gradually gotten better since then.
“I think it was a slow start coming out of the pandemic (with) people afraid to come out,” she said. “But now it is growing because there are some people who are branching out, having some other open mics, putting on some bar shows and whatnot. So (it’s) definitely growing.”
Just like Shute, Jake Merch took his first step into comedy at Jukebox when he attended an open mic night, nearly 10 years ago.
“It wasn’t too bad, you know? You’re obviously the most nervous your first time, so I’m sure performance-wise it was bad if I went back and watched it,” Merch said. “But I felt like I did all right for the first time.”
In May, Merch joined fellow local comedians Michelle De Sutter and Kalley Vahl in forming Suckerpunch Comedy, a group that holds open mic nights at various locations around Peoria.
“Depends on the week, but we have an open mic on every Wednesday (at Kelleher’s), and then every other Sunday we have an open mic at Kickback,” he said. “Then sometimes we have shows at (Peoria) Pizza Works and then sometimes we have (extra) shows at Kelleher’s coming up. And we’re just always looking for new places, too.”
Merch concurs with Shute’s characterization of the current local comedy scene.
“I would say it’s growing. There’s always people who want to try comedy,” he said. “It grows when people stick around for a while, and people seem to be sticking around a little more.”
Dan Conlin has owned Jukebox for 23 years. He said the club is still in recovery mode after nearly closing for good during the pandemic. But he’s convinced that comedy is on its way back up.
“I think comedy is stronger now than it’s ever been. All you have to do is go to a show at the (Peoria) Civic Center, and it’s packed,” Conlin said. “I hear people saying sometimes that comedy … ‘Oh, comedy’s dead,’ or ‘you can’t say what you want to say in comedy, so comedy is on its way down.’ But it seems to me to be stronger than ever.”
As Conlin notes, touring star comedians regularly draw some of the Peoria Civic Center’s biggest audiences. Sitcom legend Jerry Seinfeld tops a long list of comics on the Civic Center schedule this fall, with Nikki Glaser, Gabriel Iglesias, Nate Bargatze, and Monty Python co-founder John Cleese also on the venue’s calendar.
Meanwhile, Jukebox offers a chance to possibly catch a rising star before they hit the big time.
“So many great comics have come here over the last 23 years that are superstars now, and people didn’t know at the time there for $15 they could’ve seen John Mulaney or Nikki Glaser,” Conlin said. “Just, the walls are littered with people that are super– you know, Louis C.K.. When he came here in 2005, relatively few people knew who he was then. There’s so many great comics that I bring in, usually in the early stages of their career; they go on to become huge superstars.”
“You never know who is going to be here that’s going to become the next star.”Dan Conlin, Jukebox Comedy Club owner
Conlin points to Emmy Award nominee Janelle James, who plays principal Ava Coleman on the sitcom Abbott Elementary, as an example.
“She first performed here back in 2011-2012 doing open mic shows, got in our annual tournament in 2013 – didn’t even win; did make the finals, but did not win. One of our local, awesome comics Jeff Bailey won,” Conlin said.
“But now, look: 10 years later, she’s had Netflix specials; she’s on this ABC show, which is a hit show and she’s one of the huge stars of the show. The sky’s the limit for her, that Janelle James. You never know who is going to be here that’s going to become the next star.”
In an indicator of comedy’s resurgence, a recent open mic night at Jukebox featured 17 stand-up comics performing sets of up to five minutes each. Conlin said open mic nights are critical to the success of a local comedy club.
“You have to start somewhere. Every single superstar comic of the last, let’s say, 30 years at least started at an open mic-type show – on a dare, (or) maybe they had just enough drinks to get up on stage,” he said. “Maybe it was a bucket list thing that turned into a career. But they went on stage at some point for the first time. That’s what the open mics that we’ve been doing here for 22 years now of the 23 years I’ve owned the club – open mics, every week.
“It’s how you get started, and it’s several things: It’s a stepping stone to a professional career in comedy, some people use it as just a form of therapy to get some stuff off their mind every week. Some people do it as, ‘I've always wanted to try it. Let me just try it. I did that,’ – and then you never see them again. Sometimes, not very often. But they can say they did it.”
This weekend, Jukebox is hosting its 22nd annual comedy tournament. Conlin said the event is a good opportunity for beginner comedians.
“My only stipulation is that you not be a pro, not be a professional, not be a paid regular somewhere. So it’s more leaning towards amateur comedy, certainly,” he said. “We get new people doing it. We get veterans who’ve done it but aren’t professionals.
“We have judges: I help judge, past champions judge, I have two or three super fans that are coming to the club a lot that love comedy that judge. They lurk in the back of the room so you don't know who they are, but they're there. They score the comedians based on their presentation, their comedy writing ability, their stage presence, and audience response – it's a combination of all those things. And it's just a fun, low-pressure tournament every year, and the winners in the finals get a little bit of cash.”
Merch said he would like to see Suckerpunch Comedy have a significant impact on furious comedy scene.
“I’m hoping that we can get more shows off the ground and get people interested in coming out, that they’re having fun at the shows and hopefully just grow our audience size,” said Merch, adding that the number of participants at Suckerpunch open mic events typically varies.
“It could be from five people to 15, (and) there’s different levels of experience, too. Usually stand up takes a little experience to get good at because it’s such a weird thing to do.”
“Even if people aren’t laughing really, really loud when you’re up on stage, you can see everybody smiling.”Regan Shute, regular performer at Jukebox Comedy Club
Shute says open mic nights are a perfect way for a comedy novice to get a start, even if they’re a little apprehensive.
“I say just do it, just try it. I mean, it’s usually, truthfully, not like a full room of audience,” she said. “Sometimes you do, and audience who does show up to open mics, they’re great because they’re here to have fun and watch crazy comedy of people who don’t do this for a living. Just get up there and talk.”
Likewise, Merch encourages anyone interested in attempting comedy to try an open mic show.
“The worst thing that can happen is people don’t laugh; nobody’s going to fight you over jokes or anything,” he said. “It might be slightly embarrassing if you do bad, but most people don’t do bad their first time.”
Shute said she still gets a thrill from telling her jokes in front of an audience.
“Even if people aren’t laughing really, really loud when you’re up on stage, you can see everybody smiling,” she said. “Everybody’s enjoying themselves – I’d rather them laughing out loud than clapping, but – they’re just, almost always they’re laughing. And people come to a comedy club to laugh, to hear comedy.”
The semifinals for the Jukebox comedy tournament are Friday, with the finals on Saturday. Upcoming Suckerpunch events include open mic nights next Wednesday at Kelleher’s and Sept. 10 at Kickback on Fulton.
