There’s a secret comedy club in SLO County — but shhh don’t tell
A blind date — but make it comedy.
That’s the fun of Don’t Tell Comedy, a traveling comedy club that hosts a secret line up of comedians at undisclosed locations across the United States, including the Central Coast.
Cole Garrett is the West Coast regional manager at Don’t Tell Comedy. He’s been with the company for eight of its nine years and said that San Luis Obispo County is one of his favorite crowds to work with.
“Anytime you go to a beach town, I feel like people are just excited and happy about their lives,” he said.
The idea behind the company is to provide access to comedy deserts with an affordable ticket price, Garrett said.
“When we started, the show was kind of like the idea of bringing you a comedy club level show with some of the best talent around the country without comedy club level prices,” he said. “ So a lot of our shows were built off of a BYOB model, or like a great comedy show meets like a backyard barbecue.”
How it works is guests buy a ticket online for about $30, the city of the venue being the only disclosed information — the venue and lineup remain a surprise until the day of.
“I think the secret location was just always something that just added an extra element of surprise and fun,” Garrett said. “I think it was just a new concept that really stuck with people, and people really like the idea that they’re just going to put their trust in us for the night, and we’ll sort of take the wheel.”
Venues can range from local backyards, to breweries, or even yoga studios, and serves as a win-win for businesses wanting exposure.
“It’s a really fun experience for people to be able to just buy a ticket to something and not have to think too hard about it,” he said. “Just go, ‘Hey, we’re going enjoy a fun night out,’ and ‘Oh, wow, it’s at the yoga studio,’ or ‘It’s at this Pilates studio that I go to,’ or ‘Oh my god, it’s in my neighbor’s backyard.’”
For example, the show on May 23 was at Oak and Otter Brewing Co. located at 181 Tank Farm Road in San Luis Obispo.
Being a small space, the seating was intimate, but that also seemed to be the purpose.
Attendees filed in, grabbed a drink and hot dog, mingled among each other, then enjoyed many good laughs throughout the night’s lineup.
Don’t Tell Comedy’s ambiguity also applies to its lineups. Comedians can be local or have traveled from around the country for the shows.
At Saturday’s show, the lineup consisted of five comedians: Jack Scotti, Sam Goldstein, SLO local Vic Pulido, Drew Landry and headliner Kyle Rehl, who’s also been featured on Peacock.
Other previous notable performers with Don’t Tell Comedy include Taylor Tomlinson, Ali Wong, Nikki Glaser and Michael Che.
Closer to home, upcoming shows are scheduled in SLO, Paso Robles, Pismo Beach and Orcutt, including an “All Stars” show in Paso Robles on June 5, which will headline a comedian featured on Don’t Tell Comedy’s YouTube channel, Garrett said.
“That’s been really cool to be able to offer a slightly elevated experience where it’s not just a showcase, it’s actually some of our favorite comics, and some of the biggest up-and-coming comics in the country right now,” he said.
For more information about Don’t Tell Comedy shows in SLO County visit donttellcomedy.com/nearby-shows.
