Take a chance on your next date night by attending a comedy show at an undisclosed venue
Can you keep a secret? Don’t Tell Comedy is sweeping L.A., asking comedy lovers to take the ultimate leap of faith.
Established in over 250 cities across the U.S., Don’t Tell Comedy operates under an incredibly peculiar business model of total secrecy. For $30, patrons can buy a ticket to a comedy show in a neighborhood of their choosing, but the exact location is kept under wraps until the day of at 8 a.m., when a mass text is sent out to the attendees.
The line-up is a secret too, though it usually consists of local comics; a few big names have performed at the L.A. shows, including Michael Che, Ali Wong and Nikki Glaser. The risk is worth the reward, though, as Don’t Tell Comedy forgoes the two-drink minimum standard at comedy clubs like the Laugh Factory, making it a cheaper choice for a night out.
Boardroom Brewery bartender Rick Mathiesen told The LA Local that the best part is watching people “getting out of their Ubers with confused looks on their faces” as they look around the venue. Boardroom Brewery, a former host of a secret comedy show, is built out of an old WWII-style Quonset hut, which is surprisingly one of the more conventional venues the shows have been held at, with former spots including parking lots, furniture stores, gyms and rooftops.
Credit: Courtesy of Don’t Tell Comedy
The risk is part of the charm of the experience, though: the communal leap of faith, the blind leading the blind; it’s a sort of cliché trust that inspires hope for the future of L.A. communities.
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Finding a Don’t Tell Comedy show to attend is far simpler than it may seem. Visit the Don’t Tell Comedy website and enter your city. Once you have picked a show, you purchase a ticket without knowing anything about the venue or performers, with prices averaging around $30; the morning of, you will receive a text or email with the address of the show. The rest is up to you.