{"id":258328,"date":"2026-08-03T15:09:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T15:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/258328\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T15:09:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T15:09:09","slug":"jewish-philadelphian-opens-comedy-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/258328\/","title":{"rendered":"Jewish Philadelphian Opens Comedy Club"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Reid Benditt on stage at Claude\u2019s Comedy Club & Bar in South Philadelphia (Courtesy of Reid Benditt)<\/p>\n

Claude\u2019s Comedy Club & Bar opened in South Philadelphia on South Broad Street at the beginning of July.<\/p>\n

Since then, it has hosted some combination of open mics, showcases and headliners every night. Open seven nights a week, until midnight from Sunday through Thursday and until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, with a 100-seat showroom, Claude\u2019s is an intimate neighborhood bar where you can find some laughs.<\/p>\n

It was started by a Jewish Philadelphian, Reid Benditt. And like the NJB (Nice Jewish Boy) that he is, Benditt, 43, named the place after his mother, Claudia.<\/p>\n

Claudia Benditt was also the loyal Philadelphia Jewish Exponent reader who reached out to the publication about the new club. As a result, her son also referred to her as his \u201cpress agent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom\u2019s been a big part of my life. My parents have always been good to me. It was actually her birthday present,\u201d Benditt said.<\/p>\n

On March 25, 2025, the son gave his mother an envelope with printouts of the logos he had designed.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s always been a very selfless person. That\u2019s how the room works. The room gets out of the way so comics have a place to shine,\u201d Benditt said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Claude\u2019s Comedy Club & Bar in South Philadelphia (Courtesy of Reid Benditt)<\/p>\n

Benditt grew up in the Merion Park neighborhood in Lower Merion and had his bar mitzvah at Beth David Reform Congregation in Gladwyne. He also went on a Birthright trip, played in the Maccabiah Games as a golfer and watched enough \u201cSeinfeld\u201d to later finish second in a trivia contest about the show at a local bar.<\/p>\n

When he looks back on his bar mitzvah experience, he realizes that it could be the premise of a comedy movie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had the flu, and I was going through puberty at the same time. When I had to chant Torah portions, it was rough,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI think I even tapped out about halfway through. On top of that, one of the cool girls got half the girls over to her bat mitzvah the same day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benditt survived that experience to earn his degree in marketing from George Washington University in 2005 and build a career as a business creative.<\/p>\n

Between 2010 and 2025, he held director-level roles with FCM Hospitality, a Philadelphia company that manages bars and restaurants; the Electric Factory, the live music venue in Callowhill now known as the Franklin Music Hall; The Bowery Presents, a New York City-based concert promoter; and the Anchor Rock Club, Atlantic City\u2019s independent concert venue just off the boardwalk.<\/p>\n

He promoted comedy shows on the side throughout that time. He also had an independent interest in the craft dating back to his childhood as a \u201cSeinfeld\u201d lover.<\/p>\n

But as PhillyVoice reported in a July article<\/a> about the opening of Claude\u2019s, Benditt really started to tap into his interest after getting laid off from his job in 2013. He came up with the idea for Claude\u2019s when he started taking sketch comedy classes at Philly Improv Theater in Rittenhouse Square.<\/p>\n

Later, when he was laid off during the pandemic in 2020, Benditt and some sketch comedy friends launched a satirical newspaper, the Philadelphia Jabroni. Finally, after finishing a free business class at Temple University, Benditt began looking around for a possible space for a venue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know how to start a small business,\u201d he told the Voice. \u201cIt was a long time coming between that class and opening our doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benditt has lived in Passyunk Square in South Philadelphia since 2010. He said he wanted to open Claude\u2019s because Philly only really had two other comedy clubs, Helium in Rittenhouse Square, which has a showroom capacity of about 250, and Punch Line Philly in Fishtown, which is run by Live Nation.<\/p>\n

Both are bigger, more corporate venues. What was missing was the neighborhood comedy club.<\/p>\n

So, he found a former consignment shop with nothing but cement floors and a little bit of drywall. It was \u201cbasically sort of a raw basement space,\u201d Benditt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fell in love with the space,\u201d he told PhillyVoice.<\/p>\n

And the love has only grown.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make it intentionally comfy, cozy. I\u2019ve had people compliment everything from the bar area to the bathrooms,\u201d Benditt said. \u201cThe comics love the showroom too. They\u2019ve just been saying how much it\u2019s needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Claude\u2019s Comedy Club & Bar in South Philadelphia (Courtesy of Reid Benditt)<\/p>\n

During his time in comedy, Benditt has watched talented comedians leave the limited Philly scene not just for bigger cities, but sometimes for smaller ones like Washington, D.C., and Baltimore.<\/p>\n

He hopes that Claude\u2019s will fill the space between Helium\/Punch Line and bar shows.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking around at other cities, cities that are smaller than us, D.C., Baltimore, they have more comedy venues than we do,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been putting on comedy shows for 10 years. A lot of them have moved up. There\u2019s room for working-class comedians, like the middle class of comedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its first month, Claude\u2019s is doing all right. Some nights have seen shows with 20 people in the audience. On other evenings, crowds have exceeded the 100-seat capacity.<\/p>\n

The Spanish-American comedian Carmen Lynch headlined one show. \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d writer KC Shornima headlined another.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a good opening,\u201d Benditt said. \u201cBut I\u2019m not going to lie. The summer is the summer. People are away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the Upcoming Shows page on claudescomedy.com<\/a> reveals that the club\u2019s schedule is almost booked out through December. It also includes well-known comics like Lukas McCrary, Umar Khan and others.<\/p>\n

Tuesday nights, though, are reserved for open mics. The 7-9 p.m. stretch is available to comics of all ages. At 9 p.m., the mic is only open to comedians 21 and older.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe open mic is just a staple of any solid comedy club. That\u2019s something we\u2019ll have on there forever,\u201d Benditt said.<\/p>\n

An experienced marketer, Benditt is trying a little bit of everything to book and promote shows.<\/p>\n

He knows comics in Philly; he sends around a booking form to \u201canyone who asks\u201d; he uses paid and organic social media posts; he sends out a weekly newsletter; he puts out posters in the streets; and he works with influencers and media outlets.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, agents have started to reach out to him, instead of the other way around.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we booked eight new shows in the past week or so,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Benditt estimates that he\u2019s taken one total day off since the club opened. Both were half-day increments. But he\u2019s not complaining. He wants to be consumed by this project.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince I took that sketch comedy class, I was basically doing music venue marketing as my day job and comedy on the side. It\u2019s been a long time coming that they converge. It\u2019s satisfying,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Benditt has done the business plan. He has a staff in place. He also has the money to operate.<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s just a matter of \u201cfinding our stride\u201d and \u201cbecoming a staple in the city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reid Benditt on stage at Claude\u2019s Comedy Club & Bar in South Philadelphia (Courtesy of Reid Benditt) Claude\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[182,139,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-258328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}