Esther’s Follies, Austin’s original comedy club, will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2027.
Kelsey Thompson/MySA
Nestled in the heart of the Live Music Capital of the World is a storied Texas institution that put Austin’s comedy scene on the map, paving the way for future comics and entertainers and earning plenty of laughs over nearly half a century.
Long before Cap City Comedy Club, Comedy Mothership and East Austin Comedy Club, there was Esther’s Follies, the Texas capital’s longest-running comedy show that has endured the test of time — and a rapidly evolving cityscape — since 1977. Founded by Shannon Sedwick and Michael Shelton, the vaudeville theater is situated at the intersection of East Sixth and Red River streets in downtown Austin, serving up laughs and troupe-led chaos Thursdays through Saturdays.
Article continues below this ad
Austin’s original comedy club takes shape at Esther’s Follies
Shannon Sedwick and Michael Shelton founded and opened Esther’s Follies, a vaudeville theater and comedy venue, in Austin back in 1977.
Courtesy of Austin History Center, Austin Public Library
Before the origins of Esther’s Follies, there was Liberty Lunch, Sedwick recounted to MySA. The restaurant and live music venue space included a backyard dining area befit with a stage, which served as the original stomping grounds of the Esther’s Follies performances.
What began as a performance art routine, with players accompanying live bands with dancing or eclectic characters, became the framework for Esther’s Follies to come to life as its own concept. Its original space was located in a former bar site with a bit of a seedy back story, including some old bullets forcibly removed from the structure’s walls. Sedwick and Shelton rented the space as a pool hall and watering hole, and thus began the journey of Esther’s Follies.
Article continues below this ad
“We got a big cast of friends and family and people who had been doing the shows at Liberty Lunch, and then also some others that we just knew, and we started doing free shows,” Sedwick said. “It was a big, big overnight success. People walked down a dark alley to get into the theater — it was pretty rudimentary and pretty dark — but all in all everybody loved it, and we were packed, so we ended up having to move the pool tables out just to get the audience in.”
A fire blazed through that original site, forcing Sedwick and Shelton to set up shop elsewhere along the entertainment district corridor. After testing out several locations, including the Ritz Theatre and Coyote Ugly, Esther’s Follies hunkered down at its current venue, where it’s resided for more than 30 years.
Esther’s Follies, Austin’s original comedy club, will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2027.
Kelsey Thompson/MySA
How Esther’s Follies has endured amid rapid growth, business development
Just a few years after the two opened Esther’s Follies, they first became involved with The Tavern, a historic and haunted bar near the Clarksville neighborhood. After a first ownership stint in the 1980s, Sedwick and Shelton formally took the reins once more in 2018. Their love for and desire to preserve the (literal) “Old Austin” haunt is akin to their dedication to Esther’s Follies; it’s not about competing with new and upcoming businesses in the Texas capital, Sedwick said, but rather preserving beloved spaces so they, too can survive in a changing business ecosystem.
Article continues below this ad
But a lot of that endurance, Sedwick credited, belonged to being at the right place and right time in history to start up a comedy venue.
“It was ’77, when all of comedy was starting to really get going around the country,” she said. “Improv companies and stand-up comedy companies were all doing very well so we were in that kind of forum. To me, it was the perfect time for it, and we got on Sixth Street, so — with Austin being a great city to do performances and to do comedy — it was just a really great time of year for us.”
Esther’s Follies, Austin’s original comedy club, will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2027.
Kelsey Thompson/MySA
As for its 50th anniversary celebration? Sedwick teased there are plenty of plans in store to celebrate the big 5-0 next year.
Article continues below this ad
As Esther’s reflects on almost a half-century in the comedy scene and the next 50 to come, Sedwick said a key focus has been on training up future generation of comedians and helping them hone their craft and establish themselves in a dynamic and competitive industry.
Famous alums and performers affiliated with Esther’s Follies include Noël Wells (Saturday Night Live, Master of None), Todd Lowe (Gilmore Girls, True Blood) and Martha Kelly (Baskets with Zach Galifianakis, Euphoria).
That’s where the Esther’s Follies Foundation comes into play. The nonprofit organization is centered around providing scholarships and other resources to young and emerging performers in both the comedy and theater worlds, as well as offering nighttime classes for adults and summer programs for kids.
Article continues below this ad
“Esther’s is a really good training ground to go up to New York or LA afterwards, or wherever [performers] may want to go to. But because the Esther’s show is go getter every week, we put new pieces in every week — we write on the weekends, and on Monday we have a writers meeting and Tuesday we have everybody coming in with their scripts,” she said. “We can see what works and what doesn’t….but it’s a fly by the seat of your pants kind of show, and that’s really important.”
Find it: 525 E. Sixth St., Austin, TX 78701