It was the best of times, it was the best of times. There was a wealth of talent in the city those days and the crowds just kept on coming to a variety of distinct venues to watch and revel in their favorite mirth makers. The comics came in assorted configurations including stand-up solo acts, comedy duos and trios, and some that mixed music into their acts like Rick and Ruby, several improvisation troupes, and at least one talented ventriloquist! Some were cut from the traditional one-liner model, while others ventured into newer styles of funny. 

From the perspective of an up-and-coming comedy act, trying to find laughs and success, I can’t imagine anyplace as fun to do it in than San Francisco. The scene was raw and raucous and mostly friendly. There were numerous venues for beginners to try their luck, getting onstage to make people laugh on the open-mike nights.

Now to be clear the phenomenon of an explosion of comedy during the eighties was not limited to San Francisco, as a number of cities had hot emerging scenes such as, Boston. But here in the Bay Area there was something really exciting in the air. This was partly propelled no doubt, by the presence of Robin Williams, who frequented the clubs with his singular offerings. And during the early 80s, the proliferation of clubs was marked, and not just in the Bay Area, but nationwide. But here in SF is where many successful acts cut their teeth.

Almost as entertaining and varied as the acts themselves were the people running the various venues.