The Big Picture
In three Joe Rogan Experience conversations, the Comedy Store is remembered less as a building than as a system for making comedians, and the person at the centre of it is Mitzi Shore. Talking with her son Pauly Shore, Joe calls her the most important person in comedy who wasn't a comedian [1]. He says she had amazing taste and worked out a modern strategy for getting better at stand-up: one ruthlessly critical gatekeeper watching everyone's sets, with every comic working for her approval [1]. Joey Diaz calls her the ultimate mentor [2].
The other thread is what a club gives the people in it. Joe says, "It's so important for the comics to have a sense of community," and describes seeing in Austin that the scene had no real home [2]. Greg Fitzsimmons and Joe both love clubs with history, and they agree the laughter is "burned into the building" [3]. Greg's own memory of the Comedy Store is less golden, which makes these passages a mix of tribute and honest recollection [3].
Where the Experts Agree
- Mitzi Shore's approval changed careers. Joe recalls that being made a paid regular at the Store was the most important thing that happened to him, at a time when his Fox sitcom was failing [1]. Joey says killing in front of her gave him the confidence to tell off a club owner in Indiana [2].
- She tested the comics she believed in. Joe says that if she thought you were funny, she put you on after the killers, so you'd be tested and learn to follow big acts [1]. Pauly adds that his mother liked developing talent that was on the way up, not comics who were already finished products [1].
- A club is a community. Joe stresses a sense of community for comics [2]. Greg says the mark of a great club is staff who stay for years because they love it, and that his niece got a job at the La Jolla Comedy Store and found an instant community [3]. Joe says that with the Comedy Store shut down and its staff out of work, he brought many of them over [2].
- Showing up matters. Joey praises Rogan for never missing his Friday night spot at the Store, even at the height of NewsRadio and Fear Factor, and says it inspired him [2].
- The lean years are remembered fondly. Joe and Joey remember doing sets for a few bucks and loving it, and one of them says, "I enjoyed being broke" [2].
Where They Differ
They largely agree, but the emphasis shifts from one conversation to the next.
- Golden age or driftwood. Joe and Joey remember the Store through its people, among them Eddie Griffin, the Torry brothers, D.L. Hughley, Jamar Neighbors and Reggie McFadden [2]. Greg describes arriving around 1994, after Sam Kinison's wave had passed, as finding driftwood on the beach: a few sparse crowds and acts that should have retired, broken up by great comics like Dom Irrera or Damon Wayans dropping in [3].
- Taste has a cost. Joe praises Mitzi Shore's taste [1]. Pauly points to its other side: because she preferred talent on the way up, he says, she never warmed to Jerry Seinfeld and didn't like a lot of New York comics [1].
- The person or the place. With Pauly, the credit goes to one gatekeeper and her judgment [1]. With Greg, it goes to the room itself and the staff who stay [3].
- Los Angeles and elsewhere. Greg and Joe both prefer crowds outside Los Angeles, where Joe says Hollywood's desire for fame has seeped into everyday conversation [3]. Their list of clubs with history reaches well beyond it: the old wooden Punchline in Atlanta, Zanies in Nashville, the Comedy Store in La Jolla and Comedy Works in Denver [3].
- Stage and screen. Joe adds that he and Joey caught every wave, from TV to podcasts and YouTube, and says, "You realize online is the real mainstream" [2].
Practical Takeaways
- Find a critical eye. The strategy Joe credits to Mitzi Shore was one ruthlessly critical gatekeeper watching everyone's sets [1].
- Follow strong acts. She put the comics she thought were funny on after the killers so they would be tested [1].
- Keep your regular spot. Joey says Rogan never missed his Friday night spot at the Store, even at the height of his TV work [2].
- Look for a home, not only stage time. Joe says a sense of community is so important for comics [2].
- Judge a club by its staff. Greg's mark of a great club is staff who stay for years because they love it [3].
- Back the comics you believe in. Joe recalls a fellow comic teaching him to laugh loudly next to Mitzi for them [1].
- Use the confidence a hard room gives you. Killing in front of Mitzi Shore gave Joey the confidence to tell off a club owner in Indiana [2].
Sources
- Pauly Shore on Mitzi Shore, the Comedy Store and the Comedy Mothership · The Joe Rogan Experience
- Joey Diaz on His Memoir Tremendous, Quitting Xanax, Felony Life and Comedy Store Days · The Joe Rogan Experience
- Greg Fitzsimmons on Comedy Clubs, Joke Thieves, AI Movies, Kids and Martial Arts, and His Special "You Know Me" · The Joe Rogan Experience
