Detroit House of Comedy

Went here on a Wednesday night. This was my third time here. There were about 15 people at the show when we arrived. The ushers would not let us sit in the second row. They said their policy is to fill up all the seats in the first row first. I explained that my daughter is short & the stage is not eye level in the first row (she'd have to look up to see). Whereas the second row is leveled, and she would not have to do that there. They didn't care. Of course, after the show (with maybe 25 people there), her neck was hurting. I will not return or support this establishment anymore.

In my opinion, this place is very small and unorganized. It's like the Spirit Airlines of venues. At the very end of the hockey town entrance, there was a small roped off area for folks to stand in line. You can't see it until you come into the area. There wasn't anyone at the door to let guests know this either, so when other people came in after us they wandered around before the guy standing behind the counter told them where to go. (Back through the doors because the door width of space at the last row of entry doors was the only area roped off for entering.) it would probably be a great idea to have a security guy, or anyone working there, standing at the entrance to hockey town to direct people where to go. My husband and I arrived early and were placed with two other people we'd never met before, who were the only two people in line before us. Maybe it’s the old lady in me, but if you say to arrive 30 minutes early, maybe let us sit down and get settled early? It’s probably help servers not feel as rushed to get everything out prior to the show beginning. Once the venue were ready to start seating people, someone finally came out, sat on the bar to fill his glass with beer, walked to the rope, moved the rope, and walked away. He didn't say anything, no greeting or "follow me", it was just unhook rope, walk away. I'm not sure why, but there also wasn't any seating arrangement I was aware of. They asked us how many were in our party and after being paired with the two before us we were directed to sit halfway around a tiny table barely 2' wide in the second to last row in the center of the room. Why so far if we were the first ones in? It was our first time, so I don't know how that works. There are also QR codes on the tables to place an order for food and drinks, but again due to the tightness of the quarters, especially after the room filled with other people crammed next to their tables and chairs, there is very limited space to put food on the table, especially if everyone has a drink. The show itself was fine, my husband even liked the headliner comedian we saw more than the Kevin Hart show we saw in Windsor the month prior. I just don't know if we'd go back knowing the size of the area and being so close to other people - especially post Covid and being immunocompromised.

The seating is a half circle around the stage. We were escorted to seats at the very end of the first row. We could see the performers side at best and usually just his back. As a war veteran, my hearing is passable, but it helps me a lot to see the performers face to make out what they are saying. Since I couldn’t see their faces, I didn’t understand much from the host and the opener. The headliner annunciated well, so I understood him. If you are in my situation, you may need to ask for better seats. I’ve never had to do that before, so I didn’t think of it while we were being seated.

This place is absolutely awesome, I was not expecting to have this much fun and laughs at all!! All the comics I saw on stage had all of us cracking up, and getting us to hysterically laugh is not an easy task. I really liked the setup of this place, parking was not an issue, I am definitely going back for many more shows in the future. If you're looking for something to do in Detroit I would recommend this over so many other things. The service was great, even as we entered the venue we were greeted with big smiles and a welcoming attitude from the staff.

The Detroit House of Comedy is a 300 person tiered, small theatre located in Downtown. There is easy access to the light rail steps away. They host comics from both regional and national levels. General admission so arrive early for better seating. They have wait staff that will bring you food, and drink. Tickets have as of 1/2023 $7+ surcharge whether you buy at home or at their box office.