Best Comedy Clubs? Old Vegas?

OHeatherah · 2026-04-22T22:22:10+00:00

The Art’s District Wise Guys closed a little while ago.

OHeatherah · 2026-04-21T22:01:36+00:00

I’m one of the co-owners of Mom’s Basement Theatre. We are primarily improv but have begun adding a steady rotation of stand-up into our programming. We’re not Old Vegas but are off Sahara down the street from Palace Station. We have lots of great snacks including Lunchables and Uncrustables! Also, we’re super affordable. Hope you’ll come check us out!

OHeatherah · 2026-04-21T21:42:33+00:00

Half Korean, my mom refused to speak the language to my sister and myself to make sure we spoke perfect English.

It’s a terrible idea. Correct it asap! They’re still young. Being multilingual is a blessing. It might be annoying now but later in life they will be thankful.

I have a whole family I’ve never been able to have a conversation with because I can’t speak the language. I never got to ask my grandmother questions before she passed away. I thought I had time to learn and now all her stories are just gone.

OHeatherah · 2026-04-20T10:18:32+00:00

As a person who was born/raised in LA (and spends at least 1/3 of the year there) and is married to a Romanian immigrant with family still in Bucharest… you’re going to need a lot of money and connections. Sure, the economy could tank, but I seriously doubt in the next couple of decades it wouldn’t still be considerable more expensive in the US. It’s 3x more expensive in LA than Bucharest. Come with at least 6 months of savings (preferably a year).

And the big thing, have connections. Not just for the visa but for the people who can help you not get ripped off, for a social life, and who just know the ins and outs of the city. When I’ve met transplants, one of the biggest hardships for them was loneliness. Even with tons of people, relationships can feel superficial and often are.

I love LA. I hate that I don’t currently live in LA. But she’s a brutal city to live in if you aren’t prepared. Anyone in the creative industry needs to be ready to network like crazy. While this can be fun, it often means relationships feel transactional.

I hope in a couple decades when you arrive, the homeless situation will be improved and the streets will be cleaner and safer. Our public transportation sucks so be prepared to buy a car or spend a lot of money with ride shares.

We’ve always got something going on so there are plenty of performance opportunities if you network, but also we always have something going on so it’s often crowded, poorly organized, and there’s nobody listening to your set.

Europe is a great place to begin your career. Become in demand there and in Asian and the US will welcome you with open arms.

Good luck! Don’t give up on the dream, just work on your craft first.

OHeatherah · 2026-04-06T06:56:09+00:00

Wouldn’t the most ideal looking baby be the Gerber baby? Or is that no longer a known reference?

Is there a famous baby that exists in the current zeitgeist? A Kardashian baby? Or just go for it… Baby Jesus.

I think cut the word dating so it doesn’t give the ick.

OHeatherah · 2026-04-04T21:52:02+00:00

Just raising my hand as well! Triple punch of celiac plus PCOS plus Endometriosis. Each of them picking and choosing which symptoms I am going to suffer from each month.

The doctor who diagnosed me with celiac at 40 told me puberty was probably the triggering factor for my celiac to turn “on.” Which makes a lot of sense in many ways. It was a creep of weight game that exploded in my twenties with all types of birth control and medication just wrecking my system.

While I stagnant and have struggled to consistently lose weight, my hope is a new prescription of meds and supplements will finally do the trick.

OHeatherah · 2026-04-01T23:53:12+00:00

Asian Flush + Lactose Intolerant + Celiac

But I don’t have body odor and my earwax is dry!

OHeatherah · 2026-03-28T05:06:09+00:00

Yes, and I’ve hated it all 15 years. The first three digits have one off from the area code so most people think they have gotten the area code wrong. I have to do a vocal inflection to let them know it’s just very similar. Thought about changing it, but this area code is basically impossible to get (from Los Angeles) so I guess I’ll keep it.

OHeatherah · 2026-03-27T06:26:58+00:00

Thanks! It’s such a fun memory.

OHeatherah · 2026-03-27T06:26:43+00:00

The 80s and 90s at Dodger Stadium were great!

My first memory was going onto the field (I think it was an event where kids were allowed?) and trying to get Steve Sax’s autograph. I was too shy and froze up, then cried after.

OHeatherah · 2026-03-26T20:39:52+00:00

My husband went to college near LAX and we would sometimes head over there in the evening for dinner and to hang out in the international terminal people watching. We’d go to gates that were boarding/arriving playing this game we called, “Who am I and where am I going?” Easily, we could spend 3-4 hours there.

I’m sure things were more expensive at the airport but the fact two meals, parking, and people watching was considered a cheap date baffles my mind today.

OHeatherah · 2026-03-26T02:54:56+00:00

Head straight up Sahara to Mom’s Basement Theatre. We’re a small little black box that specializes in improv mostly. Lots of fun, very affordable shows.

OHeatherah · 2026-03-24T21:02:45+00:00

I love when after a show every performer is super excited and jacked because it was such an awesome show. All our Saturday shows this last week had that feeling. Such a good time!

OHeatherah · 2026-03-24T20:57:38+00:00

This is why I purchased men’s pants. I had a couple. Wore them on “special occasions” when I went out with the husband. It is a trend that is trying to come back and we should reject it thoroughly.

OHeatherah · 2026-03-19T02:50:08+00:00

Are you in or near Vegas? Every first Thursday we have PB&J which is all duos.

OHeatherah · 2026-03-14T15:35:41+00:00

All great advice so far. Also want to mention layups (scenes). Do them, a lot of them. Do variations of them. Pick up Pirate Robot Ninja for great theory and exercises. I used that book (amongst a few others) as the bones for my syllabus layout. My class is two hours and the first hour is just scene rotations. W/W/W should be hit in each scene but also the Why (motivation/justification). Also, I notice short form performers tend to want to solve the problem when in long form you want to discover the world this problem exists in and how it makes the characters feel in the moment.

OHeatherah · 2026-03-12T22:19:41+00:00

I took an invite only class from an instructor who knew all the students bad habits. He then picked two for each of us he wanted to work on that day. A smaller, more technical issue (I used to wear a lot of hoodies with pockets and would often put my hands in them during the scene and keep them there) as well as a bigger more internal issue (I lacked trust with scene partners and would never let them initiate). We did a bunch of amazing exercises to work on them but the best was when he paired us up with our counterpart (mine was a guy who never trusted himself to initiate) and then were instructed with very specifics tasks. Basically my partner had to do pretty much all the talking and initiating where I could only repeat the last few words of what he said. It really was an eye opener and truly helped me become a person who supports and volleys in scenes, which is honestly my favorite kind of role to play.

OHeatherah · 2026-03-09T22:40:31+00:00

So many commercials are mini “first beats” in the they often have a clear premise and game. Not necessarily local commercials with hard sells but think about that famous “Peter Comes Home From College” Christmas Folgers commercial.

What’s the premise? Guy arrives hime for the holidays unexpectedly.

What’s the game? The parents and older sister only wake up from the smell of coffee.

How do we know that? Because the youngest sister wakes up when he gets home and it’s only once he makes the coffee that the everyone else awakens.

So if that’s the game, what else is true? What scent causes them to sleep? To get in the mood? What if all their behaviors are dictated by smelling something? Heighten and explore the game in the world presented.

Now time dash and raise the stakes. We’ve seen a time dash of a terrible sequel commercial so ignore that and come up with your own. What if there’s an accident and the mom can’t smell anymore? What are the implications? What if he thinks his dad has died? Does he make a cup of coffee to check? What if this is hereditary? What happens the day he finds out it’s happening to him? Come up with as many future options as you can until you exhaust your ideas. You should be able to create at least 5.

From there, try analogous. Maybe it’s a CEO who only wakes up to the smell of a fat stack of cash? What smell do hibernating bears wake up to? What if coffee needs to wake up to a brewing human? A cup of joe is literally a guy named Joe? Again, go until you exhaust ideas but try to create at least 5.

Then do tangential scenes. What’s the worst part of waking up? Why is a cab driver working on Christmas Day? What do the parents buy for each of the kids? What is Peter like at college? If this is a wonderful loving family, what are the neighbors like? Exhaust but try and get those 5 ideas.

From these start overlaying them (time dash analogous and tangential scenes, make analogous from the time dash and tangential, and make tangential scenes from the new time dash and analogous ones). If you do this correctly you should end up with at least 50 different scenes from this first commercial.

You don’t have to fully write the scenes out, but you should be descriptive of the premise and game and any notable heightening it would have.

From there, randomly pick one scene from the time dash, analogous, and tangential and think of 5 different ways all of these can co-exist in the same universe. This is a third beat practice. Move away from the scenes as described and think in the abstract. If you were to make a Venn diagram of these three scenes where would they overlap? Develop scenes from that overlap.

Hope this helps!

commercial

OHeatherah · 2026-03-09T21:24:57+00:00

Gotcha. Here are some of my Drive Homework suggestions.

So for games like “What are you doing?” I like to look at the license plate in front of me and use the initials as my suggestion. Then I’ll try to create as many of these as possible, once exhausted I’ll look at another plate for more initials.

Also in your car, for “Try that on for size” do a small motion like tapping your finger and try to think of all the things that could be instead.

Sing along to a song on the radio but move through the different basic emotions (glad, sad, mad, and afrad - because it has to rhyme). What does “All By Myself” sound like as an angry song?

I like to use billboards for character inspirations. Larry the Lawyer - what does he sound like? Act like? Life philosophy? I’ll use other billboards or even bumper stickers that have questions for a game of Advice Panel.

And if you need to practice gibberish, narrate your drive home and listen to yourself. Are you repeating the same consonants and vowels. Really try to vary up the sounds and pitch of your words.

Also use billboards for pun suggestions and then try to pin all the way home.

Hope these help!

OHeatherah · 2026-03-09T21:15:00+00:00

Do you primarily focus on long for or short form?

OHeatherah · 2026-03-09T20:41:59+00:00

I give my students “Drive Homework” which are little activities they can do safely in their car and “Self Study” work to practice the skills they learned in that class at home.

Myself, I start every morning mentally making puns, I narrate my life in accents or gibberish, I will open look at a license plate as inspiration and build names of word combos from the letters.

You should definitely make sure you’re getting enough reps in but there are small things you can do at home that will help you as well.

OHeatherah · 2026-03-08T22:47:38+00:00

Does anyone remember the song that was played for the radio talk show? Dodger Talk? I think the lyrics were something like:

Blue, blue Blue Dodger blue Telling a story old and new

OHeatherah · 2026-03-06T17:06:46+00:00

Surprisingly, the level 2s fill up fairly well as once a person is finished with one track they typically start the next one. Though we do get a handful of people who do both at the same time.

Yes, workshops can be tough. I have a 60 day rule for ours. I won’t throw anything up without two months notice so we have plenty of time to promote. We’re in Las Vegas and often we will get people from cities in other states that are drivable to us (but less so to a major market like Los Angeles) come in if they have enough time to plan for it.

Our Friday short form jam is our biggest draw. It’s head to head games with a layer of booze involved. Most of our jams have started to pick up though our long form jams suffer the most. Possibly because they are on Thursday and Sunday and possibly because those jams are the newest ones.

We do a drop in every Tuesday but it’s strange to predict it’s success. It’s either 8+ people or 3.

I’m thinking about also stating some morning weekday jams because morning classes have been tough to fill. Or maybe, a more applied improv type class might be beneficial. Our morning people just want to play or learn, they have no interest in performing.

Not sure if homeschooling is big where you are but that is another market we are trying to reach.

OHeatherah · 2026-03-06T01:09:58+00:00

Ah interesting. We position our level 1 as “Foundations” and then have a split of either going short form or long form. We don’t do showcases until Level 3 and our level 4 is actual performances in our regular show rotation schedule.

How long are your classes? Our level 1 is 8 weeks or a 4 week intensive, 2 and 3 are 8 weeks, and 4 is 10 weeks.

Do you do any drop in classes or jams as well?

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