08/07/2026
PLEASE READ FIRST - Then watch the video.
UPDATE #5 – THE COMEDY WORKS – Upstate NY’s longest running comedy club – celebrating 45 years!
When I was 3 years old my father opened up a comedy club in a basement room under his deli. Little did he know, it was the inception of everything we do today. We don’t think it’s overdramatic to say that without renovating that basement in 1981, The Broken Inn stays a barbershop, The Horses never reopens, and The Fireside becomes a parking lot. Comedy saved all of these things.
Comedy also saved me personally. It helped a 10 year old smile through divorce. It provided food & shelter for my pregnant wife, forced to relocate while carrying our very sick baby. And in 2016, after the landlord sold the Comedy Works in Albany’s building out from under us and I lost my life savings, and watched my life’s work get auctioned off, comedy saved me then too.
Comedy is now going to save something else. It’s going to “Connect Schenect”
For five years we’ve been looking for a location for The Comedy Works in Schenectady but nothing has worked out. Either the room had sight line issues, or there were noise conflicts, or…when we did find the right fit…the building was just too expensive.
Then about a year ago, when we’d kind of put the comedy idea on the back burner, we started looking for a ghost kitchen to offer delivery for The Broken Inn, The Horses, The Parlor and The Fireside all from one central location. Again, nothing worked out.
However every day I drove from The Horses to Downtown, right past a building that seemed vacant, but that had what seemed to be a brand new kitchen exhaust fan coming out of it.
So finally last month I tracked the owner’s phone number down and made the call and she agreed to let me in.
I was the first person to walk into the building in 3 years.
We entered through the back door into the kitchen and it was EXACTLY what we needed. It was big enough, with all the right equipment already in place, clean, and within 3 miles could deliver to all of Schenectady, Scotia and Niskayuna.
Then we walked into the next room and flipped the lights. It stopped me in my tracks. It screamed comedy club. A basement room (just like the classic NYC comedy clubs), able to seat 250 people, with lines of sight, low ceilings, dead sound, etc. It was PERFECT for comedy.
Then we walked into the back storage room where all the tables and chairs were… and I froze. There in front of me were all of those tables and chairs that I had to auction off 10 years ago when I lost my comedy club. My old stuff. All of it! We came to find out that the woman who owned this building was the buyer at the auction on that day in 2016! I told her it was incredible. She told me I hadn’t seen anything yet.
Then she took me upstairs.
Now listen people. I thought I’d had a moment when I saw the kitchen. Then the basement comedy room. Then my old stuff. But nothing like the moment I had when I opened the door at the top of the stairs.
NOW – if you haven’t already…watch the video (note this includes the comedy club space BEFORE we renovate).
What I was looking at, and what you are looking at now, is the former St. Mary’s Church…or what we will simply call… “Mary’s”…and it will host events and gatherings of all kinds.
The story behind this is much longer and we will share it as we go along, but this woman, through extensive renovation, a new roof, sprinkler system, new plumbing, new electric and much more…saved the church. She got the ball to the goal line. Then she got sick.
We’re going to carry it across.
Now there’s a lot to unpack here.
We’ve got a lot of balls in the air as you’ve likely read this week, but we’ve also got a lot of good people now.
And the biggest thing, which is also the hardest thing, is that the building, while absolutely stunning, sits smack in the middle of 5 blocks of blight at 820 Eastern Ave. Downtown and St. John’s are two blocks west. Union College is two blocks North. And the renovated school/housing on Elmer (and subsequently Horses/Fireside/etc) starts three blocks to the East.
How will we do it? Face to face. We’ll spend time with the community members, with home owners, with City leaders and with other small business owners. We won’t do it by throwing money at it, we’ll do it with time and with heart.
If ever there was a neighborhood just waiting to rise up, it’s this one. It’s small enough to do in reasonable time AND it’s an artery – a direct shot from Central Park to City Hall.
Like we said “Connect Schenect”.
Now we don’t have a time frame for opening. I will tell you that we’re already into it, but we won’t open until it’s ready. That means parking (including valet), that means cleaning up the block, and that means having a place that’s safe and welcoming enough for my family. If I wouldn’t want mine to come here, I wouldn’t ask you to send yours.
To those of you who have believed in us so far, we hope we’ve lived up to your hopes and you’ll keep on believing in us. For those who are inspired by what we’re doing, feel free to join us, especially our fellow small business owners. And for those who continue to come out and support us by buying a burger and a b**r, or a footlong and an ice cream, or a gift certificate for a birthday or to donate… thank you. This is all happening because of you.
