Help us grow!

Hi! We are Shawn and Sarah, the family behind Blue Ridge Comedy Club. In 2019, we sold everything we owned with plans to travel the country in our RV with Shawn performing at comedy clubs and Sarah working remotely. After a stop in Sarah's hometown of Bristol, TN to visit family, we made it as far as Nashville before the whole world shut down due to Covid. We quickly pivoted and made the very lucrative and strategic decision to open a comedy club in a small town during a pandemic. Against all odds, we find ourselves at the end of our first lease with plans to expand into a new location that will offer us more creative flexibility, more space, and the opportunity to add an expanded food menu. 

Why move? We have loved our weird little hidey-hole at the back of the 620 building, but we have found ourselves lacking in the foot traffic we were hoping for by being downtown which has made it tough, often impossible, to cover expenses. Coupled with State Street rent, we've made the hard call to relocate into a stand-alone building that offers a blank slate to build what in our hopes and dreams will be the perfect performance space. We are looking forward to being able to expand our class offering and branch out into more performance formats. There is so much creativity and talent in this region and we can't wait to provide a venue to properly celebrate it. 

How far along is this project? We signed our lease at the end of Sept of '23 and have since been in the process of doing what we can to get the new building ready to go with a hopeful soft opening in April or May of '24. 

How much does something like this cost? More than we anticipated! While we plan to bring over everything we can from our current space, we still need a new stage, bar, kitchen, seating, signage, etc. 

Here's a look at our costs and spend so far, and what we anticipate is needed to get to the finish line:

• $3000 to set up utilities - paid
• $15000 rent for unused time Oct - Feb - paid
• $1500 upgraded seating - paid
• $5800 demolition - paid
• $9000 bar (top, sinks, equipment) - paid
• $3000 parking lot - paid
• $18,500 signage
• $10,000 kitchen build
• $10,000 bar installation
• $20,000 ADA-compliant bathroom
• $5000 stage
• $30,000 sprinkler system

How can I help? We have come a long way towards opening, but are looking for some community support on wrapping things up and hopefully attaining some of our stretch goals.

While the bar and kitchen are must-haves, we are very determined to provide an accessible space, and the quotes we've gotten to build an ADA-accessible bathroom have been unexpectedly high due to the architecture of the building.

A sprinkler system is not a requirement to open, but it will be needed to expand the occupancy to our desired capacity.

Our current stage does not lend itself to being retrofitted into the new space so we will be building from scratch. 

Any support is appreciated, from buying tickets to a show, telling a friend about the club, buying some popcorn or a drink at the bar, or sharing our posts on social media, we hope to reach as many people as possible.