Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle

01 / The story of this place

Make time for these

Mark Ridley opened Michigan's first true comedy club on January 4, 1979, originally in the basement of a Bloomfield Hills restaurant, at a time when stand-up comedy clubs were still a fairly new idea outside a handful of big American cities. The Comedy Castle moved a few times before settling into its permanent 400-seat home in Royal Oak in 1990, and along the way it became a proving ground for Detroit-area comedians on their way up, most famously Tim Allen, who honed his stand-up act on the Comedy Castle's stage in the years before his sitcom and film career took off, and who has kept returning for surprise sets long after becoming a star. Generations of touring headliners have also passed through, from Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno to Ellen DeGeneres and Drew Carey. Now widely billed as the oldest continuously operating comedy club in Michigan, the Comedy Castle remains an active, working stand-up venue nearly half a century after it opened.

1. Opened by Mark Ridley on January 4, 1979
2. Moved to its permanent Royal Oak home in 1990
3. Tim Allen developed his stand-up act here early in his career
4. Also hosted Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, Ellen DeGeneres and more
5. Michigan's oldest continuously operating comedy club