Stand Up Live

I can see how other people might have trouble here but let me tell you, my boyfriend and I had a great time! (Honestly if you’re an adult, you’re expected to be an adult and remember things like to ask to have your parking validated and do your research before coming to a venue you’ve never been to before. It’s not the venues fault you parked in the wrong garage or didn’t ask about the drink prices. Seriously, is this your first time in public?)
We came here to see Hal Sparks who was awesome! the venue is great. If you want to sit up front, get there early. We happened to get there an hour before showtime for the early show because we forgot that downtown Phoenix is dead before 8 on the weekends so we overestimated the time needed for dinner. The doors were open and it was hot outside so we thought we’d get started on the 2 drink minimum. The 2 drink minimum is the only reason I give this venue four stars instead of five because I don’t like being told how to spend my money and I don’t like the automatic 15% gratuity but I understand the venue has to keep the doors open somehow. I feel like you’re screwing the really good waitstaff out of a larger tip because you forced a 15% tip on everyone. If you tell me how much to tip, I’m not going to tip more because I get served either way. You’ve also set an expectation that’s hard to overcome.
Our waitress Drey («like Dr. Dre» — her words!) was great! She wasn’t pushy like other reviews complained about. We never had a problem with the 2 drink minimum and we don’t drink cocktails usually so wine & beer was fine for me. My boyfriend was driving so he stuck with water and not wanting to cause problems we ordered two bottles of water so he met his two drink minimum. Yes they were $ 5.75 each. I know from general experience that when prices are omitted from the menu, you either need to ask how much something is or stick with the drinks that have the prices listed so you can pay rent. It’s part of being an adult. They can’t read your bank account and know you shouldn’t be spending $ 16 on a cocktail so stop complaining. It’s not the venues fault that you didn’t ask.
The venue doesn’t give the wait staff much room to maneuver but everyone handled themselves with grace. My boyfriend did (accidentally I’m sure) get elbowed in the head but again, the tables are quite close so there not much room. We didn’t have a problem with the seating. My only problem was trying not to pee my pants because Hal Sparks was so funny and I didn’t want to miss anything after the two drinks!
When we got there we were lead to our table by a waiter and because we weren’t eating we were seated at a smaller table near the front. Honestly the «larger» tables weren’t much larger. From what I could tell anyone who ordered food got it fairly quickly.
My boyfriend and I both agreed that if we come to see another act we would just eat at the venue since it was so convenient. We would definitely come here again when Hal Sparks comes back to Phoenix!

Good headliner, really bad service. Make sure you know that if you buy a ticket there is still a two drink minimum. The waiters will be bumping into you the whole show.

An enjoyable evening last night with Tone Bell. Loved the unplanned bit he did at the end with one of the other comedians, super funny. The club is huge and much nicer than some others. I’m pretty sure they weren’t expecting the crowd that showed up last night as food took a long time to arrive. My wings were cold but otherwise tasty which is why they garnered 4 stars instead of 5. Drinks arrived very timely and our server was reasonably attentive given the crowd. I will definitely go back.

Because this review is based off of service/​venue, & not the comic– 2 stars.
I have to say my visit yesterday during the 7pm show was EXTREMELY disappointing! I have been to StandUp many times & have always been very happy, but I guess once in a while a bad apple can spoil the whole bunch?!
I don’t know our servers name because 1) she never introduced herself & 2) I’m sure if I asked I wouldve gotten a response with major attitude.
We actually got reseated THREE times & for being in a «VIP» section, you would think comes VIP service? No. I really have to give it up for the guy working at the door because he was really trying to get it figured out for us, & was super nice.
Anyways, the part that really got me (besides being moved 3 times) was that I ordered a Michelob at the «2^nd table» & the server was courteous & said «no problem, I’ll be right back with that.» Well, before he made it back, I was moved to the 3^rd & last table. A different server comes & asks what I would like & I say a Michelob again, & I almost could not believe her response. She literally said «oh those are across the building & I don’t have time to go get it, but you can get a corona or bud light?» On top of her bad attitude, it probably didnt help that the table right next to me was being served Michelobs. It didnt stop there either, when she came back to check on the table &/​or refill drinks I was ignored, etc. So hopefully she can find another job since she appears to hate her current one.
& hopefully my next experience at StandUp isn’t like this so I can update this review & give them a good one! ;)

I should have read the reviews before I ordered tickets for Gary Owen. While the show itself was great there were a few things I had a problem with. Granted the tickets were cheap $ 60 for 2 people. 1^st… this one is my fault, we are new to the Phoenix area and we parked in a structure that they did not validate. Not venues fault But it didn’t make me happy. 2^nd the drink menu doesn’t have the prices but the food does. Now I don’t mind the 2 drink minimum but I knew the drinks were gonna be outrageously over priced. And I was not wrong. Bill was 114 for 2 people. That is $ 174 plus the $ 12 for parking $ 186 for a comedy show!!! Now you don’t have to spend that much and I won’t again. Just be aware. 3^rd I just felt like the show was rushed the show didn’t start on time 7:30 start time and started at 7:40 and it was over by 9:10. That’s with 2 comics coming out before Gary Owen. Just for comparison I spent 70 a ticket for a comedy show with multiple comics (Kevin hart before he was big time, Anthony Anderson, earthquake, etc) with no 2 drink min. 40 a ticket for Ralphie May with no 2 drink min and he was on for over two hours by himself. All in all it was decent time but not worth the price for me.

Just finished up the jay and silent bob show which was absolutely amazing in it’s own right. Erika (with a K, put some respeck on it!) was completely attentive, friendly and so many other words that can’t be described. She really took care of my friend and I and we can recommend her enough. You go Erika, you made our funny night a wonderful memory! Thank you!

Dean Cole was awesome and my three stars are all for him. Unfortunately he needs a place to perform and I need to include that into the equation. The venue is great, awesome atmosphere, very nicely decorated, one of the nicest clubs I have been in and I have been in one. I kid, I have been in too many to remember. However, there were circumstances at the venue which caused me to lower the rating.
I was sitting stage left near the VIP seating.
A couple came in late and sat behind us about fifteen minutes into Deon Cole’s set and that’s when my experience went south.
The lady behind me somehow didn’t think that showroom etiquette applied to her. She took a few phone calls and during one of them was remarking about how loud it was in the showroom and that she couldn’t hear. It didn’t even dawn on her to leave the room to take a call.
On top of that she was oblivious as to what an indoor voice was. She was determined to keep talking at a higher than normal level and no staff member made an attempt to get her to stop.
Finally, when I was agitated as F**K I told my server about this issue and she said it would be taken care of. It was taken care of about as effectively as the water I requested… the water that never was.
When the loud mouth received her food… well we all got to hear about what was brought to her and what she had actually ordered. I was so distracted because this woman was right behind me. I turned around a few times to give her the visible yet not audible STFU! which was lost on a deaf brain. The guy with her obviously was not the Alpha, but he was not a dude I wanted to have a confrontation with in this particular crowd and I could tell she was not a reasonable person so I just stewed.
A few minutes later… our table becomes illuminated while this woman decides to take pictures of Deon. Do people really think a cell phone flash works effectively from that far away? Obviously this woman did and she used it over and over. Each time she focused… FLASH, each time she took a pic, FLASH… Damn I wish that dude hadn’t been so big. Throughout this there was still no staff member to put her in check.
Speaking of check, I didn’t much appreciate having the automatic 15% gratuity added when I didn’t receive my water at all, nor did they deal with Miss Oblivious to Showroom Etiquette. Not to mention that the food was horrible. I ordered chicken tenders which are supposedly hand breaded. There was trace amounts of breading on these three over cooked, (likely prepared way in advance and kept under a heat lamp) dry, and just Sh**ty, flat pieces of chicken. The dipping sauce was minimal and only helped deal with the dryness and add to the dismal experience.
Finally, towards the end I was able to get back into enjoying Deon. I’ve loved this guys material for years and am just so disappointed in this Venue. If Miss Oblivious had just talked on the phone a few times that would have been enough, but her repeated disregard for others can’t be overlooked when you run a club like this. I am not sure I will attend this Venue again unless it’s someone I just NEED to see. I would rather head to LA because they wouldn’t deal with this Sh*t there. I have seen guests get booted for much less than what this numb vagina was doing. If they can’t figure out how to deal with guests like that, what would they do if there was a heckler?

OMG the drink prices were sky high… sigh. OK, we got the tickets for a cheap price, sure we had the understanding that there was a 2 drink minimum and im not cheap chick but nearly $ 20 per drink was over the top and might i add, the drink tasted terrible!
Sigh. I digress. Im giving 3 stars because the comedian for the night, BRET ERNST WAS GREAT! I mean I really enjoyed his act! I found myself laughing later with my friends about all of the things he said and googling him to see if he was on any shows or coming to a town near me. I dare not repeat anything he said in this review that can be read by people of all ages. lets just say it was good adult humor and it was fun!
The location of the place was pretty nice. It was in downtown Phoenix. I loved the water garden outside that yielded seats and just an overall relaxing atmosphere.
I checked the line up for the upcoming weeks and there seemed to be some great comedians coming through.
I would definitely consider going again if when I visit and looking for things to do, I will just have to make sure I remember those drink prices before hand!

UPDATE:
Since my little bad experience back in March 2016; the owner has reached out to me and refunded our tickets. I must say; that was very professional and I truly appreciate Stand Up Live taking its time to review this problem. In general, the place is truly great and food + service is pretty decent too. I do hope that future performers don’t pull a «Whitney Cummings» because I would hate to stop going here!
Thank you Stand up Live.

I was so glad to see that they have my reserved seating exactly where I wanted and as I described when making the reservations! It’s a special occasion so I wanted to make sure that they had it right!
Chrystal at the front who is just GREAT at seating was wonderful and such a joy! I also enjoy a lot of the great talent that come through here! We were just here last weekend!
We got the dinner package this time and honestly, the package has changed! It use to be where we could choose one appetizer to share, one entrée each person, a dessert to share and 2 drinks each… Now it’s one entrée each person and a dessert each and the drinks! Makes no sense to change it! Also, there’s only 3 choices for the entrée that u can choose from for this package!!! I was not happy with that! The choices were: Burger, Salmon, or Mac n cheese! I paid an extra $ 5 to upgrade to a steak!
The service last week was great and fast! Our waitress Jennifer (I think) was on it!!! She was fast, remembered exactly what we needed! She was on point with everything!!! We will see how the service goes tonight! So far so good except with the dinner choices! Or else this would have been a 5 STAR easily!!!

To me its worth it —
Maybe I’m getting old but paying 30 $ here to have a seat where my drinks are served to me and I can proceed to spit them upon myself actually seems like a great time.
This is way better than paying 75 $ for a rock concert where the most obnoxious couples I’ve ever seen in my life get mad at me because they don’t understand how life works; basically, if you show up late to a general admission rock show you better wear your hooker heels because you’re not going to see over my shoulders, and make sure they are closed-​toe because if I happen to back up while you’re trying to crawl up my anus I might step on your freshly natural-​pink-​painted toenails and piss your boyfriend, or your dad off.
Obnoxious couples — you know who you are. (And if you don’t…then that’s who you are).
We’ve been to Stand Up Live about 3 times in the last 6 months and they have been nothing but nice to us. (Thanks Anthony). And they give deals. Sometimes you get a voucher for another show or a takeaway glass — which unfortunately they do not fill with a fresh drink before you walk out on the street.
That’s why I’m only giving 4 stars.

We went to the late show and were first in line because we were early. Parking was a little challenging and most of the stuff around was closed export some of the restaurant/​bars. We had already eaten so we went ahead and got in line. By the time they let us in the line stretched out and around the corner so if you want to sit up close you might want to get there early.
Our server was quick to get us our drinks and checked on us regularly. Probably the only negative is that everyone is packed in and it felt like servers were constantly squeezing between tables which was kind of distracting. There is a two drink minimum and I debated on what to order. I took a chance and ordered my favorite a dirty martini and it was really good. The show was great and everything ran very smoothly. I would definitely come back but instead of having dinner elsewhere I would check out the copper blues restaurant next door. It looked awesome.

I was at the same Whitney Cummings show last night as the other reviewer. She not only read off all her jokes from previous roasts, she encouraged the audience to call out reapetedly, pausing & saying «what»? SEVERAL times, fishing for a joke as well as filling time. I did Lol a lot but was not worth the $ 30.
I’ve been to this venue several times and they have raised their prices, the drinks are watered down. my dirty had more olive juice than it did vodka and I’d seen others delivered that looked the same… olive juice…$ 15 and when you remove the 4 huge olives in it, you’re left with not much more than a shot… of olive juice. Not wanting to waste any more $$ on bad drinks, ordered a soft drink which used to be $ 3.75, now $ 5.75.
It also feels like they have moved the tables even closer together than they were before, packing people in like sardines. Tempe improv getting the same.
PLEASE stop being so greedy! & take some notes from Irvine Improv in CA. I was going to catch Bobby Lee @ S.U.L. in May, but I’m too turned off by my last few visits and will catch him somewhere else. Prices are about the same in Irvine, but you get your money’s worth. And space! :)

We came here for a satirical Sanders v Trump debate. The performers were fantastic but the club itself was incredibly lacking.
The room was absolutely freezing, and I’m not the kind of person that is usually too sensitive to temperatures. The microphones, at first didn’t function (only for a minute), and then Sander’s microphone was set much too loud for the rest of the performance. I was left with a ringing in my ears for the rest of the night.
Second, there is a two drink minimum. Beer and wine starts at $ 7 and cocktails at $ 15. Other than that there is soda. The food looked pretty pricey, for example, the chicken nachos were priced at $ 15. Given the high prices and full bar I expected an original or otherwise good cocktail but was severely disappointed. I got a watered down drink in a plastic cup. Looking over at other table’s pretty standard foods and having just received mediocre drinks, my BF and I decided it would be better to eat somewhere else after the show.
I’d come back for a great show but never for just the drinks. My tip: bring a sweater, maybe some earplugs and only order bottomless soda, go somewhere else for drinks and dinner after the show.

I was in a party of 4 to see Tom Segura. For those who don’t know, he has gotten very popular over the years, and as such there was a huge turn out. We showed up a little late (5 minutes late), so I understand that part of this is partially our fault, however the venue had definitely oversold the tickets. We were waiting in line for 45 minutes as the staff «Was trying to find a place for us to sit» at the very front of the line to get in. Yes we were late, but we saw people who I heard say «We are on the waiting list» (they didn’t have tickets) get in before we did. We asked them to seat us in separate locations in pairs if that would help expedite our seating. SO, they did, but not until 45 minutes after our arrival.
We were seated in the back in a couple of chairs right in a walkway where servers went back and forth. Not at a table or near a table, but IN THE WALKWAY UP AGAINST THE BANNISTER. A server made a comment «This isn’t going to work». Which, I completely understand her frustration. Staff should not be putting people there, but they also shouldn’t overbook the show. Luckily we didn’t get served so we didn’t have to fork over the money for a 2 drink minimum (which according to my friends, paid $ 30 for non alcoholic lemonade).
The seating staff was rude, prices were expensive, and the venue poorly managed. I don’t normally go to comedy shows, but if a good comic came to this venue, I would **DEFINITELY NOT ATTEND**. Management needs to not overbook the show to that extent. I understand overbooking is part of a comedy venue, but if you saw how badly they crammed in people over capacity, you would agree.
The only good? They validate your CityScape garage tickets.

Line wrapped around block– no exaggeration. Staff did an expeditious job getting a line of human beings seated quickly. It was impressive.
Some reviews read as though they were surprised by the cost of the two drink minimum. «Two drink minimum» is code for, you will be spending another $ 40, per person, inside the venue. This approach is not unique to Stand Up Live. SUL does a fine job of making this clear on their website.
One may get the impression that their ticket «checking» method is less than scientific. A couple that was with us had paper tickets. We had e tickets. Well, the ticket taker walked the line, scanned paper tickets, and collected the paper tickets. The e ticket people would scan tickets at the door to the venue. Well if one simply told the «door person» that they had a paper ticket, they were granted entry without any verification… e tickets were scanned… Use this information in a responsible manner people…
Seating — if you are still built like you were in the 3^rd grade, seating is perfect. Most of the tables at the stage are at a 45 degree angle relative the the stage. Side tables are perpendicular to the stage.
Service — zero complaints. Server asked to get us more drinks at least 5 times.
Temperature — was just about perfect for me. I prefer a cool environment. Take a light sweater is you get cool easily.
If you are new to adulting, I can see why one may be frustrated with the 2 drink mini. However, if you have been adulting for a few years, you will find this to be a good experience, all in.

I came here with a friend who won free tickets. What a fun, different thing to do on a weekend night. The staff was attentive, the seating doesn’t seem to have a bad seat in the house. The parking is close and can be validated.
The comedians were fantastic, from the opener to the headliner and I’m super excited to go to Kevin Smith in May. yay! They have lots of giveaways and freebies if you fill out a form they leave on the table.
We ordered nachos, which were HUGE, more than enough for 3 people. I didn’t feel like beer (they are attached to a beer bar) and ordered the Malbec. it was disgusting. However, since you have a 2 drink minimum, I changed it up and was happy with my second glass. Just don’t get that Malbec. wow

I’m really glad this place exists because standup comedy is like one of my favorite things! I went here in early December 2015 to see Sebastian Maniscalco and it was a funny experience!
First off, you’re packed in there like sardines and it’s very difficult to get in and out of your chair because the seats behind you are like right up against you and the person next to you and practically on top of you.
The service is pretty bad. Several orders were messed up and drinks never arrived but we’re still charged. Incorrect change was also given back to some customers.
There is a 2 drink minimum, which seems to be standard for comedy clubs. I basically spent $ 15 on iced tea. Lol.

Had a blast at Stand up Live. This place is located right in the heart of downtown Phoenix.
It is centrally located across from the custom build Ice skating rink in the downtown area. The décor was great. You walk up the stairs and your greeted with an awesome fire pit. People were standing around enjoying the warmth.
You must! I repeat you must get there early! The show started at 7pm the place was already getting packed by 6:30pm.
The seating is a first come first serve basis. It’s always better to get there at least an hour before show time to guarantee a great seat.
Drinks: it’s a two drink minimum. Alcoholic drinks start at $ 14 up to $ 17 per drink. So you better enjoy the soda, water and the $ 7 house wine. If you purchase two long islands ice tea’s your paying close to $ 40 bucks!!! Oh hell no!!! It’s not worth it.
Food: it was reasonable price. I had the spinach artichoke. It was very good. The food was okay nothing to get excited about but we know all of these comedy spots serve mostly bar food. Yuck!
The comedy was great. The opening acts were semi funny but the lead comedian was EXCELLENT!!! I couldn’t stop laughing. I was spitting up wine in between sips. Aries Spears was AMAZING!!! The jokes keep flowing and so did the house wine. This was a great Christmas night experience and I’m here again inJanuary to see Marlon Wayne’s!!!

Have been here twice now and I had been told it’s under new management so they are definitely taking customers suggestions into play.
For us we have now decided that taking the light rail is a great idea and it’s only down the block.
You can use the parking garage but since the club is downtown you have to pay after 3 hours validation. The food is really good with large portions. Would love to see potato skins on the menu, even popcorn would be great. Drinks are always good (bit pricey) and a two drink minimum. Seating is intimate style at long tables which I have never liked so be prepared to meet your neighbors. That’s one thing I would love to see changed because I also want to sit next to hubby, not across from him. Large women’s bathroom which is a huge plus. Top comics and great shows. We will be frequent customers thanks to great treatment by staff and management.