Catch A Rising Star

I have been to this comedy club a few times and had a great time every time. Did not disappoint. Comedians were funny. Some funnier than others but hey that’s comedy. Food menu is limited but anything I ordered was good. The club is in the Hyatt hotel which is convenient and no worry about parking as with going to a club in NYC. Will definitely be going back.

Two months after my prior review the «manager» Mike T decides to reach out. Answered the message and I can guarantee that this is a comedy club NOT worth coming too. As a long time patron of the club, we had always been treated by Craig Neier and others with the utmost respect. Not so with Mike. Never to return until there is a change at the top level of the club I would suggest you sponsor the comics at other clubs that are not that far away,
This club and the club @ Iplay if still there are run by the same guy — from my understanding.
So just hop over to PA for some comedy clubs where most of these comics go to or head to Stress Factory in New Brunswick. Vinnie is a true professional and has always been very cordial with us. And they never ask for your name or phone number either. So YOU ARE SAFE!

We came here for my husband’s bday and had a great night! The host did a great job of interacting & engaging with the audience. The headliner, a warm up act for a big late night TV show, also happened to be a «local boy», so in addition to a hilarious set, it was fun seeing him interact with both the audience and some personal childhood friends who’d come out to support him. Because it was hubby’s bday and I’m currently pregnant, we applied the majority of our food/​drink minimum to helping the birthday boy maintain a nice buzz. He enjoyed the margaritas enough to keep them coming! We didn’t try the food (had gone to dinner beforehand), but it looked & smelled great coming out. I actually expected the pricing to be worse, but everything seemed pretty reasonable for a comedy show. The wait staff was quick with service and discreet during the sets. We just moved from NYC to central NJ, so it’s nice to know there’s an option like this for a fun night of comedy right down the street!

it’s like $ 20+ for a seat, then each person basically pays $ 25 for required food/​drink/​tips. It’s not too bad but it’s still a $ 50/​person for a headliner and what amounts to a small group of wannabe nobodies who seem compelled to rant about their life’s shortcomings on stage in front of their families without really even having practiced too much. i would have been happy with just the headliner. Comedy is hard. Leave it to the professionals.

Wow. This was an interesting experience.
Here’s the deal: New Years Eve. We had been lucky enough to win tickets from 101.5 (as did a LOT of people) for the 10 p.m. show. There were two shows that night, 8 and 10. Tickets to the 10 p.m. were $ 55 and $ 75, and included a midnight champagne toast and noisemakers.
We checked in early as the website said first come, first seated. But when we checked in we were assigned to table 42. that didn’t bode well.
We got in line to be seated at 9:30. here’s where the oddness started: the 8 p.m. show took place in the actual comedy club; the 10 p.m. show was in just a «meeting space.» It was not held in the club so no stage and kind of weird round table banquet seating. Again: NO STAGE NO LIGHTING. WAS IT BECAUSE THE CLUB COULD NOT TURN THE ACTUAL CLUB SPACE AROUND FAST ENOUGH TO BE READY FOR THE 10 P.M. SHOW? That’s all we could figure out.
So we get into the space and find our table. Not surprising, all the ticket winners were placed in tables that can only be described as «no man’s land.» Our table was so far away from where they were putting the performers… we could not even figure out where the performers were going to be. This space was so ill-​suited for a comedy show — especially one where some people had paid $ 75 for a seat. We seriously thought about just moving up to a better table (as some at our table did) but we figured we would just gut it out.
Long story short: Show was not exactly stellar, but what made the evening truly awful was the service, or the lack thereof. The club was woefully understaffed. After we had ordered the first time (website says there is a THREE ITEM minimum — do NOT believe it. Don’t order if you don’t want to because your waiter will never know. because they never come back and check on you) we ordered a drink and a snack which came out after quite a wait and came out wrong. Took forever to get order right. Some tables (paying patrons) didn’t get their drinks and food for over an hour.
not sure what happened here, but we won’t be going back. because although the tix were free, the evening still cost us $ 50 for bad service, but seats, and bad food. Even the headliner was making fun of the wait staff and the room and the fact that there was no spotlight on the «stage.» there WAS no stage.
Hyatt — what were you thinking putting on such a crummy show?

I’ll preface this review by saying that until this visit, I had only been to comedy clubs in NYC and LA. Audiences are much larger and the talent is already pretty famous. Still, I had a really fun night with some great laughs and memorable lines, and wavered between 3 and 4 stars for this venue since comparisons really wouldn’t be fair.
Catch a Rising Star is located on the lower level of the Hyatt Hotel (saying basement just seems wrong). The space was smaller than I expected, but comfortable with great seating arrangements that allowed audience members a good view of the stage and the comedian regardless of where you sat. It was pretty popular, and almost all the seats were taken when we arrived. Although I hadn’t heard of the headliner or the opening act previously, both were good. Both involved the audience, and the headliner also acknowledged some of the regulars.
Servers were friendly and attentive. They serve both food and alcohol. We were coming straight from dinner, and were already stuffed, so skipped both. Location is far more convenient than heading to either NYC or Philly, so I’ll definitely be back to check out some of the other talent that comes through. I just can’t believe I never thought to try out this spot before!