For almost six years, the players and performers of the Dallas Comedy House have turned a relatively small space on Commerce Street in Deep Ellum into a thriving hub for a form of comedy that most people have never seen around these parts.
Now they need a bigger place to play in, and come March 2015 they'll get one when they make their first move to their new home.
DCH founder and Director Amanda Austin said plans are place to move the comedy club next year from their Commerce Street headquarters to a new building on Main Street near the corner of Main and Hall Street.
Austin said the new space will have two theaters for shows including a larger bar and lounge and even a "designated outdoor patio area." The space will also give them a training center that will double the size of their classroom space from two rooms to four for their improvisation, stand-up and sketch comedy courses. The training center will also be located in "a building adjacent to the theater."
Plans are also in the works to expand the club's food and beverage menu, Austin said.
"Customers, students and performers will now be able to have a reputable dinner at DCH, as opposed to a guilt ridden dinner of Sour Skittles and Chex Mix," Austin said. "But we'll probably still have Sour Skittles and Chex Mix."
Of course, having more space means more opportunities to do more shows for bigger crowds, and Austin said they plan on expanding the sketch comedy wing of their house with the new space when it opens in March. The new venue will also house the biggest comedy festival they've done to date with the 6th Annual Dallas Comedy Festival starting on March 25.
"We have a lot of exciting plans for programming with the new space," Austin said. "We're excited to grow into this new space while continuing to showcase a variety of improv, sketch and stand up comedy. We're a comedy house, so our goal is to offer high quality comedy shows of all kinds. A large component of our programming will be sketch comedy revues that will run on Friday and Saturday nights, with plans to debut the first sketch revue in the summer of 2015."
DCH is raising money for the move and expansion by selling naming rights on parts of the new club in everything from the main theaters to the seats to even the stalls in the men's room to donors who want to "put their stamp on the new DCH," Austin said.
Donations can be made through the DCH website.
