The Idiot Box on a Wednesday

The Idiot Box on a Wednesday

The Idiot Box Comedy Club at 348 South Elm Street. Converted storefront, brick wall (it came with the lease), holds maybe sixty people. The proximity to the stage means every comic can see your face, which is thrilling or terrifying depending on your seat.

Wednesday open-mic is the draw for locals — performers from first-timers with shaking hands to working comics testing material. Quality varies from brilliant to bravely terrible, which is the point. The audience laughs easier in a room this small because you can see the comic's eyes and they can see yours. Weekend headliners are touring professionals — not household names but working comics whose sets are tight, smart, and occasionally devastating. The Idiot Box books with taste.

Sit in the second row, not the first. First row is the splash zone — you will be addressed. Second row gets the same sightlines with diplomatic immunity. Arrive early for headliner nights.