Walker’s Point Comedy Club Announces Move
The Laughing Tap will host its final shows in June before a summertime hiatus, with plans to reopen in a new location next fall.
The Laughing Tap. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
A popular Milwaukee comedy club will have its last laughs in June before hitting the road for the summer.
The Laughing Tap, 706 S. 5th St., will close temporarily, with plans to reopen in a new location.
While the new home has yet to be announced, the move is expected to expand the club’s offerings with more seating, bigger acts and, according to a social media post, “more laughs than ever before.”
The Laughing Tap will host its final shows on June 13 and 14, with the last Laughs on Tap Open Mic set for June 18. After that, the club will close its doors for several months, aiming to welcome guests to its new space in early fall.
Comedians including Debra DiGiovanni, Louis Katz, Ali Sultan, Skyler Higley, Nick Vatterott, Bobcat Goldthwait, Dana Gould and Chris Higgins are set to grace the stage at The Laughing Tap in the coming weeks. The club’s closing performances — “Oops…All Headliners” — will showcase a lineup of local talent, featuring Justin Leon, Chastity Washington, Chris Schmidt, Raegan Niemela, AJ Grill, Elijah Holbrook, Rachel Mac and Matty Field, with Nate Lee as host.
Tickets for upcoming shows are available for purchase online.
The Laughing Tap, founded by Matt Kemple, Kaitlin McCarthy and Greg Bach, has operated in Walker’s Point for just over five years. In that time, the club has hosted more than 650 stand-up shows, with weekend performances — including sets from Sean Patton, Laurie Killmartin and other nationally touring comics — regularly selling out its 7,016-square-foot venue.
In addition to one-liners, groaners and puns, the 18+ comedy club serves up craft beer, cocktails and wine.
The property is owned by a limited liability company affiliated with Jose G. Zarate, who owns a number of properties in the area. Before becoming a comedy club, the building was home to a Sprecher Brewing Co. taproom and Brenner Brewing.
Kemple has played an active role in Milwaukee’s comedy scene since 2005, when he established Milwaukee Comedy as an online platform to promote the city’s growing network of performers and events. He founded Milwaukee Comedy Festival the same year, and remains its executive producer.
Milwaukee Comedy is now recognized as the region’s longest-running independent comedy production company, having presented more than 1,500 live events during its 20-year tenure and reaching more than 75,000 fans. McCarthy and Bach later joined Kemple as partners.
A former Milwaukee Comedy venue, The Underground Collaborative — or the UC — predates The Laughing Tap. It opened in 2013 at what was then the Shops of Grand Avenue and closed in 2022.
Milwaukee Comedy continues to produce shows at venues across the city, including Keg Stand up at Lakefront Brewery, Cask Comedy at Great Lakes Distillery, Backroom Comedy at Dandy and East Cider Comedy Show at Pomona Cider Company, among others.
For more information, or to view upcoming shows, visit the Milwaukee Comedy website.
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