Revamped comedy club reopens in Boston’s Theater District

BOSTON – A Boston comedy club is reopening in a familiar setting but with new laughs.
Lil Chuck, in the basement of the Charles Playhouse in Boston, is now open. “Shear Madness” called the space home for 40 years, but the improv comedy show closed just before the pandemic. Now, the revamped club is reviving Boston’s long history of comedy.
Veteran comedian Tony V described the club as hallowed ground. “We’re in a place that was the epicenter of stand up. At one point in the late 80s, early 90s, there were five comedy clubs within a block radius.”
“It’s made for comedy,” said co-owner and co-founder John Tobin. “Low ceilings, sunk down stage, very intimate, the way comedy should be. It’s almost like you’re part of the act.”
Tobin said having a full-time club in Boston’s Theater District is beyond his wildest imagination.
“It’s a great privilege to have the space, but it’s also an even greater responsibility,” said Tobin.
In the late 1970s, the building was the site of the original Comedy Connection.
“To have this come back, to you know be the phoenix to resurrect again. I give these guys nothing but credit for doing it,” said Tony V.
Tobin thinks the audience is the difference maker. “This was an old church, so it is pretty fitting that we’re offering communal experiences every night of the week here at the Lil Chuck.”
Right now, there are events scheduled at the club through the end of the year, including Sh*t-Faced Shakespeare, Dirty Disney, and Townies, a weekly show highlighting the best comics in Boston.