Since starting in the mid-1960s, American comedy clubs operated under essentially the same business model. Audiences are restricted to drinking-age adults, alcohol is served, and the majority of the comedians “work blue,” meaning their material contains profanity, taboo subjects, and strong sexual content. While there are certainly some exceptions (Jim Gaffigan, Jerry Seinfeld, for example), the comedy club comedian’s bread and butter is adult-only content.
This all changed in the mid-2010s with the founding of Dry Bar. Located in Provo, Utah, Dry Bar Comedy is open to all ages, the comedians are required to “work clean,” and, as the name implies, no alcohol is served.
Managing director of Dry Bar Comedy Club, Nate McClellan, offers comedy the whole family can enjoy. Courtesy of Nate McClellan
I recently had the chance to speak with Nate McClellan, the Dry Bar managing director who explained just how the club works, why it was started, and what might be in store for the future.
Michael Clark: Tell us when and why Dry Bar was created.
Nate McClellan: The founders of Angel had an advertising agency called Harmon Brothers and they had done a lot of commercials on YouTube through which they made many industry connections. One of them was Isaac Halasima who, in 2017, approached me with the idea to create a comedy club show that you could watch with your mom. That’s the simple pitch.
Isaac Halasima and his daughter at Dry Bar Comedy Club in Provo, Utah. Dry Bar
Clark: Your LinkedIn page states you are an expert in “double bottom-line business strategy.” Can you explain what this means?
McClellan: I worked for nonprofits for a number of years where programs were implemented that both helped people and made a profit. You do good for the world while making money.
MC: Other than not using profanity, what are the guidelines for featured comedians?
McClellan: They’re not permitted to talk about sexuality or anything overtly suggestive. Again something you could watch with your mom or 8-year-old child.
MC: Is there a dress code for the club?
McClellan: No. The audiences here are pretty conservative so that’s never been an issue, and a lot of the comedians know what we’re doing and dress accordingly.
Clark: Is there an audience selection process for the taped shows or are tickets sold on first come, first served basis, and are there any age restrictions?
McClellan: First come, first served, and no, there are no age restrictions.
Clark: What is the seating capacity for the club?
McClellan: If we’re filming for YouTube, it’s 220. When we do “encore shows,” when the comedians return to do shows that aren’t filmed, it’s 300.
Clark: How many of the shows are filmed?
McClellan: Most of them. We generally film for six straight weeks, two shows per weekend, three specials per show.
Clark: You’re currently based in Provo. Are there any plans for expansion to other parts of the United States?
McClellan: Great question. To film—maybe, maybe not. The great thing for the comedians is that our venue “fills big.” When comedians do places with a capacity of 1,000 or more, there’s waves of laughter, meaning you have to wait for the entire house to hear and get the joke, which changes the timing dynamic. When the audience is restricted to 200 or so, it’s the perfect size and the comedians love it. So for filming, we’ll probably just limit it to Provo. If we were to do tour dates in other places, Texas for example, places that like Dry Bar, yes, that’s likely to happen.
Clark: Are there any comedians who generally “work blue” that, if their material was cleaned up, so to speak, you’d like to get—someone like Bill Burr, for example?
McClellan: Yes, 100 percent. We’d love to get Bill or anyone else, like Adam Carolla who just did a special called “Adam Carolla Comes Clean.” In the first minute of his set, he said, “I don’t know if I’ve ever done a clean show in my life.”
Clark: Do the performers all receive equal billing and pay?
McClellan: No. We have a rev [revenue] share program. We pay the performer’s expenses to get here and they’re paid based on the number of views on the Angel app and YouTube.
Clark: So, it’s essentially commission-based pay?
McClellan: Yes. First, the shows are exclusive to Angel Guild members, then on the Angel app, then YouTube, then services such as Spotify, SiriusXM, and Facebook.
Clark: For lack of a better term, is there anything “lost in translation” when a comedian can only be heard and not seen?
McClellan: There can be, yes. Take for example, Don McMillan who literally includes PowerPoint presentations in his shows. That one would be hard because it is so visual. Some others, like Shayne Smith is also very visual but his humor still works well for audio only.
Shayne Smith does stand-up comedy at the Dry Bar Comedy Club in Provo, Utah. Dry Bar
Clark: Are the comedians asked to avoid political content?
McClellan: We sometimes have people who include politics, but they’re pretty good at “reading the room” and don’t get too deep into it. Jeff Allen, for example, has a special called “Gunsmoke & Ice Cream.” The premise is “Joe Biden is too old. He’d rather be watching ‘Gunsmoke’ and eating ice cream.” He makes digs at Biden, but they’re pretty innocent jabs. It’s softball stuff, nothing hard core. None of it goes overboard.
Comedian Jeff Allen does stand-up comedy at the Dry Bar Comedy Club. Dry Bar
Clark: Some Internet sources state that Dry Bar has 8.4 million subscribers across social media platforms and over 2 billion views. Would you say this is accurate?
McClellan: No, those are old numbers. We’re closer to 6 billion views now.
Clark: Do you know how that compares to other subscriber You Tube comedy channels?
McClellan: As of now, Comedy Central’s channel has more views than we do. I would say we’re consistently second or third.
Clark: Do you think the Dry Bar concept would have succeeded had it started 10 years ago?
McClellan: Yes. Dry Bar began eight years ago and even then there was already a big pent-up demand for more family-friendly content.
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