Kolkata has grown to be fonder of the stand-up comedy culture, and the increasing number of places hosting open mics are proof. Whether weekly, monthly or every day, these places in town host the best of comedy evenings that you need to check out, if you want to try your hands at stand-up comedy or just be in the audience, to make a wonderful evening out of it.
Wanna Be The Next Big Thing? Get On Stage At These Places And Show Your Skills
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Calcutta Comedy Company
The vision behind setting up Calcutta Comedy Company (CCC) is to preserve and promote Kolkata's comedy scene. It's a cozy spot with a 32-seating capacity that opened in 2022 to provide the city with a modern comedy place. It has today become the go-to place for comedy lovers in Kolkata, whether performers or spectators.
Timing: 4 PM to 12 AM
Google Rating: 4.7
8th Day Café
Are you a budding comic, a bathroom singer, or a poet with a missing audience? This all-American café hosts open mic nights every month. Be it stand-up comedy, singing, or poetry, that 8th Day is open to all kinds of performances. To participate, you just need to sign up with Chaitown Creatives who manages their gigs. And you will love the extensive American food menu at this cafe.
Timing: 9 AM to 9 PM
Google Rating: 4.3
Country House
The European design aesthetics in this place and the zero-power LED bulbs set the mood for their weekly open-mic nights. Upcoming and fresh city bands like Whale In The Pond as well as individual artists all get a chance to perform here. They also do stand-up where apart from amateur artistes, they host acts by well-known city comedians such as Yashoroop Dey, Sourav Ghosh, and Saurav Goyal. They also have something called On The Wall which lets you exhibit your photos or artworks in their space.
Timing: 8 AM to 11 PM
Google Rating: 4.2
Terminal 11
Terminal 11 has been hosting some really interesting events since they opened doors. From their creative writing workshops to secret book sales, it has become a fab new place to showcase talent, and to meet new people. Keep tabs on their social media pages for deets!
Timing: 11 AM to 11 PM
Google Rating: 4.4
Artsy Cafe
A great place to try good coffee and check fabulous artworks, Artsy is the next best place to reach out to an audience. A well-frequented cafe with regular monthly art showcases and frequent gigs on weekends, Artsy is a good place to launch yourself. With popular faces to amateurs taking up this space for performances, this could also be your ground to network and meet new opportunities.
Timing: 8 AM to 10:30 PM
Google Rating: 4.5
Cafe Drifter
This cosy cafe near Vivekananda Park is another hotspot for fresh faces and new talent. With young people crowding in mostly during the evening, this place has a chill vibe that's welcoming to performances. Pick up their house accordion or bring in your own guitar and start off without any inhibition. Also, displays art and can make room for stand ups, you just need to get in touch with the cafe before your planned gig.
Timing: 9 AM to 11 PM
Google Rating: 4.3
Half Cut Poetry
Half Cut Poetry is a dedicated Kolkata based poetry collective space, working towards building a unified platform for Spoken word artists in the city. Alongside poetry, they also organise one of the best open mic gigs in town. It's a supremely safe community, where spoken-word artists can learn and grow, without being judged at all.
Where: 7/8B, near post office, Bijoygarh, Jadavpur, Kolkata
Timing: Tuesday to Friday 10 AM to 6 PM; Saturday 12 PM to 9 PM; Sunday, 12 PM to 10 PM; Monday 11 AM to 6 PM
Google Rating: 5.0
TOPCAT Retired Comedy Club
Munch on some yummy popcorn and drinks at TOPCAT Retired Comedy Club, while laughing your nights away with some of the best local comedy talents of Kolkata, as well as some renowned national ones. It is a place run by comedians themselves, and regularly hosts open mics. Famous personas including Samay Raina, Prashasti Singh and the OG Anirban Dasgupta have performed here.
Where: 36/F, Topsia Road, Topsia, Kolkata
Timing: Open 24 hours
Google Rating: 4.5
Source: Brand
The Talent Hub X The Talent Cellar
The Talent Hub is an art studio managed by The Talent Cellar in Kolkata, claimed to be Kolkata's biggest open mic community, is the best place to perform at if you're a budding Bengali comedian, it offers both studio quality audio and video recordings to the artist, along with edited reels and a non-judgemental environment for first timers. They occasionally also organise open mic and poetry events at cafes like Starbucks, so look out for any recent postings by them on their social media!
Where: 1st Floor, 472, Garia Main Road, near Kavi Nazrul Metro Station, Ramkrishna Nagar, Kolkata
Timing: 9 AM to 5 PM
Google Rating: 4.9
