Seating Policy

Seating starts at 7 PM.  No sales before 7 PM.  No Advance Ticket Sales.  First Come, First Seated.  

Can’t buy seats and leave. Can only buy seats when you are ready to come in, sit down and stay.

No paper tickets are issued.  Your stamped hand is your “ticket.”

Parties of 2 or more: Can only buy seats when your entire party (whether 2 people or 20 people) is fully assembled out in hallway of showroom door.  All persons in your group must wait out in hallway until everybody is present, so your entire group can enter the showroom all at once to take your seats. Can’t “trickle in” separately.

All persons in your party must be physically at showroom door in order to buy seats.  Can’t buy seats for people who are not yet at showroom door.  For example, if you want to buy seats for you and a friend who’s parking the car, eating upstairs, using the restroom, etc., you will need to wait til both/all of you are standing at showroom door before you can buy seats.

No paper tickets are issued.  No saving/holding seats for people not yet in the showroom.

V.I.P. Pass holders: to qualify for free admission, all persons in your party must arrive at showroom door and take your seats by 7:15pm.  You cannot arrive late.  Please take your seat and stay in the showroom.  If you miss the 7:15pm deadline, we must charge you full admission but you can keep your VIP pass to use next time when you are not running late.

If dining-in at Mortons or Daily Grill, can’t buy seats & leave to go eat. Can only by seats when your entire party is done eating  and present at the showroom door, ready to come in and sit down. A better option to secure your seat early is to bring carry-out food into showroom and eat in the showroom. No outside beverages allowed in showroom-must get all bevs at cash bar in showroom.

If you leave your seat to step back to the bar or restroom, put a coat, hat,etc on your chair to indicate your seat is taken.  Do not tilt your chair on 2 legs to “reserve” your seat as this creates a dangerous tripping hazard in a darkened room. 

Keep chairs tucked in tight against tables to keep our narrow aisleways clear.  Please hang your coat/jackets/etc on back of your chair only.   Do not place clothing on other chairs you have not paid for, as that creates confusion about which seats are “taken”.  Please store all purses, bags, backpacks, umbrellas,etc  under your chair or table. Do not hang on backs of chairs—blocks the narrow aisleways. 

No admittance after show starts at 8pm as this is too disruptive to the performance in progress.

DO NOT CALL THE HOTEL TO ASK IF SHOW IS SOLD OUT. Hotel staff does not have up-to-the-minute info on our crowd size as they are located in a different part of the building and won’t know if we are sold out until about  10mins after we have actually sold out.

“SOLD OUT” really means we are SOLD OUT.  Although you may see plenty of room to stand, we must obey Fire Code laws concerning maximum number of persons allowed in room.

The only way to guarantee a seat is to arrive by7pm.

Food and Drinks

NO OUTSIDE BEVERAGES ALLOWED.   Purchase all drinks from our cash bar in the showroom. Showroom bar sells water, sodas , beer, wine, and liquor. Cash only-no credit cards. Please whisper when ordering drinks at the bar during the show. Get your drinks before show starts or during halftime intermission , so there is no disruptive bar noise during show.

OK to bring carry-out food into the showroom, but plan to arrive in the showroom by 7pm with food in hand so you can secure one of the table seats.  You cannot buy seats and then leave to go get your food. You must arrive at showroom door with food in hand, ready to sit down in your seat, before we can sell you that seat.  Only the front ½ of room has table seating, the rest is chairs only. The table seating fills up first & fast.  If you arrive any later than 7pm, you run the risk of having to eat in your lap in the chairs-only section of the room.  The only way to guarentee a seat is to bring carry-out food with you when the doors open at 7pm so you can secure a table seat early and eat in the showroom.

Must be done eating before show starts at 8pm so the noise of crackling containers and trash does not disrupt the performance.

We do not allow eating once show starts for safety reasons too: Eating + Laughing = Choking

Please store all food container trash under your table. We will dispose of it for you after the show.

If dining-in at Mortons or Daily Grill, we cannot sell tickets in advance. Your entire party must be done eating & present at the showroom door so they can take their seats as soon as admission is paid & hand is stamped.  We cannot save seats for people who are not physically in the show room.   First Come First Seated!   We do not allow you to purchase tickets and then leave to go eat.  Ensure you get a seat!  We sell out fast!  Please only purchase tickets when your entire party is finished at the restaurant and all are ready to sit in their seats immediately after admission is paid.

Full Bar Available at the Show – Cash Only  The ATM is located in the Hotel Lobby on the left side of the registration desk.  A reminder:  Drinks Must Be Purchased in the Showroom.  NO outside drinks are allowed from Morton’s or Daily Grill.  Dinner

Dinner: Order Carry-Out from hotel lobby restaurants and bring down to showroom to eat:

The Daily Grill (301-656-6100): http://dailygrill.com/locations/daily-grill-bethesda-maryland

Morton’s (301-657-2650): http://www.mortons.com/menu/dinner/

Outside the Hotel:  Chipotle Mexican Grill  just around corner from hotel:  7600 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD 20814.  301-907-9077  www.Chipotle.com Walking Directions from Hyatt Hotel:Apprx 5 minute walk.  Walk out of Hyatt hotel and turn left and bear left walking downhill on Old Georgetown Road. Keep straight. Chipotle will be on your left.

Any outside food you would like to bring is allowed.  The above suggestions are the closest options to the show.  A reminder, NO outside drinks are allowed.

Who’s on

Next Performance – 5/18/13

MC:  DAVE GEORGE

FEATURE:  DAVID TVEITE

HEADLINER:  BIG AL GOODWIN

Please Check This Page For Cancellation Updates Due To Inclement Weather.

COMICS:  Want to perform at any of our shows?  Please no walk-ons, or phone calls all shows are pre-booked by email only.   Trying Stand-up for the first time?  ”Newbies” are Welcome!  Please EMAIL ONLY CurtShackelford@verizon.net to sign-up to perform.

Reservations

Reservations allowed for parties of 10 or more. If under 10 people, it’s first-come, first-seated.

Reservations for 10 or more: email CurtShackelford@verizon.net  at least 2-days in advance of show date with “Reservations for Hyatt show” in subject header and following info in body of email:

Your last name or your groups name:

Number of people in your party:

Show date you want to attend:

Your cell phone #(for emergency use only):

Confirmation of your reservation will be emailed.

Phone calls/emails to the Hyatt venue are not accepted for reservations. Emails only to CurtShackelford@verizon.net

Payment

$10 Cash at Door Admission Fee  - Sorry No Credit Cards, No Advanced Ticketing, No Saving Seats, First Come, First Seated

The ATM is located in the Hotel Lobby on the left side of the registration desk. 

Parking

Additional Parking for Hyatt show: Free off-site public garage is 2 minute walk from hotel, at Edgemoor Lane & Woodmont Ave. Go down Old Georgetown Rd to left on Edgemoor Ln-right around corner–see big blue “P-Bethesda Center” on right. Once in garage, park near the “Edgemoor” elevators. Take the “Edgemoor Lane” elevators to level “P” (Plaza Level). Walk across “Skywalk To Metro” blue/green bridge & keep bearing right until you see Hyatt on right.

If that garage is full, try other free garage across st from Hyatt & behind 7475 Wisconsin Ave Crescent Bldg(ugly neon sculpture): Waverly Garage on Waverly St can be accessed from East-West Hwy(Rte 410) or Montgomery Ave. See blue “Public Parking” garage signs.

Audience Etiquette

1. CELL PHONES OFF PLEASE

2. NO CAMERAS, AUDIO OR VIDEO RECORDING OR TAPING ALLOWED

3. Drinks: please step back to the cash bar to get your drinks before show starts or during the half-time Intermission .

4. Shhh….Don’t be a Talky Talkerson®.  If you need to chat please STEP OUT TO THE HALLWAY.  The pre-show announcements are part of the show.  Please stop talking at this point. Carrying on a conversation during the show is disrespectful to the comics onstage and rude to the people sitting near you and our guests.  They came to hear the comics talk, not you.

5. Unwrap all candies/cough drops/medications before show or between comics’ sets.

6. Please wait for a comic’s set to end before rifling through a purse, briefcase, backpack, shopping bag.  Please don’t hang these items from the back of your chair, it could cause tripping hazards with the tiny aisles.  Please store under your chair or table.

7. Leaving the show early is demoralizing to the performers; please slip out discreetly between comics.

8.THOU SHALT NOT MAKE COMMENTS OUTLOUD TO THE COMIC ONSTAGE:  what an audience member considers “playfully joining in” is in fact a jarring interruption to a comics carefully scripted routine. Golden Rule: don’t ”join in” unless the comic “invites” you into the conversation.

9. If you feel like wearing your partici-pants®, save it for the “Everybodys A Comedian” joke contest segment after the show.  You’ll get to come up onstage, tell 1 joke and maybe win $25 cash & a T-shirt. Just 1 short setup/punchline joke please- NO STORIES. STORIES ARE NOT FUNNY.

10. If you must throw something—throw money.

Joke Contest

“Everybody’s A Comedian®” Joke Contest

At the end of every show we do a joke contest segment we call “Everybody’s A Comedian”® where we invite 3 “non-com”* volunteers from the audience to hop up on stage and tell a joke.

Best joke wins $25 cash and 2 free tickets to our “Laugh Riot at the Hyatt” Saturday night show at the Hyatt Hotel in Bethesda, MD .

Hyatt Saturday show only: winner also receives “CRUSHER” T-shirt.

Rules for the Joke Contest:

There is no advance sign-up for the Joke Contest.  After the final comic is finished, when the MC asks who would like to participate, just walk up to the stage. The spotlight is bright so we can’t see you if you raise your hand, so just walk on up to the stage.

Have your joke prepared and ready to tell, use notes if that helps.

Jokes must not exceed 30-seconds long from when you take the stage to delivery of your punchline. Going over the 30-seconds mark will disqualify you. Practice your joke with a stopwatch to be sure you stay under the 30-seconds limit.

Jokes must be in setup-punchline format, as in “ Two guys walk into a bar….

NO STORIES FROM REAL LIFE. STORIES ARE NOT FUNNY. They are also too long to fit the 30-seconds time limit.

Must stand on the stage to tell your joke.  The audience cannot see you if you are just standing on floor.

As soon as you step on stage, start your joke. Leave the mic in the mic stand-don’t waste your time wrestling it out of the mic stand.  Stand close to the mic-almost touching- so everyone can hear you. You’ve only got 30 seconds, so skip any background info about you or the origin of your joke. Running over 30-seconds time limit disqualifies you, so time  your joke with a stopwatch  before the show to be sure it’s within the limit.

After you tell your joke step off stage and stand on floor next to stage to await voting by applause when everyone is done. Winner is chosen by audience applause.

When MC says your name and your punchline, step forward and raise your hand so audience remembers which joke goes with which face.

If a tie, Producer will pick winner based on joke quality & delivery.

*Comics (performing that night or not) are not eligible to do the Joke Contest.  This is strictly for “non-com” audience members only.