I was visiting Madison to see my sister who is attending college here when I made the decision to indulge in some local performance art, but I was forced to settle for local comedy, begrudgingly. Immediately upon entering the venue, to my surprise, I realized that these were my kind of people and I was near immediately comfortable. What an accepting atmosphere!
Typically my experience with live comedy has been somewhat underwhelming. The lead up to the performance leaves me anxiety-ridden with sweaty palms due to the crippling fear that an off-color or especially crude joke might exit the comedixin's mouth (gender neutral pronoun for comedian, since most performers very rudely omit their preferred pronouns from their act). This is because of the PTSD I have developed due to the many unwarranted Twitter mentions I have received over the years. But I digress, because the comedy was fantastic! There was not a single instance of punching down (even against Islams, who, in our current state of Islamophobia, deserve nothing short of apologetic coddling). Topics discussed even grazed some of my favorite subjects, including mentally handicapping neuroses and the failings of the Bush era presidency.
Now, I would have given this venues 5 stars, but I had to leave one off due to a few failings in my eyes. First, when I asked if the fruits used in my pomegranate martini were locally sourced, I could not get a sufficient response. Second, there seemed to be a startling lack of diversity! One would not expect such for such a welcoming city. Perhaps some diversity outreach is in order (maybe the college is not meeting its Affirmative Action quotas? This venue should look into booking that Kevlin Hart to help draw a more diverse crowd). With these exceptions noted, I would highly recommend a visit.