Jimmy Kimmel to open Vegas comedy club with Caesars Palace

Jimmy Kimmel Live isn’t exactly known for its stand-up comedy spots.

But Jimmy Kimmel, the University of Nevada Las Vegas graduate, will soon be offering live stand-up comedy nightly on the Vegas Strip. Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club will open in spring 2019 in an 8,000-square-foot space in the new LINQ Promenade across the street from Caesars.

“Kimmel’s longtime Las Vegas affinity means he understands the city and what audiences want to see,” said Caesars’ president of entertainment, Jason Gastwirth, adding: “Together, we look forward to delivering a top-quality comedy experience on the Las Vegas Strip.”

Kimmel told The Hollywood Reporter today: “Look, it’s exciting for me because I grew up in Las Vegas and, beyond that, a lot of my family worked at Caesars Palace. So, to do something there is really exciting for me personally. Also, I think a lot of comedy clubs were something else first — like, a restaurant that got converted — and I always thought it would be great to set out to build the perfect comedy club for comedians. I really feel like comics have been mistreated.”

To that respect, Kimmel also said he’s paying attention to the details, from the ceiling height to the types of food served: “I want the food to all be things you can eat with your hands — I don’t want there to be a lot of clatter. I wanted the comics to be undisturbed as much as possible. And we’ll have a podcast studio in our club, too.”

Perhaps this will mean more stand-up on JKL, too. Beamed in live from Vegas.

“I really think we lose something when we have a comic in a TV studio. It’s not the same feel. Everything about it is artificial. So, this feels like a great opportunity to give comedians a chance to really score. And the facility itself will be designed around making it as pleasant experience for them as possible, from the backstage greenroom area to the way they enter. They won’t have to walk through the audience to get into the show; they’ll be able to watch from a semi private area or a private area, whichever they want. And I think it’ll just be a great place to hang out. I feel like the late-night entertainment part of Las Vegas has gone away, and I want this to be a place where we have midnight shows in the way Don Rickles would do a show late, late at night. I want that to happen in Las Vegas again.”

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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