Coachella Valley venues anchor an emerging comedy scene in Palm Springs and beyond

For Palm Springs and different godforsaken cities of the Coachella Valley, unrecorded drama has traditionally meant names similar Chris Rock oregon Ron White filling the area’s galore casino showrooms, oregon Kathy Griffin and Wanda Sykes stopping successful astatine the McCallum Theater. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the area’s stand-up options person evolved successful size, ambition and diversity.

“Producers are motivated, and they are superior astir increasing the scene,” says Allison Dyen, a comic primitively from Boston who participated successful 2018’s archetypal Palm Springs International Comedy Festival astatine the fashionable Hotel Zoso. “It’s welcoming, cheaper and calmer than L.A., but you inactive person casual entree to San Diego, Phoenix and Las Vegas. It’s conscionable a bully small hub.”

Most venues supply unlimited escaped parking. None necessitate two-drink minimums. L.A.-based comedian and promoter Craig Appelbaum sees the destination upwind and dependable tourer basal arsenic built-in advantages: “I ever instrumentality a canvass astatine shows: ‘Where are you each from?’ We consistently get visitors from New York, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, tons of Canadians. It’s a existent mix.”

Regional drama highlights flourish, with unsocial stagetime opportunities added regularly. “We person ever had this unthinkable Hollywood lineage – stars from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s built this place,” says comedian Dacoda Miracle. “It’s clip we had a drama country to lucifer that legacy.”

Coachella Valley Brewing Company

30640 Gunther St., Thousand Palms and 155 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs

CVBCO’s archetypal Thousand Palms determination historically books acts successful 3 antithetic spaces including its vessel country and outdoor garden. Among the brewery’s 2025 stand-up highlights are play Monday unfastened mics and Bit n’ Tongue Productions’ recurring stand-up nighttime hosted by Dacoda Miracle astatine 8 p.m. connected the past Friday of each month. Since November, a newer downtown Palm Springs outpost delivers its “Late Night successful Palms Springs” drama amusement each Wednesday astatine 9 p.m., highlighting regulars similar Van Rose and Dominic Houghton.

Desert Beer Company

77770 Country Club Drive, Suite D, Palm Desert

Country Club Marketplace’s anchor trade brewery boasts ingredients ranging from chile peppers to caller dates. On Tuesday evenings, Jacob Roper hosts Kentucky Fried Comedy’s unfastened mic astatine 7 p.m., followed by apical SoCal Roast Battle rival Los Digits’ fashionable amusement “No Llores,” a head-to-head contention focused connected processing joke-writing skills and confidence. “These artists are hungry,” says Indio autochthonal Los Digits. “The drama country successful the Coachella Valley has grown tremendously successful the past year. To immoderate people, the godforsaken is simply a spot wherever thing beauteous tin grow. But smaller venues are helping endowment find their dependable and giving audiences a glimpse of what the godforsaken has been cultivating.”

Comedian Irene Tu performs astatine Little Street Music Hall.

(Candace Whalen)

Little Street Music Hall

82707 Miles Avenue, Indio

Elijah James’ “Upcycled Comedy” has booked stand-up successful Indio with monthlies astatine Urban Donkey vintage store since 2024. Dacoda Miracle’s yearly Coachella Valley Comedy Festival precocious followed suit for its 4th incarnation, moving from Thousand Palms to conscionable down the block. The three-day March lawsuit incorporated much than 40 comics with headliners Irene Tu, Avery Pearson and Kyle Rehl; Miracle envisions expanding to further Indio stages wrong walking region arsenic the festival grows. He brings Erik Griffin to Little Street Music Hall connected May 10 and Alec Flynn connected May 16.

Lush

110 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs

The erstwhile Sirocco nightclub’s LGBTQ-owned determination successful beforehand of Hotel Zoso traditionally hasn’t warmed up for resistance and dancing until precocious nights. Beginning successful the caller year, Craig Appelbaum has hosted locals and touring pros Fridays astatine 8 p.m. with “Lush Laughs,” with longer sets of up to 30 minutes. Thursdays astatine 7 p.m., Emily Lentz’s community-forward “Super Skillet” format invites comics to motion up for 2 minutes apiece. The assemblage votes for its apical three, who instantly instrumentality for different 10 minutes earlier Lentz’s booked headliner. Lush anticipates expanding its drama branding to Sundays and further weeknights successful upcoming months.

Quadz

200 S. Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs

Last Thursdays of each period astatine 7 p.m., Craig Appelbaum hosts the escaped Quadz Comedy Night astatine the Arenas District’s longtime LGBTQ+ video bar. (Karaoke follows.) He counts Caitlin Gill, present surviving successful 29 Palms, among his favourite stand-ups to book. “After COVID, the country truly exploded,” Appelbaum says. “You had radical moving to the godforsaken permanently. There was nary ceremonial drama scene, but this thriving civilization is being created. I’ve connected with radical consecutive and gay, and I’m consistently amazed by the level of talent. It’s a precise welcoming assemblage to beryllium a portion of.”

Palm Springs Cultural Center

2300 E. Baristo Road, Palm Springs

The centrally located arts hub is famed for classical movie screenings, unrecorded euphony and a play farmers marketplace connected Saturdays. The multi-space Palm Springs Cultural Center besides precocious celebrated spoken connection similar “An Evening with David Sedaris” and the 10 pupil graduates of the Palm Springs Comedy Class. Nate Wyckoff and Lentz’s eight-week people offers lessons connected handling a microphone, the basics of drama writing, dependable projection, signifier presence, quality development, assemblage enactment and auditioning. Weekly exercises and radical critiques culminate successful presenting 5 polished minutes of worldly connected the main signifier below.

Revolution Stage Company

611 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs

Elevated and innovative theater, musicals and cabaret (plus an assortment of crystal pick treats) are the featured fare astatine Gary Powers and James Owens’ two-year-old renovated abstraction formerly lodging the Desert Rose Playhouse and Zelda’s Nightclub. The 150-capacity nonprofit venue besides pays adjacent respect to the creation signifier of stand-up comedy, welcoming intimate evenings from alternate icons similar Beth Lapides and Murray Hill and welcoming indie bookings from Dana Eagle, Jason Stuart, Julie Goldman, Mina Hartong, Robin Tyler, Shann Carr, Les Kurkendaal-Barrett and Eddie Brill.

The Rock Gallery

333 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Unit 117, Palm Springs

Palm Springs Mayor Ron deHarte attended May 1’s day ribbon-cutting ceremonial astatine the reopening of the city’s lone full-time drama room. Owner Abe Reisin and performer-producers Pierce Amaro, Alex Avila and Dave Thompson person precocious introduced beer, wine, t-shirts and a caller digital-media surface astatine the erstwhile euphony workplace turned one-year-old venue. Rock Gallery is already bringing backmost sign-ups for Monday and Wednesday unfastened mics; Reisin additionally plans to programme shows 7 afloat nights a week. Upcoming play headliners see Jeff Garcia, Melinda Hill, Jay Light and Ian Edwards.