Anyone looking for entertainment beyond the usual bands or DJ setups will want to visit Reds Saloon on Wednesdays for its free weekly Comedy Nights. Don’t let the “free” part fool you. This is no amateur-hour gathering. The show features up to six comedians a night in a roughly hour-and-a-half show that places national headliners alongside a worthy mix of local openers — and a joke or two from host and comedian Josh Nelson. It’s a fast-paced night of fun that’s both extremely entertaining and one of the area’s best entertainment values. Nelson produces and emcees the shows, which began in 2012. While a weeknight might not seem the optimal time for a gig, Reds Saloon’s full houses mean Nelson has had no problem drawing out-of-town talent. “It first started out by my reaching out to people I had done shows with,” he said. “Now that it’s got a really good track record, comics from Los Angeles are actually hitting me up to do the show.” While comedy is subjective, Nelson notes Reds Saloon draws a discerning crowd, ranging from young hipsters to older married couples. “The audiences really know comedy pretty well. They’re pretty good at judging what’s funny or not. This isn’t like a comedy club, where the audiences laugh really easy, so comedians have to bring their ‘A game,’” he said. “But when they do, the audience really respects that.”
Nelson regularly travels to Los Angeles to check out talent and has a list of more than 100 comedians on call for the shows. “What’s great about these performances is that a lot of the comics who come to the show are doing so just before they become really big,” he said. “While the comics are up and coming, a lot of them have already done television, Comedy Central Network, HBO specials, ‘Last Comic Standing’ and things like that. So they are people that you’ll be seeing more of later on. In many cases, they’re acts that will run you up to $20 on the weekends at clubs, while here it’s free.”
Los Angeles-based comedian Andrew Santino is a regular in San Diego comedy rooms, having also worked on such television programs as ‘Punk’d.’ A recent headliner at Reds Saloon, he doesn’t mind the drive. “Standups will go do any show if it’s a good show,” he said. “(Nelson) never puts on just a random weekday show. People treat it like it’s their last day on earth there. It’s fantastic.”
Nelson said the night tends to draw a younger crowd, but he hasn’t noticed much difference between Los Angeles and San Diego comedy. “I guess people think we’re all working out, so that comes into more play,” he said. “People are in better shape, and [comedians] make fun of that.” Closing in on five years into his comedy career, Nelson became a comic the old-fashioned way — on a dare. “A friend and I went to a comedy club, an open mic,” he recalled. “I said, ‘I could do that,’ and my roommate said, ‘No you can’t.’ It was embarrassing, so I said, ‘All right, I’ll do it!’ “I wrote jokes for six weeks, went and tried them out and it didn’t go terrible. Somebody told me I was funny, so I tried it again, and I’ve been doing it ever since,” he said.
While a life in comedy might seemingly have the same odds of success as being a musician, Nelson notes the rewards can be great. “I love that rush when its going well and you make people laugh,” he said. “There’s no better feeling than that.”
• COMEDY NIGHT: Wednesdays at REDS SALOON, 4190 Mission Blvd. 8 p.m. thewoodgroupsd.com/reds.