Students looking to be entertained but without a lot of money to spend can see stand-up comedy at Matt Bridgestone's Comedy Night.
Bridgestone, a University alumnus, began hosting Comedy Night in February, which takes place every Wednesday at the Bagel Dish, a coffee shop in Highland Park.
The shop's large room usually accommodates bagel and coffee breakfasts in the morning but on Wednesday evenings it converts to a comedy club, complete with a stage, microphone and crowd.
"Comics love to play a college crowd," Bridgestone said. "So I've been getting a lot of responses from really established New York City comics who want to come play the room and try out new stuff."
Bridgestone invited comics like Ed Cho, who came to the University in 2006 and performed on Comedy Central's Premium Blend, Josh Spears, who opened for Dave Attell and Mike Boschetti, who opened for Artie Lange from the Howard Stern Show.
Darrin Faille, who owns and operates the thirty year-old coffee shop, said he had the idea for a comedy night and advertised it on Craig's List. About seven people responded, he said, but Bridgestone was the only one who actually showed up in person to answer the advertisement.
Bridgestone said he doesn't usually use Craig's List, but decided to try it anyway.
"I was looking to do a show in the area, and I found this little blurb from [Faille] who said that he had a coffee house and wanted to start a comedy night. One thing led to the next, and now we've got it going."
Since its conception, Comedy Night, which will soon change its name to Bridgestone's Comedy Dish, has attracted steady audiences. A consistent group of five women from Highland Park are particular regulars, Bridgestone said.
One of them, Maria Austin, said she has not missed a week since it started. She said she heard about the event while eating breakfast at the Bagel Dish regularly and enjoys the comedy nights.
"It's good to see the guys who aren't the big pros trying out their material," Austin said.
Though her friend Melissa Gordeuk admits she does not always like the comedians, she still has a good time.
"Even when they're not funny, they're funny to look at," Gordeuk said.
As the weather gets better, Bridgestone hopes to add comedy nights on Saturdays as well. He said he hopes to try out his first weekend event at the Bagel Dish sometime in April with a barbeque and music in the courtyard behind the coffee shop.
Bridgestone said he has had his share of memorable experiences because of comedy, among them, sitting in on the Opie and Anthony show, opening for Dane Cook, and performing with Jim Norton. He said he also got the chance to meet some of his comedic heroes like Chris Rock and George Carlin.
The Bagel Dish is located at 70 Raritan Ave. Comedy Night starts at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays and admission is $5.
Faille also serves a $7 dinner buffet. When the Saturday show starts up, admission and food will be consolidated to a $10 charge. The Bagel Dish also has free wireless Internet access, Bridgestone said.
