Courtesy of the Drafthouse Comedy Facebook page
Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse co-owners Greg Godbout and Tim Clark fulfilled a longtime dream last weekend: to bring their own comedy venue to D.C. proper. On Saturday evening, Los Angeles-based comedian Byron Bowers, Chicago’s Liza Treyger and New York’s Matteo Lane performed to a packed room on opening night for the Drafthouse Comedy Theater.
Godbout says the opening weekend was highly successful, thanks in large part to the crowd. “I’d like to think it was all the theater, but D.C. has a great audience base for comedy,” he says.
The owners intended to launch the venue, located blocks from both the McPherson Square and Mt. Vernon Square Metro stations, on April Fool’s Day. But the opening was delayed when Maddy’s Taproom, the bar next door, experienced issues in their kitchen. Regardless, Godbout says he is happy with how it all turned out.
Drafthouse Comedy Theater contains space for up to 175 seated guests, a notably smaller capacity than its Arlington counterpart, which houses a full-service restaurant, a bigger stage, and seating for up to 275 people. The D.C. theater is minimalist by comparison, with a so-called “black box” layout modeled after New York’s off-Broadway theaters. The venue has a full bar but no restaurant, and offers general admission rather than reserved seating.
“It’s basically an arts theater, not a club,” says Godbout.
The focus on comedy distinguishes the D.C. space from the Arlington venue, where guests can watch movies in addition to standup comedy. Presently, Washington has only a few other standup-centric venues, including Laugh Index Theatre and D.C. Improv.
Godbout envisions his new venue as catering to other forms of comedy than just standup, like improv, sketch, and storytelling.
“We will still be doing big national names in standup, but it’s a big tent we’re setting up,” he says. “We’re looking to diversify and be very different, and more importantly connect with the artists of D.C.”
Godbout first took over the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse in 2005, and has since managed the booking of acts outside of his day job as a top executive at a government agency. (Godbout says he is unable to disclose details about his position when discussing his outside work.)
Despite clear differences between civil service and entertainment management, Godbout sees a connection between his two positions. “I bring the same creativity that I do from booking to government to try to spawn creativity and innovation,” he says.
With government work taking up most of his time, Godbout leaves daily management duties to his staff, including his sister, Christina, manager of the D.C. theater; and his wife Colleen, who manages back-office operations like contracts and payroll.
According to the venue’s calendar, Drafthouse Comedy Theater aims to host an average of eight shows a week—two on Thursday evenings and three on Friday and Saturday nights.
The next comedians on the venue’s lineup are former Chelsea Lately regular Sarah Colonna this upcoming Friday and Saturday night, followed by San Francisco musician and comic Drennon Davis on April 15 and 16.
Drafthouse Comedy is located at 1100 13th St., NW.
