The Best Comedy Clubs in Tampa Bay
Our ranked guide to the best comedy clubs in Tampa and St. Pete — where to catch touring headliners, local showcases, improv, and open mics across the bay.
Tampa Bay punches well above its weight for live comedy. From historic Ybor City to downtown St. Pete and the Gulf beaches, the region packs in touring-headliner clubs, performer-built indie theaters, and grassroots showcase rooms — most of them running multiple nights a week. This guide ranks the best comedy clubs in Tampa Bay and tells you exactly what each one is best for, so you can pick the right room for your night out.
We weighted the rankings toward the things that actually make a comedy night good: how consistently a room books real shows, the strength of its lineups (touring names, local talent, or both), the quality of the space itself, the range of comedy on offer, and value — ticket prices, free nights, and how easy it is to get in. Every club below is a room we track week to week, with live show counts pulled straight from our calendar.
A quick lay of the land: Tampa centers on Ybor City, the dense, walkable, late-night core, plus Carrollwood's long-running Side Splitters. Across the bay, downtown St. Pete leans into improv theaters and local showcases, while St. Pete Beach turns comedy into a cabaret night by the water. The two cities sit about 25 minutes apart, so it's easy to chase the right show across the bridge.
Below, each club links through to its full upcoming schedule. Once you've picked a room, check the live Tampa Bay comedy calendar for showtimes and tickets — or jump to open mics if you want the cheapest, rawest comedy in town.
What makes a great comedy club.
- Consistency of bookings — how reliably the room runs real shows week to week.
- Quality of the lineup — touring headliners, strong local showcases, or both.
- The room itself — sightlines, sound, seating, and overall night-out experience.
- Range of comedy — stand-up, improv, sketch, and open mics across the bay.
- Value and access — ticket prices, free nights, parking, and ease of getting in.
The best comedy clubs in Tampa Bay, ranked.
- Marquee7 upcoming shows
Side Splitters
◆Carrollwood·12938 N Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33618The institution. Tampa Bay's longest-running comedy club — open since 1992 — and the room most national headliners play when they roll through town. An intimate showroom built for stand-up, full bar and kitchen, and a long-running open mic that's launched a lot of local comics. Now expanding across the bay to downtown St. Pete.
Best for → a marquee name and a dependable night out.Next · Fri Jun 19 — Nick ThuneSee all shows → - Marquee15 upcoming shows
Funny Bone
◆Ybor City·1600 E 8th Ave C-112, Tampa, FL 33605The Ybor headliner room. Formerly the Tampa Improv, now part of the national Funny Bone chain — a steady run of touring comics four to five nights a week. The largest showroom in the cluster, with a full restaurant, bar, and table service, dropped into the middle of the nightlife district.
Best for → a touring act with dinner and a night out in Ybor.Next · Thu Jun 18 — Christopher Titus: Doomed to RepeatSee all shows → - Indie0 upcoming shows
Spitfire Comedy House
◆Downtown St. Pete·1920 1st Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33712St. Pete's longest-running comedy theater, and the downtown answer to The Commodore: professional improv, sketch, and stand-up with no drink minimum, plus one of the most active comedy schools in the region. Its long-running “Whose Line”-style improv show is the flagship.
Best for → improv, sketch, and a low-key downtown night.See all shows → - Indie0 upcoming shows
The Commodore
◆Ybor City·811 E 7th Ave, Tampa, FL 33602The independents' clubhouse. A theater built by local performers as a permanent home for the formats the marquee rooms rarely book — improv, sketch, and alt comedy. It's also a teaching space: drop-in classes, workshops, and regular showcases. Beer and wine, ensemble energy.
Best for → improv, sketch, and meeting the local ensemble scene.See all shows → - Marquee0 upcoming shows
Coconut's Comedy Club
◆St. Pete Beach·5500 Gulf Blvd, St. Pete Beach, FL 33706One of the oldest comedy clubs in Florida, now set up at the Tradewinds resort on St. Pete Beach. A classic intimate cabaret room booking national touring stand-ups — the kind of names you've caught on late night and Comedy Central. Two-drink minimum, full bar, full-on vacation energy.
Best for → a classic headliner night by the water.See all shows → - Indie0 upcoming shows
Sunshine City Comedy Club
◆St. Pete Beach·5501 Gulf Blvd, St. Pete Beach, FL 33706A boutique, speakeasy-style room that opened in 2023, started by a longtime touring comic who wanted off the road. Shows Tuesday through Saturday — open mics, features, and headliners — with a deliberate focus on giving up-and-coming comics their first feature and headline spots.
Best for → catching comics on the rise, drink in hand.See all shows → - Community0 upcoming shows
St. Pete Comedy Club
◆Grand Central, St. Pete·1745 1st Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33712The brick-and-mortar home of StPeteStandUp, the producer that spent years running showcase nights in bars around the city. Shows are showcase-style — four to eight comics in 80 to 90 minutes, heavy on local talent and stage time for up-and-comers, with room to bring in touring headliners.
Best for → an affordable local showcase and discovering new comics.See all shows → - Indie51 upcoming shows
The Gimmick
◆Ybor City·2213 E 6th Ave, Tampa, FL 33605The scrappy one, and proud of it. A converted house tucked behind the restaurants off 7th, with a stage built out of VHS tapes and a BYOB, house-party feel. Open mic on Mondays, weekly stand-up, and a habit of surprise drop-ins from bigger names. Doubles as an art studio.
Best for → cheap, close-up stand-up and the occasional famous surprise.Next · Wed Jun 17 — NEW JOKES! Bomb Shelter (BYOB Comedy Show)See all shows → - Community0 upcoming shows
Burnt Sugar Comedy
◆Pinellas Park·5663 Park Blvd, Pinellas Park, FL 33781A grassroots Pinellas Park room producing showcases and mics for emerging and established comics alike — laid-back, affordable, and built around handing local talent real stage time off the beaten path.
Best for → a relaxed local showcase away from the big rooms.See all shows → - Community1 upcoming show
Don't Tell Comedy
◆Pop-Up·Secret location — revealed day of showThe secret-location pop-up. BYOB shows staged in unexpected spaces around Tampa, with the lineup and address revealed the day of the show. National and touring comics in an intimate, word-of-mouth setting you won't find on a marquee.
Best for → a surprise lineup in an unexpected room.Next · Sat Jun 20 — Secret Comedy Show (Surprise Line-Up)See all shows →
Tampa Bay comedy club FAQ.
What is the best comedy club in Tampa?
Side Splitters in Carrollwood is Tampa's longest-running comedy club — open since 1992 — and the room most national headliners play when they tour through. For big touring names in Ybor City, the Funny Bone is the largest showroom.
Where can I see stand-up comedy in St. Pete?
Spitfire Comedy House and the St. Pete Comedy Club anchor downtown St. Petersburg, while Coconut's and Sunshine City Comedy Club bring headliners and rising comics out on St. Pete Beach.
Are there cheap or free comedy shows in Tampa Bay?
Yes. Open mics and indie showcases at rooms like The Gimmick and Burnt Sugar Comedy are often free or under $20, making them the best-value live comedy in the area.
Do I need tickets for Tampa comedy clubs?
Marquee clubs like Side Splitters and the Funny Bone sell tickets in advance and often sell out on weekends, so book ahead. Many indie shows and open mics take walk-ups at the door.
What's the difference between Tampa and St. Pete comedy clubs?
Tampa's Ybor City is the dense, late-night urban core; downtown St. Pete leans toward improv theaters and local showcases; the beaches offer cabaret-style headliner rooms. The two cities sit about 25 minutes apart across the bay.
Picked your room? See what's on.
Skip checking ten club websites across two cities. Boffo pulls every confirmed show in Tampa / St. Pete into one calendar — stand-up, open mics, improv, and headliners, Tampa to the beach.
About comedy clubs & venues in Tampa / St. Pete
These are the comedy clubs and venues in Tampa / St. Pete we track week to week — full-time clubs, theaters, bars, and indie rooms that host stand-up, improv, and open mics across Tampa and St. Pete. Each venue page lists its upcoming shows with dates, times, and tickets.
On the Tampa side, Side Splitters Comedy Club in Carrollwood is the classic dinner-and-a-show room, the Tampa Improv and Funny Bone in Ybor City bring in the biggest touring names, and Ybor's The Gimmick and The Commodore run the indie, alt, and BYOB nights. In Pinellas, Spitfire Comedy House and the St. Pete Comedy Club anchor the St. Pete scene, with additional mics and showcases popping up at bars and theaters around downtown.
Whether you want a polished headliner club, a low-key neighborhood mic, or an improv theater, you'll find the room — and what's playing there next — in the listings above.