NYC NOW - The Comedy Cellar Turns 45. Meet the Booker Who Keeps It on Top.

Episode Date: March 20, 2026

The Comedy Cellar launched the careers Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, and Ray Romano, and its talent booker Estee Adoram has been deciding who gets on that stage for four decades. Janae heads to Greenwich Village to talk with Estee about what it takes to get five minutes on one of the most competitive stages in the country, and how the club is still going strong at 45.

From WNYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Jenae Pierre. New York City has long been at the center of stand-up comedy, and there's one club that has helped generations of comedians hone their craft from the small stage to some of the biggest. That's the Comedy Seller. The Greenwich Village Club turns 45 this year. On today's episode, we sit down with the Comedy Seller's Booker,

who's been around for four decades. But first, here's what's has to have. happening in New York City. Mayor Zoramamam Dani is creating an office of community safety. The mayor says the department will include programs to combat violence through civilian community groups that divert more emergency calls to social workers and other non-law enforcement responders. OCS will guide investment in Be Heard to provide more support to more neighborhoods so that the

city can deliver the sort of civilian response best suited to meet moments of crisis. Be Heard is a group that responds to not. 911 mental health emergencies. The office will be directed by Renetta Francois, who once served in Mayor de Blasio's office of criminal justice. She says, in her eyes, reform isn't that complicated. Our vision for safety is simple. Every New Yorker, from High Bridge to Stapleton to Bushwick, deserves to feel safe and be safe.

Mayor Mumdani created the department by an executive order, meaning it will technically be an office within City Hall rather than a standalone department. New York State Attorney General Leticia James says a federal judge is blocking a Trump administration effort to restrict gender-referming care for transgender youth. A U.S. District Court judge in Oregon ruled the federal government cannot enforce a policy that threatened to cut off Medicare and Medicaid funding to providers offering that care. Federal officials have argued the treatments are unsafe. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says the administration is trying to protect. young people from what he says are irreversible decisions. James led a multi-state lawsuit challenging the policy. It's officially spring, and New York City is welcoming the new season with some warmer

temps through the weekend. Forecasters say temperatures will climb up to the 60s on Saturday and Sunday. Meteorologist James Connolly says some wet weather will accompany the warmer air. There's a frontal system coming through, and that's mainly overnight, Friday night, maybe early Saturday like before sunrise, and we're expecting up to a quarter of a rain. Daytime Saturday will be dry, though more chances of rain are expected on Sunday. Monday is expected to be mostly dry, but cooler, with chimps back into the 40s. The average for this time of year is around 50 degrees. Most of your favorite comedians have likely come through the comedy seller in Greenwich Village.

After the break, we discussed the magic of booking the right comedian. and what it takes to be a successful comedy club in New York City. Stick around for the conversation. Welcome back to NYC Now. Late Night Television used to be the finish line for stand-up comedians. A five-minute set on Conan, Letterman, or Leno could launch a career overnight. Late-night bookers would sit in the back of comedy clubs scouting for the next big star. Well, comedy looks a lot different nowadays.

But even in the age of TikToks and Instagram, reals, stand-up still has a proving ground for up-and-coming comedians. And in New York City, one club has been at the center of that world for more than four decades, the comedy seller. The Greenwich Village Club has launched generations of comedians, including Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, and Ray Romano. And for most of the club's history, the person deciding who gets on that stage has been one woman, Esty Adorum. The comedy seller turns 45 this year, and Esty has been there for most of them.

As a booker about 40 years, but I've been working here for 44. The comics she chooses to put on that stage can go on to build national careers. For aspiring comedians in New York, getting just a few minutes there can feel like the break they've been chasing. I would say the comedy seller is the reason I moved to New York.

Like Jake Jones, who does between 14 and 17 open mics a week across New York City, and is still trying to get there. I go up, I do like five minutes. I'll watch a couple more comics. I'll watch as many as I can before I have to leave to the next open mic, and then I'll get to that open mic. I'll do five minutes,

and then I'll go hit an open mic at like 10 o'clock, and then just to repeat the process tomorrow. So how do you make it in the New York City comedy scene? To find out, I walked over to the club to talk with SD herself. So this is gonna be on the NYC... NYC now process? Now? Yes.

Sounds good. And then your family sellers turning 45? Yeah. And I am here 44 years. That's awesome. Wow. Holding onto a job. What do you remember about those early shows in the 80s?

Well, most people that are famous now were around them. Like who? Ray Romano, Chris Rock, all those guys. Dave Chappelle, I met Dave Chappelle. He was 18 out of D.C. Somebody recommended Chappelle to me. It was on weekend. It was close to 3 a.m.

He was eating upstairs. And another comic pointed him out and says, I know this guy from D.C. You've got to take a look at him. He's really funny. So I went over. I introduced myself. I said, can you do a few minutes for me? 3 a.m.

There was like people have a sleep on the tables. And he got on and let me tell you, I called my boss at 3 a.m. And I said, I just saw somebody really special. And he was 18. That's one thing that I think it's special. People that started here and became super famous, they still come back. Why do you think so? Love, family.

This is warmth. It's always been. It's always been like that. And so whatever they're in New York, they come in all the time. Here, Ray Romano, I list him on the lineup, the fake name. because otherwise will be trumpeted here. Yeah. But Friday, Saturday, Sunday, he's every night.

Comes in, does at least two shows. Wow. Yeah. And... I see his poster over there. Everybody loves Raymond. Yes, with the whole cast. The whole cast came here.

I have pictures of them, all of them on stage. And then Azis Asi Sari started here. He was 19. And now I have a picture of Chappelle, Aziz, Chris Rock. I have to look at the pictures. There's like five of them at the same time on this little stage. Wow. No space for anything.

Mind-blown. Yeah. And so that magic happens here all the time. And we're grateful for that. And we have a reputation that it does happen. If it doesn't, people are disappointed. Oh, no celebrity came in, you know what I mean? What was the comedy scene like in New York City back in the 80s?

It wasn't as good for us as it's now, you know, the kind of, you know, the comedy. The comedy scene started slowly, picked up some momentum. And in the 80s, it went a little bit down. My theory is that it went down because of really, really bad TV shows. The Evening Can Improv and All of Those Shows. It's an evening at the Improv. Do you remember on the cable? I wasn't around.

Well, baby. There was a show that came on and it was good, so everybody copied it. And it became really watered down. It wasn't good. And most people thought that that's what comedy clubs are. And so, yeah, there was a deed. Then it picked up again. And knock what we're doing really well now.

So you talked about all of the magic that happens here, and you've been a booker here. for four decades, what does a booker do? Like, what are your responsibilities? You answer the question. I think you'll know. You know, exactly. But it's like there has to be some type of magic to your job, right? There's got to be an understanding how to build the show, how to produce a show.

And if you have four shows, each show individually. I guess my question is, how does one become successful at being such a great book? I am trying to answer that without praising myself. too much. Praise yourself. Praise yourself. No. Somebody, I'm not going to name drop, said that I'm successful because I have good taste. And I pride myself on that. I understand good comedy pretty well. There's room to any kind of style of comedy. If it's props, if it's musical, if it's highly intellectual, is it goofy, There's all kind of things.

And they're all very valid. So when you put a show together, you've got to get a balance. And so I get right now, because we're so popular, about three, 400 emails a week, available, a lot. And I have to choose five the best for each of the shows. So there's got to be some kind of a balance where I give spots to as many people as I think I need to, and yet use mostly the funniest one,

but to put it together and master it, prepare it. Yeah, I love that. I love that. At what point did you realize that the comedy seller was becoming part of New York City culture? I never think in those terms. You know, it's every day, it's like walking. One step, one foot forward,

one step at a time. And before you know, 44 years later, here we go. Yeah. You know, we're doing something right. People still come, and we sell out a couple weeks in advance before even the line us not up.

You said that you guys outlasted most? Well, no, there's some clubs that are just as long as us or whatever. But, yeah, we're still here. When I think about the evolution of comedy clubs and the comedy scene, everyone I talk to, they all come back to the comedy seller, you know? So they're not saying any of these other names. Why do you think that so? Depends who you talk to.

Who do you talk to? Just talk to my friends. I don't know. I mean, you know how a parent thinks that their kids are the best and the smartest and the best-looking and whatever? That's how I think about the comedy seller. The way we care from the owners to the GM, to me, to everybody that's involved in that, customer makes reservation after the show, they get an email. How was the show?

How was the service? How was the food? How are the comics? And we literally, literally read every single one of them. So that kind of care cultivates trust, cultivates success. You know, I'm hearing you talk about this place. And coming into this, I had so many questions about like the evolution of the comedy seller. And it seems like this place is just being true to itself and true to the art.

Yes. True to the art. That's a big sentence. True to the comics. True to the comics. We treat the comics with most respect, most love, and most generosity. And that was the previous owner who passed and no one, the owner none. That's their philosophy about conducting business.

That's just good business. The restaurant's got to have the best food to serve in the best way. If not, it's wrong. You know what I mean? There is a demand for excellence. And just TLC. Tender love and care. Absolutely.

Yeah. 100%. And listen, when we started, we were slow. We had no business. All the clubs that were popular then were uptown. You had a comic strip. You have catch, which doesn't exist anymore, but catch was the it club.

You had Stand Up New York. I mean, all those clubs were all uptown. We were the only one downtown. And the industry didn't want to come downtown. You have no idea the somersault that we did to get the business down here and to get them down here. I would drive with my own car from hotel to hotel. I'd take one of the guys at work here and who made, you know, a pamphlet

and gave to all the concierge to invite them. I made a show for the concierge so they can see, you know what I mean? Still, it was like blood from stone. It wasn't busy, so we had the waitress sitting at the table to make it look busy. I mean, we worked really, really hard to get it going. But once we hit this right, it's a different story now. Times have certainly changed. They did.

You know, fast forward to 2026. And now we have social media. That's a different animal. Let's talk about this animal, because certainly it has played a role in the comedy seller's success, continued success. Or has it? Has it now? I have very mixed feeling about social media. Okay. Tell me. Very mixed feeling.

Some people can hit million followers and not be what I would look in a comedian. They push little clips, and those clips go viral. and the biggest mistake you can do. You want those guys here, too, because you want the business. On one hand, on the other hand, are they going to keep the quality where I want it to be? What do you look for in a comedian? Oh, I'm to be funny. I don't like bathroom jokes.

I don't like Hitler jokes. You've got to be super, super, super crafty to do a good Hitler joke for me to say, oh, that's funny. Cheap sex jokes. I mean, cheap is cheap. We all can recognize cheap. Yeah. We all can recognize cheap. And so when I auditioned them, I get them only five minutes.

You better bring your best five minutes. And I see, I look at their presence on stage, control of the crowd, the material. And if we get crickets, nothing on the audition. I said, well, let's try again maybe in six months or next year or something. But if I do get a good response, I said, I'm going to give you spots and let's see how it goes. And if it goes great, welcome to the comedy seller. If it doesn't, I peter out. That's fair to them and fair to us.

When you talk about comedy in 1981 versus today, what's the fundamental difference? there when we talk about the success of a comedian? The fundamental comedy is the same. Comedy was always popular. If you look at the old movies from the 30s and Charlie Chaplin, so comedy was always a corner of society that was needed and was cherished. Now, sometimes they use it as a tool. to voice an opinion, a political opinion.

But if you walk to a room during the show and just look at people's faces, they're there to laugh, to be entertained, and to be happier. And if somebody is offended by something, I can't help it. I can't help it. I would love for 100% success of people living happy.

But sometimes it doesn't happen. You know, and I think not everybody in the 30s love Chaplin. Not everybody love Richard Pryor. Not everybody loves Chappelle now. Yeah. Is there something when you're booking and auditioning folks, is there something different from back then that you would have said yes to than now you'd say no to?

Or the other way around. Or the other way around. Because we are a little bit more. open now. We're not as uptight. That's not true either. Because if now I'm thinking about politically correct, oh, don't talk politics, don't talk race,

don't talk this, non-sexuality, I have some transcogs. You know, Chappelle came out on his show and he was against that, and I had a trans comic that works here. She was hosting. And he got on her show. And they had an exchange

about it and end up you know, shaking her hand and whatever. And he said, where are you nervous talking to me? She goes, no, not at all. So I don't know that then this would fly. That's why I said it may be more open. But in the same token, people are very critical. They're very sensitive.

They're very, I didn't come to comedy to think about politics. I didn't come to comedy to listen about the injustice of this, that, on the other. I came for jokes. Well, you'll get a comedian that talks about it sometimes. Sometimes you do. Is there anything you miss about the comedy seller back in the 80s?

No. No. That was quick. I don't know. It was good then. It's better now. You have to move in with the times. You know what I mean? No.

Yeah. I'm happy. I was happy then. I work very hard because we have now 15, 80 shows a night. Wow. I had two or three then. There's a lot of booking going on. You're busy.

I'm busy, yeah. When do you rest? I don't. I don't. It's the gig. It's the gig. Yeah. Yeah.

Miss Esty, thanks so much. My pleasure. You are lovely. Thank you. So good. And you'll see me on that Sunday brunch list. You. Absolutely. Come and you'll have a good time. We'll have a really good shows on the branch.

Thanks for listening to NYC Now from WNYC. Who's the best comedian you've seen live in New York City? Send a voice note or an email to NYC now at WNYC.org. You might hear your comment on a future episode. Hope you have a lovely weekend. I'm Jenae Pierre. See you next time.