Natalie Miller and Nathan Hartswick in front of the future VCC Credit: Dan Bolles

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A horse, a priest and Donald Trump walk into a bar, look around and say, “Holy shit. It’s a comedy club in Burlington!”

OK, so maybe my punchline needs a little work. But starting the third week of November I could brush up on my joke construction at the Vermont Comedy Club. No joke. Co-owners, comedy moguls and sickeningly cute married couple Natalie Miller and Nathan Hartswick — seen above in a photo taken by a guy named Dan Bowles, which is kinda freakin’ me out — announced earlier this week that they have finally broken ground on their long-awaited comedy club.

The venue, which will take up residence in the old Armory building on Main Street in Burlington — formerly home Sh-Na-Na’s and Hunt’s and also occupied by the Hilton Garden Inn — will open in November with the 2015 Vermont’s Funniest Comedian competition. Appropriate for the soon-to-be epicenter of local comedy. (Obviously, based on the previous joke, I will not be competing.)

In a press release announcing the groundbreaking, Miller and Hartswick and developer Erik Hoekstra said a bunch of stuff you’d expect to see in a glowing press release. (“We’re totes pumped, you guys.” “This will be great for the children.” “I just wanna thank God and give 110%.” “Feel the Bern.” And so on.)

OK, I made up those quotes, because I hate reading press releases. But the point is this: After well more than a year of planning and speculation, VCC is going to open. For real. And that’s great news. (Also cool news: The team behind hot BTV eatery Butch + Babe’s is designing the VCC menu.)

Stay tuned for updates — and better jokes — as events warrant.

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Dan Bolles is a culture coeditor at Seven Days. He joined the paper in 2007 as its music editor, covering Vermont's robust music, comedy and nightlife scenes for a decade before deciding he was too old to be going to the Monkey House on weeknights to see rock shows for a living. He became assistant arts editor in 2017 and culture coeditor in 2021. Bolles has received numerous local and national awards for his writing on Vermont arts, sports and the occasional celebrity canine murder mystery. He loves...

3 replies on “Vermont Comedy Club to Open in November”

  1. It’s really hard to imagine a comedy club surviving in Burlington. Or in that building. I give it a year before a major new strategy.

  2. I hope they do Comedy for a Cause and have us as their 1st organization for a fundraiser, Blue Star Mothers of Vermont’s pet program. 🙂

  3. I think there’s a place in Burlington for a comedy club and I’m looking forward to local and national acts alike! Wish it was opening earlier!

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