The best comedy shows in LA for a group of 3 to 8 people are at UCB Franklin and the Groundlings Theatre, where tickets run cheap and there's no drink minimum math to do, plus Don't Tell Comedy, which skips the minimum entirely. For a bigger night out, The Comedy Store or Hollywood Improv deliver the classic club experience, but you'll want to know the per-head cost before you go.
LA has more comedy per square mile than almost anywhere in the country, which is exactly the problem. Nobody tells you which rooms actually seat a group of friends together, what a Tuesday show really costs once you add drinks, or how to find the three other people who'll actually commit to going. This guide answers all three.
which comedy rooms in la actually work for a group of 3 to 8 people
UCB Franklin, the Groundlings Theatre, and Don't Tell Comedy are the three rooms built for groups without friction. They're cheap enough that nobody has to do math about who owes what, and none of them lean on a strict two-drink minimum that turns a casual Tuesday into a $150 night for four people.
UCB Franklin (5919 Franklin Ave, Hollywood) runs its flagship ASSSSCAT show on weekends, per Time Out, and tickets typically run $5 to $15, with some shows free, and no traditional drink minimum, per the LA Times. That price point alone makes it one of the easiest rooms in the city to fill with a group, since nobody has to pre-commit to a big spend. The Groundlings Theatre on Melrose Ave in Fairfax runs $22 to $37 depending on the show, per Time Out, still well under what a club stage will cost once drinks are added in.
For the biggest groups, though, Don't Tell Comedy might be the easiest booking of all. The venue is disclosed to ticket holders shortly before the show, and there's no mandatory two-drink minimum, per LAist. That means the whole group buys one ticket type, at one price, with zero guesswork about what the bar tab will look like.
Club rooms like The Comedy Store (8433 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood) and Hollywood Improv (8162 Melrose Ave, Hollywood) are built around individual seating more than table blocks, and most guides never mention this. If you're walking in as a party of six on a packed Friday, call ahead about seating together, since club layouts prioritize table turns over group cohesion. The Comedy Store runs three separate stages most nights, per Time Out, so ask which room your group is booked into before assuming you'll all be seated together.
what tickets and drink minimums cost at each major la comedy venue
A night at a classic club costs more than the ticket price alone. The real number is cover plus a two-item minimum per person, and once you multiply that across a group of five or six, the gap between a club night and an improv theater night gets wide fast.
The Comedy Store and Hollywood Improv both run covers around $20 to $25, commonly with a two-drink or two-item minimum, per the LA Times. That means a solo seat can land near $50 to $60 once drinks are factored in, and for a group of six that's $300 to $360 before tip. Largo at the Coronet (366 N La Cienega Blvd, Beverly Grove) has a baseline ticket price around $35 before fees, per the same LA Times piece, which ranks it among the city's top comedy venues, but it doesn't carry the same drink-minimum structure as the club rooms.
| venue | neighborhood | rough cost | drink minimum |
|---|---|---|---|
| UCB Franklin | Franklin Village, Hollywood | $5 to $15 | none |
| Groundlings Theatre | Fairfax | $22 to $37 | not stated |
| Largo at the Coronet | Beverly Grove | around $35 | not stated |
| The Comedy Store | West Hollywood | around $20 to $25 cover | two-item minimum |
| Hollywood Improv | Hollywood | around $20 to $25 cover | two-item minimum |
| Don't Tell Comedy | rotating venues | ticket price only | none |
No roundup actually walks through this math, but it's the difference between a $40 group outing and a $300 one. If your group is price-sensitive, start with UCB or Don't Tell. If the night calls for a bigger-name headliner and a classic club room, budget for the minimum going in, not as a surprise on the check.
where to find cheap or free comedy shows on a weeknight in la
Weeknight comedy in LA is cheaper and looser than weekend shows, and some of it is free. UCB Franklin posts shows that run free to $15, Don't Tell Comedy skips the drink minimum entirely, and smaller rooms around the Eastside host comedy as part of broader variety nights.
A representative plan on WashedUp was a free comedy show inside a vintage store in Burbank, held on a Tuesday, and it filled with three people. That's the shape of weeknight comedy in LA right now: small, informal, often tucked inside a space that isn't a traditional club at all. Across all the comedy plans currently on the app, evenings between 5pm and 10pm are the most common time slot, which tracks with how most of these rooms schedule their weeknight sets.
The Elysian in Elysian Valley/Frogtown is described by posters on r/AskLosAngeles as currently the hottest spot in LA comedy, offering stand-up, improv, sketch, clowning, and open mics, often at a lower price point than the Hollywood clubs. If you want a true weeknight wildcard, this is where to look first.
stand-up vs improv: how the two formats feel different for a group night out
Stand-up gives your group a shared, predictable experience: one comedian, one mic, a set list that builds. Improv is looser and more collaborative, pulling from audience suggestions, which makes for a different kind of group energy, more unpredictable, sometimes funnier, sometimes a swing and a miss.
Stand-up rooms like The Comedy Store, Hollywood Improv, and Laugh Factory (8001 W Sunset Blvd, Hollywood) put a single performer in front of the room for a tight set, and the audience's job is mostly to listen and laugh at the right beats. That makes stand-up the safer bet for a first group outing, since everyone knows what they're walking into.
Improv asks more of the room. At UCB Franklin and UCB Annex (1925 N Bronson Ave, Hollywood), scenes are built live from audience suggestions, so no two shows are the same. A poster on r/improv described the scene as having real depth right now, with a significant part of the schedule at Westside Comedy Theater (1323-A 3rd St, Santa Monica) dedicated to improv specifically, and the venue is described as fully open.
One Reddit commenter put the improv-school appeal plainly: "a big step away from that is to go to one of the improv schools. Groundlings Theater and Upright Citizens Brigade are two great ones that are uniquely L.A. The tickets are super-cheap. The comedy is weird. There is no drink minimum." That's a fair summary of why groups that want something a little stranger, and a little cheaper, gravitate toward UCB and Groundlings over the club circuit.
comedy rooms outside hollywood worth the drive (burbank, pasadena, santa monica)
Comedy in LA isn't confined to Hollywood and West Hollywood. Flappers Comedy Club in Burbank, Ice House Comedy Club in Pasadena, and Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica give groups on the east and west edges of the city a reason to skip the Sunset Strip traffic entirely.
Flappers Comedy Club (102 E Magnolia Blvd, Downtown Burbank) gets recommended on r/AskLosAngeles as a solid alternative to the Hollywood clubs, useful if your group is already in the Valley or wants an easier parking situation than Sunset Strip offers. Ice House Comedy Club (24 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena) is remembered fondly by posters on r/AskLosAngeles as a pre-pandemic favorite, though its current reopening status wasn't confirmed by that poster, so it's worth calling ahead before you build a whole night around it.
Westside Comedy Theater rounds out the westside option, with a schedule that leans heavily improv and is confirmed fully open. If your group splits across the Valley, the Westside, and Pasadena, these three rooms mean nobody has to cross the whole city just to catch a set.
Dynasty Typewriter (2511 Wilshire Blvd, Westlake) deserves its own mention here too. It's ranked the No. 1 comedy venue in LA by Time Out, and one Reddit commenter's advice applies directly to group planning: "check the schedules at Dynasty Typewriter and Largo and see if anything interests you, and, if so, book your tickets now, as they will sell out." Largo got its own shoutout too, described as hosting "the best improv show I've attended," with Ben Schwartz and guests cited by name on Reddit. If your group wants a night that feels like it matters, start with those two calendars.
how to find people to go to a comedy show with in la
The hardest part of a comedy night isn't picking the venue, it's finding three or four people who'll actually say yes and show up. That's the real bottleneck, and it's a bigger issue in LA than almost anywhere else, where plans get made in group texts and die there.
Across WashedUp, comedy is its own category of plans that fill, 18 of them among the 303 plans LA-wide that have filled with a group of three or more. That's smaller than music or nightlife, but it's real, and it points to something true: people in LA do want to go to shows together, they just need an easier way to find the other people who want the same night out. Right now there's one live comedy plan on the app, and the most common size for a filled plan, LA-wide across every category, is four people, which happens to be close to ideal for a club table or a shared row at an improv theater.
Want to catch a Tuesday improv show without rounding up your whole group chat? Find people to go with on WashedUp. Want to split a Don't Tell Comedy ticket with people who are just as curious about the secret venue as you are? Find people to go with. If you're new to the idea of using an app instead of a group chat to make real plans, there's a longer look at finding people to do things with in LA and what that actually solves. For a concrete sense of what a filled plan even looks like day to day, here's what a group plan actually looks like on a given Saturday.
Comedy also skews toward specific audiences some weeks. Mermaid Comedy Hour at Hollywood Improv books only women and nonbinary comics as a monthly show, per the LA Times, which makes it a natural plan to build around if your group is specifically looking for that lineup.
quick faq: seating, reservations, and what to know before you go
Seating is the detail every guide skips, and it's the one that actually determines whether your group has a good night. Club rooms like The Comedy Store and Hollywood Improv seat by reservation and party size, so call ahead if you're six or more and want to sit together. Theater-style rooms like Dynasty Typewriter and Largo at the Coronet seat in rows, which usually means groups stay together more easily than at club tables.
frequently asked questions
do comedy clubs in la have a drink minimum?
Yes, at the classic club rooms. The Comedy Store and Hollywood Improv commonly run a two-drink or two-item minimum on top of a $20 to $25 cover, per the LA Times. UCB Franklin has no traditional drink minimum, and Don't Tell Comedy carries no mandatory minimum at all, which makes both far cheaper for a group night.
what is the difference between ucb and groundlings in los angeles?
Both are improv theaters, but UCB Franklin (Franklin Village, Hollywood) leans toward long-form improv built from audience suggestions, with tickets often $5 to $15 and no drink minimum. Groundlings Theatre on Melrose Ave in Fairfax runs $22 to $37 and has its own distinct sketch and improv style. Both are known for cheap tickets and weird, unpredictable comedy.
are there free comedy shows in los angeles?
Some are. UCB Franklin runs certain shows for free, per the LA Times, and weeknight comedy can show up in unexpected spaces, like a free comedy night inside a Burbank vintage store that filled with three people on WashedUp. Don't Tell Comedy isn't free but has no drink minimum, which keeps the real cost close to the ticket price.
how do i find comedy shows in la this week?
Check the calendars at Dynasty Typewriter and Largo at the Coronet directly, since both sell out fast according to commenters on Reddit. UCB Franklin and UCB Annex post weekly schedules too. For something currently buzzing, The Elysian in Elysian Valley runs stand-up, improv, sketch, and open mics regularly, often with lower ticket prices than the Hollywood club circuit.
is the comedy store expensive?
It can add up. Cover is typically $20 to $25, per the LA Times, but the two-item drink minimum pushes a solo seat closer to $50 to $60 once drinks are included. For a group of five or six, that's $250 to $360 before tip, noticeably more than an improv night at UCB Franklin or a Don't Tell Comedy show.
If you only do one thing from this guide, check the UCB Franklin calendar this week, grab tickets before a weekend ASSSSCAT show sells out, and build the group around it instead of the other way around.
