Gateway Comedy: The venue/place is the worst part. The Hotel Clairion's Ballroom is way too small, too hot, too cramped and the mobile bar cart and single bartender cannot handle the crowd. This was my wife and I's third time attending Gateway Comedy at the Clarion Hotel and every time their presentation suffers from the same problems. We had hoped that the show's producers had evolved into providing a better presentation, making a more comfortable experience for patrons. We were mistaken.
The lineup had five comedians who were professional and funny, unfortunately, we saw a show headlined by Paul Venier. The self-titled "Comedy Tornado" really needs a better act. His show was dated and boring, using material like,"so, where you from?" and "who has an interesting dog name?" which wasn't so funny. My wife and I saw his Dr. Dirty act 33 years ago at the Jersey shore. He was way better back then (Loved his "DickFace" song), but now, like his props, his act has just grown stale and sad (like Bob Nelson, these days).
My wife and I are big fans of Comedy on Long Island. Locally, McGuire's Comedy Club is directly across the street from this place and they consistently produce a much higher quality show for about the same price.
It's too bad, but we've removed the Gateway Comedy from our list. read more
