Sully's Comedy Cellar, Parkville's newest (only?) comedy club
The Bowman restaurant has been an institution in Parkville for 30 years. For most of that time, its basement was occupied by Tracy’s Comedy Club.
But in 2007, the Sullivan family -- which co-owns the restaurant along with several partners, including Steve Diffenderffer -- partnered with a couple of brothers, Marc and Andrew Unger, to open Magooby’s Joke House.
This year, Magooby’s relocated to Timonium, and the basement returned to the Sullivans’ ownership.
Now dubbed Sully’s Comedy Cellar, after Bill Sullivan, who opened the restaurant, the club is almost invisible from Harford Road.
It’s past a British Petroleum station, right next door to the Fraternal Order of Police building, and underneath The Bowman. And like it’s predecessors, Sully’s is a small venue that holds slightly less than the dining room upstairs — about 160 people.
The club has been open since September, when Magooby’s defected to Timonium. Still, for the nearby suburbs, it'll likely to be the closest comedy club.
The comics that perform there on a regular basis — Mickey Cucchiella and Rain Pryor, among others — are the same that now perform at Magooby’s, and that probably performed at Tracy’s for years.
Cover is on par with the Joke House — between $12 and $17 — and food is relatively cheap, with a basket of fries starting at $6. Owners don’t just use it for comedy shows, but also rent it out for parties.
When Sullivan, who used to be a real estate representative for Baskin Robbins, first opened the restaurant in 1974, he pictured the basement as a comedy club. Thirty years later, general manager Shari Sifrit says it’s back as he imagined it.
Sully's Comedy Cellar is at 9306 Harford Road, Parkville. Tickets are $12-$17. Call 410-665-8600 for reservations.
Also see:• Top 50 Baltimore bars
• Weekend events: Best bets
• Find: More bars and nightlife coverage
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
You write these things like no one reads your other posts. This isnt the paper, you already told us magoobers moved to timonium.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 28, 2010 8:45 AM
$6 for a basket of fries is cheap!?!
Posted by: double b | October 28, 2010 9:25 AM
Erik, you got called out on 98 rock this morning by Mickey.
Posted by: Peter | October 28, 2010 9:33 AM
@Peter - I missed that all I heard was Gov. Bob and Mickey suggesting Slots in Schools. What did he say?
Posted by: doube b | October 28, 2010 9:38 AM
It's hard to imagine a less worthwhile call out than one that happens on a wacky radio morning show.
Posted by: Josh | October 28, 2010 10:07 AM
The Bowman is in Timonium?
Posted by: RayRay | October 28, 2010 10:07 AM
I set my alarm to 98 rock... so I'm half awake. But it was something about Erik saying Mikey having platinum blond hair at a show... But Mickey doesn't have that color hair anymore, its only in a head shot or something online. Apparently Erik was reporting about an event that he didn't attend, and got caught?
Posted by: Peter | October 28, 2010 10:34 AM
@peter do you follow the midnight sun twitter? He's be openly asking people to send in reviews for stuff
The last 2 comedy clubs posts have been pretty vague it wouldn' surpise me if he's just visting their websites and rehashing the info.
Posted by: drunk richard | October 28, 2010 10:40 AM
@peter, maybe you didn't stay long enough? I was just on the show for a few minutes.
Posted by: Maza | October 28, 2010 10:41 AM
on the show?
Posted by: Anonymous | October 28, 2010 12:16 PM
Eric, you are exactly doing what "Drunk Richard" accuses you of, and I think it's really lame.
First -- I know you weren't there because I worked the door on the weekend you claimed to have been there, and know you were never there. I work the doors every weekend and have never seen you.
Second -- Your "background info" comes DIRECTLY from the write-up that appeared in The Avenue...basically plagirized; however, since this is a blog, I don't know if the Baltimore Sun cares that you plagirize parts of your articles. There were people mentioned in your article that you attributed, but Shari never spoke with you either. The stuff about the Sullivans is incorrect too.
Third -- I don't understand the title of this blog...you question the fact that Sully's is the only comedy club in Parkvile. Is there another comedy club in "Parkville" that I don't know of? Magooby's is now in Timonium.
Try doing your job...I wish I had a cake job like yours, where you go places and tell people about them, be it the good, bad OR ugly. You're just sitting on your ass and writing your blog by surfing the net. Pathetic.
Posted by: Annemarie | October 28, 2010 8:46 PM
All: Sorry, must have hit refresh too many times when my comments kept coming back with errors. Sorry for the muliple posts!
Posted by: Annemarie | October 28, 2010 8:49 PM
@Eric...CORRECTION: sorry, the info comes driectly from the old Sully's website, which was just replaced with a new one yesterday.
But if anyone is interested, I can post links to the old site so you can see for yourselves...
Posted by: Am | October 28, 2010 9:04 PM
@peter, to clarify. I meant, I was on 98rock Thursday morning.
@annemarie, I'm still waiting for Sifrit to send me pictures. Unfortunately, I can't use them in the print edition anymore, but Id be happy to replace the logo on the post with an actual image from the club. She hasn't emailed me, though she has my phone number and e-mail.
Posted by: Maza | October 28, 2010 10:20 PM
Annmarie, where in the post does Erik state that he was at the club? And he mentioned that Magoobys is now in Timonium.
Posted by: Cardwell | October 29, 2010 10:52 AM
I guess the "Baltimore Reads" campaign in the 80s was a failure. Most of the commenters on this blog must be illiterate, because they are not comprehending the articles. Where are the commenters who have something smart and RELEVANT to say?
Posted by: Anonymous | October 29, 2010 12:23 PM
@Anonymous-
I think those literate commenters with something smart and relevant to say have slowly but surely packed up shop and moved on. Sad.
Posted by: TheBeav | October 29, 2010 3:17 PM