Community Highlights: Meet Angelo Sykes of Atlanta’s Original Uptown Comedy Corner

Today we’d like to introduce you to Angelo Sykes.

Hi Angelo, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I first worked as an Off Duty Police Officer for the City of Atlanta Police Department at Uptown Comedy Corner after meeting the then current owner, Comedian Earrhquake
Uptown was sold & eventually closed down around 1998.

Years After Uptown Comedy Corner closed myself & two other partners, one of which was also partners with Earthquake at the original location, reopened Uptown in 2005 off of Marietta Street in Atlanta, Ga.

From that point, Uptown continued as an iconic location for comedy, specifically for urban comedy, it gave a platform that no other venue offered. Uptown has featured some of the biggest names in comedy, such as Kevin Hart, Mike Epps, Chris Tucker, George Wallace, Chris Rock, of course Earthquake & so many more. Comedians across the country always want to grace the Uptown stage as it’s known if you can be successful at Uptown, you can rock any stage anywhere.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Running a comedy club always comes with challenges, from booking comedians, selling tickets, moving club 3 times, agencies blocking comedians from playing club, negative publicity. Not to mention when we first opened, we were selling smoothies for first several months as we couldn’t get a liquor license initially.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Uptown Comedy Corner has been the premier Venue for Urban Comedy and has hosted some of the biggest names in Comedy. We have been 1 of less than 5 Black Owned Comedy venues in the country

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Without a complete passion for this business, it’s not for you.

Contact Info:

• Website: uptowncomedy.net
• Instagram: Uptowncomedycorneratl
• Facebook: Atlantasoriginaluptowncomedycorner
• Youtube: Uptown Comedy Corner

Image Credits
No other info