The Velveeta Room

The Velveeta Room, visible at left beside Joe's Generic Bar, on Sixth Street in Austin, 1993.

The Velveeta Room is a comedy club in Austin, Texas. The venue has been described as a long-running fixture of Austin's comedy scene and a development space for local comedians.[1]

History

The Velveeta Room opened in 1988 on East Sixth Street in downtown Austin as a comedy-club offshoot of Esther's Follies.[2] According to the club, it was founded by Esther's Follies founders Shannon Sedwick and Michael Shelton, who took over the lease of the former Embassy Room, a Sixth Street strip club.[3]

A 2013 Austin American-Statesman retrospective reported that the owners opened the club to accommodate the stand-up comedy aspirations of the Esther's cast and that the original room still resembled its previous use, including an onstage stripper pole.[4] The article said that because there were few stand-up comedians around when the club opened, its early stage hosted variety acts, a jazz band, skits, musical comedy, and improv before the shows eventually evolved into stand-up.[4] The club was named for Ronnie Velveeta, a lounge-lizard character created by Austin comedian and artist Kerry Awn, a longtime Esther's Follies cast member, who described the early room as "Esther's private little clubhouse".[4][5][3]

According to the club, it moved in 1993 to its current home at 521 East Sixth Street, taking over the former Sun Theater.[3] In 1998, an Austin American-Statesman column noted the club's 10th anniversary and said the event was expected to draw several alumni of the Sixth Street comedy club, including writer Charlie Shannon, comedian and voice actor Johnny Hardwick, J.R. Brow, and performers associated with Austin Stories.[6]

In a 2018 profile, Austin Monthly described the club as having reached three decades of performances and said that, despite relocation, redesign, and the use of the nickname "The Velv", its core mission remained serving as a haven for new comics.[1] The Austin Chronicle has also described the Velveeta Room as a downtown comedy room on Sixth Street and has covered changes in the venue's management and atmosphere.[2] In 2025, Visit Austin described the Velveeta Room as Austin's longest-running comedy club and noted its themed nights, free shows, and open mics.[7]

Role in Austin comedy

The Velveeta Room has been associated with stand-up comedy as well as Austin's improv and sketch comedy history. In a 2024 overview of Austin comedy, the Austin American-Statesman identified the Velveeta Room as one of the city's more established comedy venues before the pandemic and noted its long-standing location next to Esther's Follies on Sixth Street.[8] Austin Monthly described the club as a place where new comics worked and performed at open-mic nights, and noted its tagline, "Where Comedy Grows".[1]

A 1992 program for Zilker Theatre Productions' West Side Story noted that performer Martin Garcia appeared with the Cheese Pistols at the Velveeta Room.[9] In 1995, The Austin Chronicle noted that the improv and sketch troupe Monks' Night Out performed weekly at the venue.[10] The troupe later became associated with the Big Stinkin' International Improv & Sketch Comedy Festival, which used the Velveeta Room among its venues during the late 1990s.[11]

Austin comedy coverage has also identified the club as one of the stages where local comics gained stage time. In a 1999 Austin Chronicle article, comedian Brently Heilbron described performing at the Velveeta Room as valuable stage experience during his development as a comic.[12] In 2009, an Austin American-Statesman entertainment listing advertised Eric Krug with Martha Kelly and Norman Wilkerson at the venue.[13] The Velveeta Room was also used as a venue for the Out of Bounds Comedy Festival by 2011.[14]

See also

  • Comedy in Austin, Texas

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Velveeta Room Brings 30 Years of Laughter to Austin". Austin Monthly. September 13, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2026.
  2. 1 2 "The Velveeta Room's Head Cheese". The Austin Chronicle. January 4, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 "Our Story". The Velveeta Room. Retrieved June 9, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 Roe, Dale (June 13, 2013). "Did you hear the one about The Velveeta Room's 25th anniversary? - Sixth Street comedy club celebrates with 5 shows and 25 performers this weekend". Austin American-Statesman. p. T19 – via NewsBank.
  5. ↑ "Kerry Awn". SouthPop. February 13, 2019. Retrieved April 29, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Downtown becoming radio hub, Costner visits coach at UT baseball game". Austin American-Statesman. April 4, 1998. p. C1 – via NewsBank.
  7. ↑ Blogger, Guest (August 17, 2025). "Where to See Comedy in Austin". Visit Austin. Retrieved June 9, 2026.
  8. ↑ Gallaga, Omar (May 26, 2024). "All about the laughs - Joe Rogan, 'Kill Tony,' Rozco's and the new face of Austin comedy". Austin American-Statesman. p. E1 – via NewsBank.
  9. ↑ "West Side Story" (PDF). Zilker Theatre Productions. 1992. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Best Theatre Company: Monk's Night Out". The Austin Chronicle. 1995. Retrieved April 29, 2026.
  11. ↑ "BS3 Improv & Sketch Comedy Fest Schedule". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved April 29, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Big and Getting Bigger". The Austin Chronicle. December 10, 1999. Retrieved April 29, 2026.
  13. ↑ Gross, Joe (April 11, 2009). "A hot night for music across Austin". Austin American-Statesman. p. E02 – via NewsBank.
  14. ↑ Chilton, Kenny (August 29, 2011). "Out of Bounds comedy festival to use interactive sketches". The Daily Texan. Retrieved June 9, 2026.
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