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Comedy club restaurant opens in Destiny USA

Funny Bone Comedy Club and Restaurant had its grand opening at Destiny USA Saturday evening, featuring comedian Josh Sneed.

The process to bring the club to Syracuse began more than two years ago, said Al Canal, the club’s manager. The new 350-seat venue is one of 14 nationwide Funny Bone locations, which started more than 30 years ago.

“[The people who own the mall] actually made us aware of the Syracuse market,” Canal said. “We took a look at the market, and decided that this would be a good area to have a comedy club in.”

The club is only open to adults 21 years of age and older. Because the club has a liquor license, it wants to avoid complications, Canal said.

However, he did acknowledge the importance of the younger demographic.



“College students are pretty hip people,” Canal said. “I would love to have them in our room. There could be benefits from it. If we can legally do it and handle it properly, definitely I would do it. “

But some underage Syracuse University students find the age barrier disappointing.

“It’s not fair because I want to laugh, too,” saidEmily Modelevsky, a freshman in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management. “Everyone has a right to be able to laugh. Why would they restrict me because I’m 19?”

Canal said the club is looking to create specific nights so those 18 years of age and older can purchase tickets. He said the process toward making that happen could take months.

“Here’s to another year of living on the couch watching Comedy Central,” said Rachel Tribble, a sophomore in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics.

Because of the club’s reputation across the country, Funny Bone has reserved well-known comedians such as Rob Little, who has been featured on Comedy Central, and actor and comedian Tom Wilson, well known for playing Biff in “Back to the Future,”Canal said.

Canal said although the club’s national clout helps them pull in big names, he still hopes to have more local and less-experienced performers.

“Once we get to know the local comedians, we can get to include them on the shows,” Canal said. “We’ll plan to institute an open mic-night.”





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