Self-sustaining comedy club Goofs Comedy Club serves up lots of laughter at its 432 McGrath Highway venue. — Photos by Candice Conner, Instagram @bycandiceconner

By Jeffrey Shwom

This is the last of three articles in a series titled, “Laughing around town: Somerville’s comedy scene”

From the street, three yellow duckies, one with Groucho Marx’s mask, peered back as we awaited entrance to Somerville’s newly opened Goofs Comedy Club. The gnome guarding the lacquered bar, boxes of Narragansett beer and highball glasses gave us a curious meet cute to the space that hosts the comedy show, Duck Duck Goofs. Founder and creative director Ryan Howe’s grandfather had given a gnome to protect over the space but to be clear, this was only the tip of the iceberg for the personal decorations.

From their website, they proudly claim to be “the only comedy club funny enough to start in an abandoned classroom in the basement of a community center and then build its own venue. Made with love, focused on community, and above all, we’re funny.”

Ryan continued, “we are the only comedy club that has no funding from outside investors. We have bootstrapped from the success of our shows in Cambridge. And anyone who has ever worked with us has said, “How can I be more of a part of this?”

The love and community aspects mentioned above exude from Ryan, and from Isabel Thurston, Director of Community Engagement. Speaking of a mom-and-pop operation, recently engaged, the couple met through comedy. Isabel got a targeted ad on Instagram and asked herself, “How could something this good be in the basement of a community center?”

Prior to the October 2024 grand opening at 432 McGrath Highway, Duck Duck Goofs took the stage in a basement classroom at the Cambridge Community Center. Isabel, like other guests, kept showing up there and at the Cantab Lounge. “I went to shows like eight times in the basement, and I asked him out after one of the shows,” beamed Isabel. “I went so much, I got to know Ryan.” One nostalgic relic from down under is the green chalkboard. That, the mixture of bench seats, and the lighting in the new performance space makes it feel like a nighttime classroom.

Our tour brought us by the bar (they have food too) and by the classroom – themed bathroom into the main room. We spotted at least one reclaimed piece of multicolored dot art found on the street and a Jeff Goldblum-headed T-Rex, gifted by a former student. Isabel revealed, “as far as decor, everything here has been thrifted or gifted.” “Even the liquor license,” Ryan quipped (though he immediately and jokingly walked the comment back).

Besides the comedy show, Goofs runs Study Hall, a six-session class with a maximum of 12 students that has the goal is to write a five-minute set. From the website, the classes help adults to create “a framework to write jokes, perform confidently on stage” and the knowledge “to continue developing stand-up comedy skills.”

Isabel told us, “People take classes for a wide variety of reasons. Some people want to have more confidence in public speaking. Some just want to try something new. Some people genuinely want to be on stage and make it as a comic. The biggest thing we do is plug them into the comedy scene.”

Ryan shared that, “Comedy can be mean, unhealthy” so the question was “how do we serve students in a way. Doing that helps them build connections and relationships.” Unlike many clubs who use classes to find talent, “we try not to use it as a pathway onto our stage – we try to use it as an entry into our community.”

The club will even target younger folks, as Ryan and Isabel revealed youth programming with the City of Somerville’s Parks and Recreation Department starting in January 2025. Isabel, who came on as head of education a few months after attending Ryan’s shows, has a background in middle school, secondary and adult English language learning education.

From an old gas station and a used car lot to a multi-purpose housing and mixed use building only 10-minutes-walk from the East Somerville Green Line, Goofs Comedy is already bringing laughter and community to Prospect Hill.