Greg Godbout, co-owner of Arlington Cinema ’N’ Drafthouse in Arlington, says the Kennedy Center is a “ruthless direct competitor” that has hurt his comedy-club business. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)

The Kennedy Center’s decision to present more comedy performances is no laughing matter for one Arlington business.

Greg Godbout, co-owner of the Arlington Cinema ’N’ Drafthouse, says the Kennedy Center has become a “ruthless direct competitor” that has poached performers from his comedy club, hurting his business and the area’s “healthy comedy market” in the process.

“The Kennedy Center decided to get into comedy, and they feel completely entitled to the marketplace,” said Godbout, who also runs the Drafthouse Comedy Theater downtown. “I’m being bullied. They are incredibly aggressive.”

In 2014, the Kennedy Center announced that Capital One would underwrite the arts center’s new comedy series, as well as its Mark Twain Prize. Since then, it has presented such stand-up giants as Kathy Griffin, Tracy Morgan and John Oliver. The Kennedy Center also hosted a 19-show comedy festival last year, increased the number of performances from national comedy troupes and included comedians in its free Millennium Stage programming. This month, it presented Kevin Nealon in its Eisenhower Theater, and in August, George Lopez will film an HBO special in the Concert Hall.

[Kennedy Center receives $5 million gift to expand comedy series]

The arts center’s entrance into the market has increased competition for acts and made it more difficult for local clubs because of its deeper pockets and national reputation. And Godbout says the fact that it is a federally subsidized memorial to President John F. Kennedy makes it an unfair fight. Godbout outlined his issues in a newsletter sent recently to 45,000 people on his mailing list. In the newsletter, he said he decided to speak out after Second City — the renowned Chicago comedy troupe — informed him that it was canceling its long-standing December gig at his club and that it was working on an exclusive relationship with the Kennedy Center.

The situation is common in the competitive music industry, where venues require exclusivity clauses that prevent acts from playing other dates within a certain geographic area. It happens in comedy, too, even in the Washington area, insiders say. Performers want the most money they can get, and want to play the most high-profile spaces.

But Godbout says the arts center is shortchanging local comedy fans by keeping acts from playing nearby. For example, in December, Second City backed out of a 17-show run at his club because it was bringing a different show to the Kennedy Center. Godbout has presented Second City shows since 2007 and a December holiday run since 2014.

[Eddie Murphy’s first joke onstage in 28 years: It’s about Bill Cosby]

Godbout said Second City officials told him they had no choice, so he contacted the Kennedy Center to make his case. He sent a copy of a story he planned to post on his club’s blog explaining the Kennedy Center’s role in Second City’s absence. Within days, Godbout said, he was on the phone with Robert van Leer, the Kennedy Center’s senior vice president of artistic planning. Instead of speaking directly to Second City, Godbout said, he negotiated with van Leer to get Second City back for 11 shows. After that conversation, Second City agreed to a deal, Godbout said.

Van Leer denies that he negotiated with Godbout about Second City’s engagement. “We did talk last year,” he said. “We were new entrants to the comedy market. We talked about how we could all coexist in the marketplace.”

Second City ended up doing 11 shows at the Drafthouse at the same time it was staging 30 performances of “Twist Your Dickens” at the Kennedy Center. A third show, “The Second City’s Black Side of the Moon,” played at Woolly Mammoth from Nov. 12 to Jan. 1. Woolly Mammoth did not respond to messages.

Godbout said the fact that all three shows were successful proves the market can accommodate everyone. But he said he asked Second City to perform 15 shows this December and was shocked to learn that he would get none.

Van Leer said the Kennedy Center isn’t to blame. “That was a decision by Second City,” he said.

Second City declined repeated requests for an interview but issued a statement saying that the Kennedy Center was “in no way involved in any decision on where we book our shows.”

“We play hundreds of dates per year across the country and the composition of those venues changes constantly,” Managing Producer Brian Loevner wrote in an email. “This year, we decided not to play the Arlington Drafthouse. The Kennedy Center had no bearing on that decision. We do not intend to return to the Arlington Drafthouse in the future and have severed our relationship.”

[Only Second City would give you Dickens and Austen playing poker in the afterlife]

But emails to Godbout from Second City officials about the bookings that were reviewed by The Washington Post include repeated references to the Kennedy Center and the comedy troupe’s concern about its relationship. In one, an official apologized for not appearing at the Drafthouse this year. “However, if anything changes in our discussions with the Kennedy Center, or other opportunities come available, we will certainly reach out,” the official wrote.

The Kennedy Center will present “The Second City’s Almost Accurate Guide to America: Divided We Stand” from June 17 to Aug. 13 and “Twist Your Dickens” from Dec. 5 to 31. In all, Second City will perform 98 shows there. And the troupe’s “The Second City Presents Nothing to Lose (But Our Chains)” will be staged at Woolly Mammoth from Nov. 11 to Dec. 31.

But Second City won’t be performing in Arlington.

“What they are doing is creating a monopoly, and taxpayers give them an advantage,” Godbout said of the Kennedy Center. “That’s not innovating. They’re just taking our revenue.”