Comedians to honor Cincinnati's first comedy club after 30 years

Mariel Padilla | Cincinnati Enquirer

One legendary comedy club, 13 comedians and a one-night-only reunion show 30 years later.

Some of Cincinnati's most beloved comedians will gather at 20th Century Theatre on Friday at 8 p.m. to honor the Queen City's first comedy club: d.w. eye.

The scheduled performers are Alex Bernstein, Michael Flannery, Drew Hastings, Chili Challis, Thaddeus Challis, Rico Bruce Wade, Cap & Johnny, Steve Caminiti, Jim Gilliece, Mark Kline, Myles Kapson and Bob Batch.

d.w. eye created a close community of comics, launching these men into acclaimed careers as comedians, writers, coaches and producers for local and national outlets.

The reunion comes after Bernstein, the youngest comedian to perform at the eye, published his book "Plrknib" in 2016, which detailed his experience as a 16-year-old going to high school during the day and performing stand-up at night during the club's first year.

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d.w. eye, a small hole-in-the-wall club previously located at the corner of Calhoun and West Clifton, opened its doors to comedy in October 1980 at the onset of Cincinnati's golden age of comedy.

Original owner Don Merriss wanted to try something that was not being done in Cincinnati and said, "I'll give comedy a shot, why not?"

Merriss put an ad in the paper, and amateur comics, young comedians and local jokesters began to trickle in for open mic nights. Six comics showed up on opening night.

It took a little over a year before d.w. eye was really successful, Merriss said.

Around that time, other comedy clubs started appearing in Cincinnati, such as Giggles, Funny Bone, Aunt Maudie's and Go Bananas.

"Big clubs kept popping up that were built for comedy, but they never really got the vibe right," Bernstein said. "Comics were eager to get back to the eye where all of their friends were hanging out and changing the face of comedy."

d.w. eye's top floor had two rooms, a seating capacity of 76 and a single 4-foot-by-4-foot stage. The average weekend crowd was 60 to 80 people, according to Merriss.

"Some of it went well and some of it went straight down the toilet," Mark 'Cap' Damron said. He was then a 19-year-old University of Cincinnati student. "The eye was a real community though; everybody wanted to see everybody do well and be the best they could be."

The eye closed in the mid-1980s as the comedy boom waned.

Merriss sold the club, but many of the comedians continued to perform stand-up nationally and write, produce and perform for theater, radio, television and film.

Caminiti and Hastings were recently ranked top comedians by Cincinnati Magazine, Chili Challis was a longtime writer for The Tonight Show, Wade was an improv director for Second City and Flannery was a revered host of multiple Cincinnati television shows.

Not all followed solely comedic careers, however. Damron is a deacon, Cox is a pastor and Hastings is the mayor of Hillsboro, Ohio.

Chili Challis's son, Thaddeus, will also be performing. He made his first d.w. eye debut at 6 years old when Chili brought him on stage, according to Bernstein.

This reunion will be the first time in decades that some of these men have seen each other.

"There are comedians all over the country going 'Wow, how did you get that show together?'" Flannery said.

Perhaps that proves something about the impact of this old comedy club.

When reaching out to former owner Merriss about the reunion, Bernstein said: "Hey Don, this is my love letter to the eye."

Tickets to the reunion show are on sale for $20 at cincyticket.com or call 513-731-8000.