IT'S been dubbed the best kept secret in Stourbridge.
Fitz of Laughter Comedy Club operates underneath the former Katie Fitzgerald’s pub in Enville Street, Wollaston, which never re-opened after the Covid lockdowns.
Instead owners Eddy Morton and Trina Keane rebuilt the basement of the venue to keep it open as a dedicated music and comedy venue – and turned the car park into Katie’s Secret Garden.
The venue is entered through a “secret” side gate down the side of the former pub in Mamble Road.
Fitz of Laughter, which is run by comedy promoters Funny Beeseness, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.
The 100-capacity venue has developed a reputation as one of the best small comedy rooms in the country.
It has attracted a host of top names in the last two years including Joe Lycett, Russell Kane, Jon Richardson, Joe Pasquale and, in the last few weeks, Seann Walsh and Omid Djalili.
But club founder and resident MC Wayne Beese said despite putting on six shows a month at the venue, a lot of people were still none the wiser it was there.
The club has this week released a funny promo video on Funny Beeseness’ social media channels titled “Stourbridge’s Best Kept Secret” in a bid to raise awareness.
In it the mural on the side of the pub – which depicts Eddy on a ladder painting – comes to life to show the new way into the venue.
It walks through the garden into the comedy room, where Walsh is on stage joking about how difficult it is to find.
The video has already had more than 10,000 views in the first few days and Beese said he hoped it would encourage people to come and give it a try.
“We’re not struggling for numbers, we had five shows on last weekend and had nearly 500 people in through the doors," Beese said.
“But we can’t be complacent. It’s frustrating that at pretty much every show we have at least a handful of people who’ve come for the first time saying ‘we didn’t even know this was here, we thought the pub was closed’.
“It’s not closed. It’s very much open and putting on some fantastic intimate shows in both comedy and music.
“Certainly in terms of comedy we’ve managed to attract some huge names in the last couple of years who don’t normally play this size of venue. They do it because we look after them, the venue looks after them and they know it’s a fantastic room with brilliant audiences.
“Everyone who comes tells us what a nice atmosphere it is and how friendly everyone is – it is a real club in every sense of the word. Probably one of the things I’m most proud of is we have a lot of people who feel comfortable enough to come on their own, because they know they will get a warm welcome and they have made friends with other people who come.
“If you like live comedy, or music, and you haven’t been before I’d strongly urge you to come and give Stourbridge’s best kept secret a try."
For a full list of upcoming shows, or to book, visit the funnybeeseness.co.uk website.
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