Punch Line San Francisco
Punch Line San Francisco entrance
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| Former names | The Old Waldorf |
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| Address | 444 Battery St |
| Location | San Francisco, California |
| Coordinates | 37°47′44″N 122°24′00″W / 37.795539°N 122.399965°WCoordinates: 37°47′44″N 122°24′00″W / 37.795539°N 122.399965°W |
| Owner | Live Nation |
| Type | Comedy club |
| Capacity | Main room: 182 |
| Opened | 1978 |
| Website | |
| www |
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Punch Line San Francisco is a comedy club located at 444 Battery St in San Francisco's Financial District. It has a sister club in Sacramento, CA and is also associated with Cobb's Comedy Club in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco. It is San Francisco's oldest running comedy club.
The Punch Line was opened in 1978 by Bill Graham. The building was adjacent to the Old Waldorf, a music venue originally opened in 1976 whose owner (Jeff Pollack) booked all the acts he could find, including music legends such as U2, Metallica, Dire Straits, Elvis Costello, R.E.M., AC/DC, and more.
The Punch Line San Francisco, the Punch Line Sacramento, and Cobb's Comedy Club were all owned and operated by Bill Graham Presents up until the death of Bill Graham in 1991. The company was taken over by a group of employees who later sold it to SFX Promotions. It was subsequently sold to Clear Channel Entertainment. On December 21, 2005, Clear Channel Communications completed the spin-off of Live Nation, formerly known as Clear Channel Entertainment. Live Nation is an independent company (NYSE: LYV) and is no longer owned by Clear Channel.
Comics such as Robin Williams, Ellen DeGeneres, Rosie O'Donnell, Drew Carey, Chris Rock, Patton Oswalt, and Dana Carvey took their first comedic steps on the Punch Line stage. The Punch Line's dedication to comic tradition has earned it the San Francisco Examiner and the San Francisco Chronicle's Readers' Choice Award for the Best Comedy Club. Today, The Punch Line is the only full-time comedy club in San Francisco.
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