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WICKER PARK — After operating as a BYOB business since 2015, the Comedy Clubhouse in Wicker Park may soon get the chance to sell beer. It can’t happen soon enough, its owner says.
“Without this license, we’ll be forced to close,” Mike Abdelsayed told the Wicker Park Committee Wednesday during a pitch to lift a liquor moratorium in the area.
But things are looking up for the club after the advisory group voted unanimously to lift the moratorium along Ashland Avenue between North Avenue and Blackhawk Street.
While not affiliated with the city, the Wicker Park Committee routinely weighs in on neighborhood issues, with its decisions often factoring into whether or not the city approves development, licensing and zoning requests.
The recommendation to lift the moratorium will be forwarded to Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd), who can propose the change at City Council.
Located at 1462 N. Ashland Ave., Comedy Clubhouse has a collective model, with a group of comedians paying monthly dues.
The club offers improvisation, sketch, stand-up, video and broadcast, according to the company’s website.
Abdelsayed said he isn’t looking to install a full bar. The clubhouse would instead put in a self-serve wall of beer.
“It’s a much better system than BYOB,” he said, adding that BYOB is difficult to regulate.
It’s unclear when the moratorium was established and what alderman put it in place.
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