The Brisbane Comedy Cellar has officially opened its doors beneath The Raven Hotel, and it’s already making its mark.
The sold-out Gala Launch on Saturday 28 February proved small rooms can pack big laughs, with Matt Okine hosting a lineup that included Harley Breen, Dusty Rich, Ting Lim and a string of surprise guests.
Sharp stand-up, live music, and a tight, electric vibe set the tone for what’s to come.
Inspired by New York’s legendary Comedy Cellar, curator Tony Lathouras built the space no one asked for – but now we can’t imagine Brisbane without it.
Every seat counts, every punchline lands, and the mix of comedy and music makes the city’s scene feel instantly more alive.
We caught up with Tony to find out what drove him to create Brisbane’s most intimate comedy room, and why he thinks the city has been quietly craving a place like this.
HAPPY: You’ve said you wanted to “change the culture of what a comedy club can be.” What was broken – or just boring – about the old model?
TONY: Nothing was broken, it just stopped evolving. Comedy got comfortable.
Big theatres, safe lineups, predictable formats. I started going to shows and leaving feeling nothing.
Where’s the energy, the risk, the feeling that anything could happen tonight? I wanted a room where comedians are pushed and audiences are surprised.
That’s not a criticism of what exists, it’s just not what I wanted to go to anymore.
HAPPY: Brisbane Comedy Cellar mixes live music and stand-up. Why does music belong in a comedy club?
TONY: Because they come from the same place. Both are about reading a room, timing, making people feel something they didn’t expect.
When a comic walks out to a live band, the whole energy shifts. The audience sits up. Something is about to happen.
You don’t get that from a Spotify playlist. Max on keys, Niall on drums and Axel on bass are on stage every Friday and Saturday and they’re as much a part of the experience as any comedian on the bill.
HAPPY: What does a perfect night in the Cellar feel like — from the moment someone walks down the stairs?
TONY: On a showcase night the band is already playing when you hit the bottom step.
It’s loud, it’s warm, it smells like a proper venue.
You’re sixty people in a room together and by the time the first comic hits the stage you’ve already forgotten your week.
A perfect night is when people leave and they don’t want to go home. That’s the goal every single time.
HAPPY: You’ve kept it to 60 seats. In an era of festivals and big theatres, why go smaller?
TONY: Because laughter dies in a big room. It genuinely does — it loses energy, it loses momentum.
Comedy needs bodies close together. When a comic can see every face in the room they’re sharper, they connect differently.
Sixty seats isn’t a limitation, it’s the whole point. Intimacy isn’t a compromise, it’s the whole reason.
HAPPY: Themed chaos nights like The Dating Game and The Big Game Show Show sound unhinged. What’s the most unpredictable thing that’s happened so far?
TONY: We’re a few weeks in now and honestly, it’s already delivering. The format is designed for chaos.
The Big Game Show Show has people guessing the price of an op shop toaster with the whole room screaming at them.
The Dating Game has strangers in front of sixty people trying to charm each other. I haven’t scripted any of it beyond the format.
That’s the point. Every single show is different and I genuinely don’t know what’s going to happen. That’s what gets me out of bed.
IHAPPY: f Brisbane Comedy Cellar were a music genre, what would it be — and why?
TONY: Jazz. Obviously. It’s improvised, it’s intimate, it’s got rules but the best moments happen when someone breaks them.
And we actually have jazz night once a month because jazz was in the building before we got here and we can’t seem to kick them out. Which honestly feels right.
HAPPY: What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken opening this venue?
TONY: All of it. A sixty-seat underground comedy club with a live house band in Brisbane — nobody asked for this and I built it anyway.
The risk isn’t financial, it’s personal. This is the club I wanted to go to. If people don’t come, I’ve just spent a lot of money on the world’s most expensive hobby.
But I genuinely believe Brisbane is ready for something like this and that’s enough to keep going.
HAPPY: In five years, what do you want comedians and musicians to say about this room?
TONY: That it was the room they wanted to play. Not because of the money or the size, but because of the feeling. T
he best rooms have a reputation that travels.
Comics talk to comics, musicians talk to musicians. I want Brisbane Comedy Cellar to be the room people ask to be booked into.
That’s how you know you’ve built something real.
HAPPY: You opened with a sold-out gala lineup — Matt Okine hosting, Harley Breen, Dusty Rich, Ting Lim and more. Why go big for opening night, and did it deliver the kind of chaos you were hoping for?
TONY: Because first impressions matter and I only get one. Matt Okine hosting a gala in a sixty-seat room with a live band is not a normal thing – that’s the whole point.
I wanted night one to feel like a statement. This is the standard, this is what we’re about.
As for chaos – sixty people, a live band, Australia’s best comics in a room you can barely swing a cat in.
Chaos is pretty much guaranteed. And yeah — it absolutely delivered.
HAPPY: Finally – what’s on your personal pre-show playlist right now?
TONY: Honestly? Whatever Max, Niall and Axel are soundchecking when I walk in. That’s usually enough to get me going.
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WHERE: Underneath The Raven Hotel, 400 Montague Rd, West End
WHEN: Weekly, Wednesday – Saturday
VISIT: @brisbanecomedycellar / brisbanecomedycellar.com
