Comedy Heights

Performing Arts & CinemaVerified

About

Comedy Heights produces clean stand-up comedy shows every Friday and Saturday at Lestat's Theater on Adams Avenue in San Diego's Normal Heights neighborhood, operating out of 3343 Adams Ave in the 92116 ZIP. Producers Al Gavi and Maria Herman have run the weekly show since November 2011, and the company identifies as women-owned. The lineup draws touring and regional acts whose credits span America's Got Talent, Last Comic Standing, The Tonight Show, Late Show with David Letterman, HBO, and Comedy Central, mixed with up-and-coming comics working the Southern California circuit. The Adams Avenue location sits within the corridor's dining and nightlife cluster, and pre-show crowds stage at Dark Horse Coffee Roasters on Adams before walking to the venue. Comedy Heights ran for 12 years at Twiggs Bakery Cafe in University Heights before relocating to Lestat's on Adams in October 2023, and for seven years simultaneously produced a weekly show at Bay Bridge Brewing in Chula Vista. Post-game and post-concert crowds heading north from Snapdragon Stadium and Viejas Arena in Mission Valley hit the Normal Heights comedy and bar scene within 10 minutes on the 15 freeway, making Friday and Saturday headliners a natural extension of an event night. The show runs PG-13, and audience members can bring their own food and beverages into the venue. Normal Heights' comedy infrastructure extends beyond Comedy Heights to the Adams Avenue Theater at 3325 Adams Ave, which hosts the monthly Abnormal Nights stand-up series and Mockingbird Improv shows in a renovated vintage movie palace. The intimate room at Lestat's seats roughly 40, creating a tight performer-to-audience dynamic that larger San Diego comedy venues cannot replicate.