What Funny Bone does

Funny Bone Comedy Clubs is a privately held operator of dedicated comedy club venues in the United States, founded in 1983 and headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company runs 15 comedy clubs across eight states — New York, Ohio, Iowa, Connecticut, Missouri, Nebraska, Florida, and Virginia — in cities including Albany, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Des Moines, Hartford, Kansas City, Omaha, Orlando, Richmond, Syracuse, Tampa, Toledo, and Virginia Beach. Each venue offers live stand-up comedy performances with professional stages, table seating, and full food and beverage service during shows.

The company's technology consists of a website-based direct-to-consumer ticketing platform at funnybone.com, where customers select specific show dates, times, and seating sections and receive digital tickets on mobile devices for scanning on arrival. The site uses cookie-based personalization for digital advertising and marketing. A gift card program is operated through the third-party Givex platform, allowing purchases redeemable at any location. Promotional contests are run for U.S. residents aged 21 and older, with entrant data used for marketing purposes. There is no mobile app, no public API, and no disclosed AI or machine learning capabilities.

Funny Bone's business model is consumer-facing and venue-based. Revenue is generated primarily from one-time ticket sales, in-venue food and beverage service, gift card purchases, and contest-driven marketing engagement. Pricing is per-show and varies by date, time, and seating section, and is not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer through the official website and physical box offices at each venue, with email marketing and digital advertising as supporting channels. The target customer is adults aged 21 and over seeking live comedy entertainment for evenings, dates, and group outings. The company does not disclose funding, ownership, or revenue figures in the available data.

Name

Funny Bone

Website

https://funnybone.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Funny Bone is a privately held U.S. comedy club chain, founded in 1983, operating 15 venues across 8 states that offer live stand-up comedy, food and beverage service, and direct-to-consumer online ticketing to adult audiences.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Live Comedy Entertainment

akta.pro primary industry

Comedy Clubs (Nightlife Venues) (MPAGAIAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Stand-Up Comedy Shows (MPAGACAA), Comedy Club & Showcase Nights (MPAGACAE)

Keywords

• Live comedy entertainment
• Comedy club venues
• Stand-up performances
• Event ticketing
• Nightlife entertainment

Headquarters

HQ city

Orlando

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices15 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: One-time ticket purchases for comedy shows at 15 club locations. All sales are final with no refunds or exchanges. Tickets are sold for specific show dates, times, and seating sections.
2. Gift Cards: Gift cards sold through Givex platform for use at any Funny Bone location. Available for purchase online.
3. Food and Beverage: Revenue from food and beverage sales at club venues during shows. Venues seat parties at tables and offer service during performances.
4. Contests and Promotions: Promotional contests requiring participants to be 21+ years old and US residents. Data collected from contest entries may be used for marketing purposes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Funny Bone operates a chain of 15 dedicated comedy club venues across the United States offering live stand-up comedy performances with table seating and full food and beverage service. The company sells tickets online through its official website and venue box offices, and offers gift cards redeemable at any location via the Givex platform.

Product overview

Funny Bone is a comedy club chain offering live stand-up comedy entertainment across 15 venues in the United States. The company operates a unified ticketing platform that enables online ticket purchases with mobile ticket delivery and scanning capabilities. Additional products include gift cards available through Givex, and promotional contests. The business model centers on venue-based entertainment, with ticket sales, food and beverage service, and gift card purchases as primary revenue streams. Founded in 1983 and celebrating its 40th anniversary, Funny Bone maintains consistent operations across its geographic footprint.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Live Comedy Shows at Funny Bone Clubs

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Punch Line Comedy Club: Chain of comedy clubs operating in several U.S. cities, featuring ticketed live stand-up shows and full bar service. Comparable as a regional-to-national comedy venue operator.
• The Improv: Multi-location U.S. comedy club chain offering live stand-up performances, food and beverage service, and ticketed shows. Closest direct competitor to Funny Bone in format, scale, and operating model.
• Comedy Cellar: Iconic New York comedy venue featuring ticketed stand-up shows and full bar service, with affiliated shows and podcasts. Comparable as a comedy venue brand, though predominantly a single-location operator.
• The Comedy Store: Historic, multi-room comedy venue in Los Angeles featuring ticketed stand-up shows and full bar service. Comparable as a destination comedy venue operator, though primarily single-location.
• Laugh Factory: Iconic comedy club brand operating multiple U.S. venues featuring headlining and emerging stand-up talent, with full bar and food service. Comparable as a chain operator of dedicated comedy venues.
• Helium Comedy Club: Growing comedy club chain with multiple U.S. locations featuring national touring comedians, food and beverage programming, and digital ticketing. Comparable as a modern multi-venue comedy operator.
• Bonkerz Comedy Club: U.S. comedy club operator running multiple venues focused on live stand-up programming with food and beverage service. Comparable as a smaller multi-location comedy chain targeting similar secondary markets.
• Zanies Comedy Night Club: Multi-location comedy club chain in the U.S. offering ticketed stand-up shows with table seating and full bar service. Directly comparable chain operator with similar mid-market positioning.
• Stand Up Live: Multi-city comedy club brand featuring headlining and emerging stand-up talent, with full bar and food service. Comparable as a regional comedy venue chain with ticketed live shows.

Emerging players

• Improv Comedy Theater (Dinner Theaters): Improv comedy theater chains and dinner-theater operators compete for the same nights-out discretionary spend but with family-friendly, scripted improv formats rather than stand-up. Comparable as adjacent live-comedy venue operators.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/funnybonedotcom
• Facebookfacebook.com/FunnyBoneVB
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/improv-comedy-club-fat-fish-blue-orlando

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Funny Bone