Park Circle bar The Sparrow gained a name as one of the best spots in town to regularly catch stand-up comedy since North Charleston-based comic Josh Bates started curating its comedy program in 2020. So when the bar recently announced it will close its doors in January after almost 12 years in business, many were left wondering what might happen to its bustling comedy program.
Bates, the producer behind that comedy series, on Sept. 19 announced on Instagram he will open a new comedy club called Wit’s End in North Charleston in February.
Bates is a successful comic himself. His comedy album, Pancake Carpet, was the No. 1 album upon its release on Billboard and Apple earlier this year. And he said he’s having no trouble filling the programming schedule before Wit’s End is even open.
“A lot of national comedians are very excited that we’re opening the space, and we’re getting booked very fast,” he told the Charleston City Paper last week. He teased coming shows with comedians including Shawn Patton and Shane Torres early next year.
Bates said he will continue to bring nationally touring comics to Charleston at Wit’s End along with local acts and open mics at least twice a week, as he’s done for the last three years at The Sparrow.
But Wit’s End will offer something entirely new, too: Bates plans to bring in local theater productions, improv comedy, a singer-songwriter performance series and more surprises. He hopes to bring in plays next year from Flowertown Players in Summerville (where he once served as artistic director) and sketch comedy from the locally produced variety show Rip City, among other performances.
Bates partnered with local entrepreneur Rick Blind for this new venture, and the two looked at more than 30 properties before finding the right building. Wit’s End will be located on Rivers Avenue across the street from the Starlight Motor Inn and next to Corrie and Shuai Wang’s soon-to-open restaurant, King BBQ.
Though the end of comedy at The Sparrow is bittersweet, Bates wrote on Wit’s End Instagram account (@witsendcharleston), “We are not saying goodbye to comedy in Charleston. In fact, we are saying hello to something bigger and better.”
The space still has the intimate feel of the shows at The Sparrow with a 90-seat theater, Bates said. But there will also be a bar, a podcast studio and even a VIP lounge.
“When you walk in, what’s amazing about the space, it’s all divided into four sections. The bar is completely separated from the actual theater. And it’ll be a brand-new bar — everything’s being built from the ground up. And then upstairs, we have a very large green room and a podcast studio rental space,” he said.
The fourth section of the venue, another upstairs room, will be especially exciting, Bates said, as “it will be basically a VIP room with a full arcade and a bunch of fun things to do.”
For fans of comedy at The Sparrow, Bates said you can expect the “same kind of talent” at Wit’s End. “But we’re also raising the stakes and offering more.”
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