Forest Park’s newest entertainment venue, BABs Comedy Club, plans to officially open to the public on Oct. 25, and now patrons who are interested in enjoying an alcoholic beverage while watching a live show will be able to do so.  

The club will feature improv comedy, musical improv, standup, sketch comedy and an array of classes. 

BABs Comedy Club has secured an A1 liquor license, but obtaining one was a long process. Owner Emily Ramirez said she reached out to the village about potentially opening a comedy club back in 2022 and soon realized that getting a liquor license would be a challenge. 

At the time, the village had a limited number of liquor licenses, and in order to be considered for one an establishment with a license had to close. 

Village Administrator Rachell Entler said this has since changed and is no longer the case.

“Now we consider each application,” Entler said. “A license can only be granted with the consent of the council, however, there is no limit as to how many licenses can be granted.” 

Ramirez got her A1 liquor license for BABs on Sept 16. Although the A1 license will permit them to serve alcohol, Ramirez said she was told that the village is currently drafting a type of liquor license that would be specifically for entertainment venues. What that would look like is not yet clear.

Entler said she does not have a timeline on when or if the additional local liquor license will be presented to the commissioners.

“The entertainment venue liquor license has been talked about. We do not currently have anything in motion other than some conversations,” Entler said. 

According To Entler, entertainment licenses have to be submitted monthly.

“For an establishment that’s main purpose is to provide entertainment, we are trying to determine a way to make that part of their liquor license class so we/they would not have to process an entertainment license every month,” Entler said. “But we still wanted to have jurisdiction over other establishments requests for an entertainment license. It’s not that simple to solve,” she said, which is why the village has an A1 license with monthly entertainment license requests.

Even though the club has not officially opened yet, Ramirez said they have been conducting Thursday night open mics for standup comedians throughout the last few months. 

“The response from the community from both regular patrons and local comedians has been really positive and people have been really excited to watch our progress,” Ramirez said. 

Now that BABs has a liquor license, Ramirez said patrons can purchase alcohol at standup open mics every Thursday, which will continue to take place each week leading up to their grand opening on October 25.  

In terms of classes, BABs is going to offer both class packages and drop-in classes. For now, those classes are just for adults. 

“It’s really important to me to have different ticket and class pricing options for people so that it’s not cost prohibitive for people who are interested in studying comedy,” Ramirez said. 

BABs is now holding auditions for their first comedy sketch show, which will be true crime-themed. The show will run for 6 to 8 weeks. 

“To me, this space is meant to be not only for entertainment but also just a fun place for a date night or to just let loose,” Ramirez said. “My hope is that people can go down the strip, have a nice dinner somewhere and then come over here and have some post-dinner cocktails and watch a show.” 

Laurie Kokenes, executive director of the Forest Park Chamber of Commerce and Development, said BABs Comedy Club is the perfect addition to Forest Park’s ever-growing entertainment scene, and fits right in with the incredibly creative community of artists and makers.

“These days, consumers tend to crave experiences, and live entertainment creates an environment where people can come together, interact with one another and support local talent.” Kokenes said. “We’re thrilled BABs chose to call Forest Park ‘home’ and we’re looking forward to the official opening.”

BABS Comedy Club is located at 7316 Madison St, Forest Park. For more information about shows, classes and auditions visit https://www.babscomedyclub.com/