Caroline In The City

New York's reigning queen of comedy brings the funny

If you've ever chuckled, guffawed, or shot milk out your noise during jokes from Billy Crystal, Jay Leno, or Sarah Silverman, then you have Caroline Hirsch to thank. In 1982, she founded Carolines comedy club in NYC, which quickly became (and still is) the hangout for comedy's soon-to-be breakout stars. Now, for the fifth year in a row, she's organized the New York Comedy Festival (, featuring big-name gut-busters Tracy Morgan, B.J. Novak, and Joel McHale, to name a few. Before the festival lands on November 5, the reigning queen of New York comedy chats with ELLE about cabarets, the '80s, and Tina Fey's star-aligned Palin impression.

ELLE: How did you get into comedy?

Caroline Hirsch: Many years ago I was in retail, and the firm that I was working for was closing in New York. I had some friends who owned bars and gay clubs in the city, and they wanted to open a cabaret. From there we morphed our way into comedy. The first person who appeared there as a comedian was Jay Leno, followed by Jerry Seinfeld, Billy Crystal, Garry Shandling, Sandra Bernhard, Pee-wee Herman, and Rita Rudner. Even Larry David.

ELLE: Could you tell which comedians were going to become big names?

CH: I had an inkling about what was happening in the business at that time. David Letterman had gone on TV at the 12:30 a.m. spot here in New York and there was a new wave of comedians. And when it really exploded in the '80s, a lot of these people then went on to do TV. Ray Romano, Brett Butler, Tim Allen—they all worked at Caroline's. But who knew? Every time I run into Jerry Seinfeld, we're always like, "Whoever knew that this would happen?"

ELLE: Do you think the election will affect this year's jokes at the New York Comedy Festival?

CH: Absolutely. We'll see how quickly the comedians can write them for the next day because we're doing a show at the 92nd Street Y on November 5, "We Have a Winner," that's hosted by Lizz Winstead. Roseanne Barr is coming in for that one too. It should be very interesting.

ELLE: As interesting as Tina Fey's political coverage?

CH: How aligned are the stars for Tina Fey? Everything's working out for her. And what are the chances that she looks just like Sarah Palin? It's a big deal to see a woman in comedy like that. It was really a man's territory for a long time because it's that kind of industry. It's aggressive, and men are much more aggressive than women. But she's been able to do it.

ELLE: But it seems like a ton of women have surpassed men in the funny department.

CH: Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, Lisa Lampanelli, and Susie Essman have all come through to be big names now. They say, "I have a little something; I'm going to prove it to you." And they go after it. You need that drive to go on that stage every night. Look at what Sarah Silverman does. That's typically not female behavior, is it?

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