CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Ana J. Ramirez is a local comedian who is passionate about helping all comedians.
“I would say we are the state with the most comedians, headliner comedians that not only travel through Texas, but also the country. And, Corpus Christi definitely needs to be one of those spots that they come visit,” she said.
Mesquite Street Pizza and Pasta Co. has two locations, downtown and on the Southside. Ramirez said they're only true comedy clubs in the city and there's a variety to see. For example, every Thursday is open mic night at the downtown location.
Up the stairs is the Mesquite Street Comedy Club, a place that has barely held shows since the pandemic.
“Pretty much after Covid, things really started to slow down up here," Ramirez said. "Covid shut everything down for a long time. And so, it was a slow trickle to get back up to this point.”
About a month ago, a couple acts took the stage to start shows at the comedy club again.
Ramirez said this space is so important because it’s more intimate than the Mesquite Street Live location on the Southside,. That venue holds around 500 people while the Mesquite street Comedy Club holds 40 to 60 people. She also said the comedy club environment is more memorable.
In the comedy club's green room, posters hang on the wall with previous headliners. Big name Comedians are listed like Carlos Mencia, Chingo Blingo and Jon Stinger.
“These names have gotten so big and part of that is because of Mesquite. You know, this is definitely one of those spots that all of the big name comedians that you see now started off here at Mesquite, ” Ramirez said.
Comedy fans know the big name comedians, but this is a place where you can see those opening acts or the up-and-comers.
To really show that off, Ramirez had an idea.
“I spoke to Mesquite, I was like, hey can we do a monthly show? Can we do something like Art Walk where i can sort of do L.A., New York style where I bark at the crowd from the street and things like that?” she said.
Beginning Friday, every Art Walk downtown on the first Friday of the month, the comedy club will host the Art Walk Comedy Show.
It promises to be a unique experience to get more exposure for Texas comedians.
Corpus Christi already gets big headliners, like Tom Segura performing at the American Bank Center in a couple weeks. Ramirez said Corpus Christi needs to remain on the list for top performers to come through.
Performances downtown will help that in her opinion.
“Downtown is new and vibrant. Things are changing around here and there’s plenty of space for stand up comedy.”
The first person to take the stage during the January Art Walk will be Joseph Roberts out of Rockport. He’s a hypnotist, but will mix in some comedy.
These will be variety shows, so it will change on a month to month basis with a different performer each time. Ramirez said February will feature a burlesque comedy show, March will have an all female lineup and she hopes to eventually bring in an all Hispanic lineup.
Doors open at 8 p.m. tickets can be purchased here.
For open mic nights, it's open to whoever is brave enough to take the stage. You can arrive between 7:30 and 8 p.m., sign up for a time slot where you'll have three to five minutes on stage.
For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.
