The Comedy Store occupies the old Ciro's nightclub building at 8433 Sunset Boulevard, and since Sammy and Mitzi Shore opened it as a comedy club in 1972 it has been the most important stand-up room in the country. Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, David Letterman, and Jim Carrey all cut their teeth here — their names, and hundreds of others, are painted across the club's black exterior wall. In 1979, when Shore still didn't pay performers, a strike led by Tom Dreesen and Jay Leno shut the club down for weeks; it ended with comics winning a share of the door, a settlement now credited with establishing stand-up as a paid profession.
There are three rooms — the Main Room, the Original Room, and the smaller Belly Room — running shows most nights of the week. Drop-in sets from major names are common and unannounced, part of the room's enduring mystique.