Comedy club · Portland, Maine

Empire Comedy Club, Portland, ME: Shows and Booking

575 Congress St, 2nd floor, Portland, ME 04101

The short answer

Empire Comedy Club is a comedy club in Portland, Maine, at 575 Congress St, 2nd floor. Shows run Thursday to Saturday most weeks; 21 and over, two-item minimum. For comics, it advertises no open mic but publishes how to get booked.

On stage soon

Lineups belong to the club and the comedians, and can change; the listing has the last word. More shows in Maine on the Comedy Calendar →

For comics

Open micNot advertised on its site
Getting bookedComedy Classic, a competition for 64 comedians with cash, spots and opening chances for national acts as prizes: sign up on the club's Comedy Classic page with your contact details and a link to a video clip source ↗
ShowsThursday to Saturday most weeks — Friday and Saturday at 7:00 and 9:30 PM, and the Set Roulette show on Thursdays at 9:00 PM — plus many Sundays and some Wednesdays source ↗

Per the club's own site, read 29 September 2026.

What the room asks of comics
The tape it wants
  • The Comedy Classic sign-up asks for a link to a video clip, given as a full web address source ↗
Open mic and new talent
  • The Comedy Classic is a competition for 64 comedians, with cash, spots and opening chances for national acts as prizes; comics enter through the sign-up form on the Comedy Classic page (name, email, phone and a video link) source ↗

From the club's own pages, read 29 September 2026 — hover a rule for its exact words, or open its source. Where two of its pages disagree, both are here.

More stage time: Stage Time has open mics by night, and the Gig Board has calls for comics posted by the rooms themselves.

For fans

Age21 and over; ID required source ↗
MinimumTwo-item minimum (food or drinks, non-alcoholic included) source ↗
PhonesNo photos or video during shows without the club's and the artist's written consent source ↗
ParkingArts District Garage and Spring Street Parking Garage a short walk away; a paid lot behind the venue on Forest Ave; street parking free after 6pm source ↗

As the club's own pages give them, read 30 September 2026 — tap or hover a source for its exact words. Not published there: the ticket prices.

Club Etiquette: how to be the table the room loves →

Plan the night

The night planner builds an evening around Empire Comedy Club: where to eat before, the trip there and home, and what the night costs.

Plan a night here → The club's site ↗

Open, according to its own website on 29 September 2026. Listed then: Sam Jay, Friday 2 October and Saturday 3 October 2026, 7:00 and 9:30 PM.

Near Empire Comedy Club

Comedy clubs in Maine → · The Club Directory, coast to coast →

The Club Directory is also in the back of the D.O.C. book, Stand-Up Comedy: From Writing to Touring — $29, over 1,000 pages.

Updated 2 October 2026 · the club's facts from its own site, read 29 September 2026; its rules for comics read 29 September 2026; fans' facts read 30 September 2026