For an interview about comedy, we spent a good bit of time talking about food.
When Ryan Howe embarked upon the first iteration of Duck Duck Goofs at Newtowne Grille, the draw was twofold: a night of stellar local comedy and $15 for a large pizza and a pitcher of beer. That Porter Square eatery closed in 2022; years later, as he brings Duck Duck Goofs to its next chapter in its own dedicated space – first expected to open March 15 – Howe still has food very much on his mind.
“That was in our DNA,” he remembers, standing in the main showroom of the club, which opened this past weekend. It remains so with the help of Wade BBQ’s David Wade, who developed a small but affordable menu for the club. “I feel like for a lot of comedy clubs, the food is an afterthought,” Howe said, as Wade worked in the next room over. “And I think it’s lost potential, because I’d rather have incredible food.”
Attention to the club’s menu doesn’t mean a diminished focus on comedy. Howe brought in another word that became central to our conversation: community.
“To David, the most important part is the food. To my bar manager Morgan, the most important part is the bar. To me, the most important part is the theater and the stage. And to Isabel, the most important part is the relationships and our education program,” he said. Isabel Thurston is his partner in the business, as well as his fiancee.
It was the relationships that were built in prior venues – Duck Duck Goofs shows were held at Cambridge’s Cantab Lounge and the Cambridge Community Center after the Newtowne Grill – and their staffs and management that allowed Howe and Thurston to fulfill their vision.
“There’s no world where it’s only me,” Howe said emphatically. “It’s been incredible people all the way along.”
Where they’ve landed for now is a schedule similar to what they’ve been running over the past few years: four shows a weekend, two Friday and two Saturday. There are hopes to over time add special events, one-night engagements with visiting headliners and even weekend open mics – a relative rarity on the comedy scene at the moment. The new dedicated space, and the control it allows for, is an opportunity for Howe to indulge in innovation on behalf of Greater Boston’s comics.
“One of the reasons that I even started Duck Duck Goofs a long time ago was because I was so frustrated with the way that I thought things were being run,” Howe said. Now he has the capacity to influence that scene in meaningful ways, and in ways that value the talent the area has to offer.
Howe named locally grown comics such as Janet McNamara, Tooky Kavanagh and Dan Boulger as folks for whom he “wants to create a place where they can do longer sets, do great shows, get paid well and not have to drive an hour, an hour and a half out to some brewery that pays just as well but is miserable – and [this is] near their home. Like, the comedy should be in our community,” he said.
As we talked, what emerged was a picture of a scene that works together to uplift a wide range of comedic talent.
“I am a firm believer that there is enough space for 10 times more shows and comedy clubs than what we actually have in [the Boston area]. And the biggest barriers are having the spaces that are willing to do it. I want us to be a place where there’s a difference,” Howe said.
Duck Duck Goofs is open and presenting shows at at 8 and 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Their new club is at 432 McGrath Highway, Prospect Hill, Somerville.
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)3 nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.