Whiplash, newest comedy club in Atlanta, aims for ‘upscale’ experience

Marshall Chiles briefly considered leaving comedy after being forced out last year at Midtown’s Laughing Skull Comedy Club, which he ran for 16 years.

“But I imagined myself at 80 looking back on my life,” he said. “I built a great career on comedy. If I left, I would feel nothing but regret.”

Instead, Chiles decided to build a comedy club from scratch how he always envisioned: upscale, less cramped and more comfortable than a typical comedy club.

The result: Whiplash Comedy Club at Ponce City Market launches Monday. Chiles plans to be open daily, holding up to 24 events a week in two rooms: the 130-seat Main Squeeze and the 40-seat Side Piece.

When Chiles saw the space last year, he saw opportunity. He liked the 6,000-square-foot indoor footprint, outdoor patio and front-facing facade onto North Avenue next to Dancing Goats Coffee. It had been empty since City Winery shut down its upstairs restaurant in 2021 while keeping its event venue and bar downstairs open.

Ponce City Market, Chiles said, was already thriving but could use more nightlife opportunities.

“We want this to be an elevated experience,” he said. “There is a segment of society who sees comedy clubs on par with a dive bar. We want to tap into a new audience that likes nice places.”

With help from ChatGPT, Chiles designed a space using the prompt: “Fox Theatre meets Ponce City Market meets midcentury.” He was also inspired by Joe Rogan’s Comedy Mothership club in Austin, Texas, which opened with a retro industrial feel in 2023.

Whiplash may host a big headliner once a month, but its relatively modest footprint means a focus on local comics. Most days will feature the “Heavy Hitters of Atlanta Comedy” showcase, with 10 comics performing six to eight minutes of material each.

“No show will go longer than 75 minutes,” Chiles said. “We can schedule new ones every two hours.”

Chiles said he also plans to host comedy classes, late-night jazz, open-mic nights, close-up magic, podcast tapings and comedy brunches. On Halloween night, normally a slow time for comedy, he will hold a party with an ’80s hair metal cover band instead of his regular showcase.

“I love the flexibility of this space,” he said. “We want this to be a community center based around comedy.”

Chiles also had the comics in mind while building out two spacious rooms: a TV room and a private green room space for the headliner with its own bathroom, and five mini-fridges stocked with drinks. The showcase prop in the green room: an original makeup desk from the first season of “Saturday Night Live.”

“We want comics to want to hang out here and make this their home club,” he said.

Atlanta’s Brian Tucker was one of the first stand-up comics to take the stage on opening night, a free friends and family show Thursday. He lauded the sound system, the energy of the crowd and a green room comparable to one at the Fox Theatre.

“It was dope,” Tucker said. “It reminds you of a Las Vegas type of experience.”

Ritch Shydner, another first-day comic, has been working clubs for nearly 50 years. His assessment: “It was one of the best rooms I’ve ever seen. It’s set up great for the audience. It’s a tight room that keeps the laughs rolling. The stage is a perfect size relative to the room. The sight lines are clean. Staff is friendly and really professional.”

He added: “This is silly, but I love their soft cotton T-shirts.”

Whiplash offers a limited menu of food, including flatbreads, pretzel bites and desserts, along with a full bar menu featuring wine, cocktails, beer and non-alcoholic drinks. Customers can also hang out after shows on the 3,100-square-foot outdoor patio called Third Wheel.

And although City Winery occasionally hosts established comics like George Wallace and D.L. Hughley, Whiplash’s neighbor largely books music acts, which Chiles considers complementary.

Although Chiles wouldn’t reveal how much he has spent on the club, he admitted it was a sizable amount and that his ambitions delayed opening by two months.

There’s real brick in the hallways. The cozy Side Piece room evokes a fancy jazz club circa 1958. Chairs are faux leather with real wood tables. Both rooms are soundproofed so comics won’t hear ambient noise from outside, the kitchen or the green room.

“We spent what we wanted to spend,” Chiles’ lead investor, Jeff Thompson said, “Ultimately, this is Marshall’s dream club.” (Thompson also owns Atlanta Kick, Buckhead MMA and CrossFit Buckhead and is helping relaunch Relapse Theatre.)

Chiles said Thompson has put sweat equity on top of cash equity into the space, ensuring the technical details are up to snuff. “He’s more detail-oriented,” Chiles said. “I’m the visionary.”

Thompson said he has been supportive of Chiles’ constant spewing of ideas, reining him in only when he absolutely has to: “Marshall is basically a kindhearted good guy. He deserves all the success.”

Chiles, who also ran the now-shuttered Funny Farm in Roswell in the 2000s, said Whiplash will compete with his former employer Laughing Skull Lounge.

That 74-seat comedy club is attached to the popular burger joint Vortex Bar & Grill less than 2 miles west in Midtown. Chiles launched Laughing Skull in 2009, building its reputation as a home for up-and-coming Atlanta comics with big names such as Kevin Hart and Chris Tucker using the club to test material.

But new owners came in last year and let Chiles go.

Thompson said Laughing Skull’s regular comics and staff are welcome to come to Whiplash: “We’re all in this together to make the comedy pie bigger in Atlanta.”

Whiplash opens two years after Helium Comedy Club in Alpharetta, the newest comedy club to open in metro Atlanta. It’s part of a national chain of 10 comedy clubs.

CEO Marc Grossman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the space is doing well.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better location and acceptance into the community,” Grossman said. “It’s blown away our expectations. We have a broad diverse demo and psychographic. The one thing we’d like to see happen is more people come out for local Atlanta comics. We’re still trying to crack that code Marshall has been able to crack.”

IF YOU GO

Whiplash Comedy Club