Houston’s The Riot Comedy Club expanding into downtown San Antonio

Downtown San Antonio soon will have another spot to yuck it up.

Houston’s The Riot Comedy Club plans to open a 4,900-square-foot location near the Alamo as part of a planned eight-city expansion, owner Brian Gendron told the Houston Chronicle. The club, located at 400 E. Houston St., will begin hosting comedy acts sometime this fall.

The Riot has operated from the second floor of Houston’s venerable Rudyard’s British Pub since 2020, averaging around 650 comedy shows annually and showcasing both local and touring talent, according to the Chronicle.

“It just feels like everything’s falling into place with everything that we need,” Gendron told the newspaper. “And the support has just been overwhelming as far as people here in Houston and comics that we work with in New York and LA. The headliners have all really been behind this. And then, maybe the coolest is just the people that we know in San Antonio are just ready to embrace us.”

Gendron told the Chronicle the Alamo City location will offer ticketed shows along with open mic nights for up-and-coming acts. Like its cousin in Houston, the club will feature a full-service bar along with a kitchen to serve up snacks.

“I anticipate tourism to be a big market for us,” Gendron said of the SA expansion. He added that he’s set his sights open launching 10 clubs in eight other markets over the coming years. The Riot will be the second San Antonio comedy venue to open this year, following the April launch of Woodlawn Comedy, 1920 Fredericksburg Road in the burgeoning Deco District.

The new club’s opening will also mark the first time in seven years that downtown has hosted a venue dedicated to standup comedy. The Improv Comedy Club at Rivercenter, formerly the Rivercity Comedy Club, closed in 2018 after 25 years of providing a laugh track for the center city.

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This article appears in Aug 7-20, 2025.