The cool thing about going to a show at the Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, CA is that it’s not a very big place. It seats 225 people, making for a small, intimate show. No one is very far away from the stage and you can see the comedians pretty up close. It’s a great place to see any comedian, but especially Gabriel Iglesias since this is his “hometown” club. He tries out new material here, sometimes takes audience requests and questions, brings all of his comedian friends on stage with him and will meet every single person after the show, if you so desire.
The only downer is that there’s a two item minimum required with the ticket price. Tickets were not so bad though ($20 each) so Jake and I had dinner and drinks before the show started, like most of the people people at the club.
When we went last year, we only had drinks and an order of french fries (which aren’t listed on the menu). Since we didn’t really have time to go anywhere else for dinner (without sacrificing the chance to get better seats), we just decided to eat here. I honestly thought the food would suck because it was pretty pricey – and hey, you have to buy something anyway. I’m happy to report that I was wrong on that front!
[Macaroni and Cheese – penne noodles with a 3 cheese sauce, finished with Parmesan cheese. With breadstick. $12 ]
This is my Macaroni and Cheese, fresh and pipping hot with a nice crust on top. It was saucy and cheesy with a good, rich taste. You can add on chicken or shrimp for an additional cost, but at $12 I was really willing to add to more to the already pricey dish. It was very good though and I would order it again in the future.
[Thai Beef & Sticky Rice Bowl – With sweet Thai marinade. $10.5 ]
This is Jake’s beef rice bowl which he totally loved. The beef was very tender and had a lovely sauce on it which was sweet and spicy all at once. Very good dish and a good option if you’re going to the club here and want to have a cheaper item for dinner.
One thing to also note if you’re going to the club here – if you change drinks (say, from Pepsi to Ginger Ale to Diet Pepsi) – they will charge for each change. You don’t just get 1 type of drink and get to get free refills if you change drinks, unlike at other restaurants. This was an unhappy surprise for us at end of the night.
Despite the drink fiasco, we had a wonderful time at the show. We ended up seeing about 7 comics total that night, including some of his friends such as Martiiiiiiiiiin Moreno, Noe Gonzalez, Larry Omaha, Dillon Garcia, Shaun Latham and a few others whose names I forgot. If you watch Gabriel’s new show on Comedy Central next week, I’m sure a few of these guys will be on it!
Here’s us posing with Gabriel after the show, along with the donut/cupcake! Gabriel knew of Rossmoor Pastries and told us that he lives a few blocks away from the pastry shop. Then he asked, “Did they do this at the store?” and I said, “No, I did it myself!” He said, “I didn’t think they would do that at the store, that’s very creative!” And he also said that at least one of the items in the box would not make it home that night.
I beamed at Jake afterwards and said, “See, I told you it was a good idea!” Jake smiled and laughed and conceded that I did have a good idea after all.
The Comedy & Magic Club
1018 Hermosa Ave.
Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
(310) 372-1193
hi mary – so cool that you guys know gabriel! he’s pretty funny. it’s nice that he appreciated your “creativity” with the donuts/pastries. 🙂
Hey CC! It’s fun to meet him, he’s very down to earth and a very funny guy. We love going to his shows. I was glad he liked my donut/cupcake idea!
Looks like you guys had some good food and good fun!! I’m glad he liked the donut cupcake thing… I’m very curious about what that looks like? Sounds good!
Hi Elle – For some reason it did not occur to me to take a photo of the donut-mini-cupcake concoction. You can sort of see it in the box Gabriel is holding. Gee, maybe I will have to recreate it and take photos? Donuts and cupcakes in one sitting… hoo boy.