Stand-up comedian impresses audiences

If you’re planning on arriving late to a comedy show, let this be your warning. The Pittsburgh Improv Comedy Club, inconspicuously located behind Macy’s at the Waterfront, takes some time for a non-native Pittsburgher to find. Upon arriving a mere 10 minutes late into the opening act, my friend and I were ripped apart by the warm-up comedian, who asked us in front of the entire audience if we were mother and daughter, or lesbians.

Luckily, Mitch Fatel, the headliner for the night, didn’t pick on us. Clad in designer jeans and a T-shirt, Fatel’s delightfully crude jokes, punctuated by his mischievous smile, had the audience in stitches right from the start, as he described his encounters with various kinds of nipples, “small, inverted, puffy ... puffy is very rare.”

Like most comedians, everything that came out of Fatel’s mouth had something to do with sex. (This is definitely not the comedy show to attend with Grandma.) However, Fatel’s delivery was fresh in a shockingly real way. He didn’t rely on strange facial expressions or weird sounds he could create with the microphone (cough, Dane Cook, cough), and just recounted hilarious stories as though he was our best, if not slightly mentally imbalanced, friend. From awkward first date tales to confessing that his dream job is to be a gynecologist, Fatel had both men and women in the audience cracking up.

The Pittsburgh Improv Comedy club is seated on a first come, first serve basis, so if you’re the daring type, come early in order to get a table right in front of the stage. Of course this means you’ll most likely be incorporated into the act, as was the fate of the poor guy whose girlfriend Fatel hit on throughout the night, but you’ll also be that much closer to all the action.

If waiting in lines is not for you, attend any 8 p.m. show, held every Thursday through Sunday, with dinner reservations so that you are seated before general admission. If attending the 10 p.m. show, a late-night menu is available. The prices are student-friendly, with appetizers ranging from $5 to $8 and entrees $9 to $13. And if you’re 21, the club offers every kind of drink imaginable.

Aspiring to be a comedian? The next open mic night is Wednesday, Oct. 8. For those less adventurous types who need a break from studying and a reason to laugh, Greg Warren and Anjelah Johnson will be coming to Pittsburgh in the coming month. Warren was featured on Last Comic Standing and Johnson is an Internet phenomenon with her YouTube video “Salon Girls.”

Located on 166 East Bridge St. (The Stacks at the Waterfront), the Improv Comedy Club is definitely worth a visit, just be on time!