Punch Line San Francisco

SF Punch Line Comedy Club Renews Lease, Receives Legacy Business Status | Eater SF

"I'm relieved that the longstanding San Francisco comedy club the Punch Line, at 444 Battery Street in the Maritime Plaza complex, has renewed its lease and will remain in the handsome brick bar and venue space it’s occupied since 1978 above an otherwise drab gray parking structure. Operated by Live Nation and famed for hosting luminaries such as Robin Williams and Ellen DeGeneres, the club briefly appeared to be on its last legs this spring when it was unable to renew its lease with its landlord, prompting support from leading comedians like W. Kamau Bell and Dave Chappelle and backing from Supervisor Aaron Peskin; yesterday landlord Morgan Stanley reached a three-way lease agreement with main tenant Google and subtenant the Punch Line to keep it in place. The Punch Line has also been awarded Legacy Business status by the city, providing financial benefits such as small business assistance grants, and, as senior booker Molly Schminke said, “The management, staff and comedians from the San Francisco Punch Line are grateful to be honored with this Legacy Business status,” with the hope of entertaining audiences for decades to come; Live Nation also operates sibling Punch Line clubs in Sacramento and Philadelphia and San Francisco’s larger comedy club, Cobb’s." - Caleb Pershan