Photo Coverage: David Brenner Plays Metropolitan Room

BroadwayWorld was there for his first big event and we bring you photos below!

By choosing the intimate concert venue as the setting of his long-awaited New York homecoming, Brenner returns to familiar territory: the club is the former location of the Gotham Comedy Club, which, with Catch a Rising Star, Pips and The Improv, were main stages for Brenner early in his career. Of the four, only Gotham (a sister club of the Metropolitan Room, now located on 23rd Street) remains today.

Also, as Brenner points out, “there’s no denying the audiences in nightclubs are a bit more studious if not self-important than Comedy Club audiences. I’ve always liked to play to nightclub audiences.” Brenner has been a mainstay in Las Vegas where he began appearing in 1971. He holds the record for most appearances by a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (158), which he hosted 75 times. His opinionated comedy and commentary about world and current events land him regularly on MSNBC, CNN and Fox News.

The South Philadelphia native, who was a gang leader as a youth known for using humor as a negotiating tool, Brenner went to Temple University where, in spite of being funny, he graduated with honors, majoring in mass communications. After making lots of television documentaries and earning an Emmy Award, he made his New York comedy debut on June 9, 1969 at The Improv. In another last-first, he was the last comedian to perform on The Ed Sullivan Show, and the first to perform on the stage of The Ed Sullivan Theatre as a guest of The Late Show with David Letterman. Brenner is also the author of five books.

David Brenner, the comeback kidder, returns to New York for the first time in almost 20 years for three nights only -- Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, August 22, 23, and 25, all at 7pm. There is a $25 cover charge and a two-drink minimum. For reservations call 212/206-0440, or to order online in advance go to www.metropolitanroom.com.