History:

McCurdy's Comedy Theatre and Humor Institute was founded in Sarasota/Bradenton by Pam & Les McCurdy in 1988. Pam has an MFA in Theatre Performance from FSU and Les completed studies for a BFA in Theatre Performance at the University of Memphis. The first home of McCurdy's was the now defunct Holiday Inn Airport Marina, then Big Kitchen on Clark Road, before renovating the old Teatro Movie Theatre that became the home until 2014 and we moved in to our new location.

During that time, the theatre became one of the best comedy venues in the world, even though it had the bumpiest start imaginable. Since the Theatre's inception, the stage has hosted many of the greatest comedians of our time with names like Mason, Rock, Foxworthy, White, Tenuta, Boosler, Madigan, CK, Miller, Sinbad, Wayans, Hammond, Breuer, Chong, Sales, Nealon, Schumer, Hughley, Dunham and Poundstone.

One comedian even got his start on our stage. One night before headlining our stage, comedian Dan Whitney and Les where talking about a radio character he was doing on a local morning show hosted by Ron Bennington. The character was Larry the Cable Guy. Les asked Dan to try it in his stage show that night. He did and the rest is history. We couldn't be prouder of that and everything we have accomplished since 1988, including immeasurable community service and over a thousand charity events.