The Knicks Win but Comedy Clubs are Losing Big

A humorous look at how a big Knicks playoff game impacts comedy clubs, nightlife, and Saturday-night plans across New York City.

A Knicks playoff run is one of the few things powerful enough to hurt Saturday-night attendance across New York's comedy clubs—and somehow everyone is rooting for it anyway.

Tomorrow night, the New York Knicks take the floor with a chance to move one step closer to something generations of New Yorkers have spent decades waiting for. Across the city, restaurant owners, bartenders, theater operators, musicians, and comedy club owners are all staring at the same thing:

A Saturday night schedule that suddenly has some very serious competition.

Normally, Saturday is sacred territory. People make plans. Reservations fill. Tickets sell. It is the one night every entertainment business circles on the calendar.

Then the Knicks decide to become relevant.

Suddenly half the city develops an emergency appointment with their television.

Comedy clubs know this phenomenon well. A customer who would normally spend the evening laughing with friends suddenly sends a text that says: