The Stress Factory

The Stress Factory is a stand-up comedy club chain owned by comedian Vinnie Brand. The clubs are in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and Bridgeport, Connecticut.^[1][2]

Incidents

Greg Giraldo's final performance

On September 24, 2010, Greg Giraldo performed his last comedy stand-up routine at the New Brunswick club, and was scheduled to perform the following Saturday and Sunday as well.^[3][4][5] However, the next day, Giraldo overdosed on prescription pills in his New Jersey hotel room, and then, all the other shows were replaced with by Kevin Brennan.^[6] Giraldo eventually died on September 29, 2010, as a result of the overdose. Although there are over 700 videos of recorded past events and shows from the Stress Factory on YouTube,^[7] the Stress Factory had removed any footage of Greg Giraldo's previous shows that happened before the incident.^[8][9] On October 3, 2010, TMZ.com posted a video on their web site of his final performance at the Stress Factory.^[10]

Pete Davidson walkout

On April 29, 2019, Saturday Night Live comedian Pete Davidson walked out of a scheduled performance for the Bridgeport club after Davidson claimed the owner, Vinnie Brand, "disrespected" him for mentioning Ariana Grande and Kate Beckinsale on stage before his scheduled time slot. However, Brand claimed that he was only accommodating what Davidson's security guard told him to do by telling the audience to not call out those names while Davidson would have been on stage.^[11][12]

Technical difficulties during Eddie Griffin performance

On August 30, 2019, comedian Eddie Griffin was scheduled to perform at the New Brunswick location. However, as Griffin took the stage, the club's circuit breaker went down causing the lighting and microphones to not work during his set. Griffin became frustrated with the technical malfunctions that he accused the owner, Vinnie Brand, and the venue's management of racism to which reportedly Brand had dismissed those claims.^[13] Griffin was also scheduled to perform the following night, August 31, 2019, but cancelled the performances due to the technical difficulties even though Brand stated the circuit breaker would be fixed in time.^[14] Comedian Drew Fraser became the replacement for the Saturday shows and the patrons for Griffin's shows had their ticket money refunded.^[15]

References

1. "Pete Davidson slams comedy club, owner Vinnie Brand fires back". Fox News. April 30, 2019.
2. "Bridgeport's comedy club has so far survived COVID. But now it seeks 'to thrive.'". October 18, 2020.
3. Amanda Bolden-Weaver (September 28, 2010). "Comedian Greg Giraldo Stabilized after Drug Overdose". TheCelebrityCafe.com. Archived from the original on October 1, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
4. http://www.stressfactory.com/greg-giraldo-randy-quaid-contest ^{[permanent dead link‍]}
5. "Comedian Greg Giraldo critical after drug overdose". Allvoices.com. September 28, 2010. Archived from the original on March 13, 2012. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
6. "Greg Giraldo in critical care unit of N.J. Hospital – the Comic's Comic".
7. "stress factory". YouTube. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
8. "The Stress Factory Removed The Greg Giraldo Videos!". YouTube. September 27, 2010. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
9. "YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on April 19, 2016. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
10. "Greg Giraldo – The Final Performance". TMZ.com. October 3, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
11. "Pete Davidson Walked Out of a Comedy Show After Someone Mentioned His Exes and It's a Whole Mess". BuzzFeed.
12. "Pete Davidson Bails on Gig Over Kate and Ariana Mention, Crowd Turns on Him".
13. "Eddie Griffin Rips Comedy Club Over Poor Lighting for Black People".
14. "Eddie Griffin ditches NJ comedy venue after technical difficulties". September 2, 2019.
15. "Stress Factory Comedy Club on Facebook". Facebook. Archived from the original on April 30, 2022.^{[user-generated source]}

External links

• Official website

40.496003°N 74.443407°W / 40.496003; -74.443407