After successfully managing the D.C. Improv for 12 years, John Xereas is starting from scratch next month with the grand opening of Riot Act Comedy Theater, a two-story, 13,000-square-foot facility with a 330 seats. With partners Marjorie Heiss and Washington restaurateur and bar owner Geoff Dawson, the Riot Act opens Aug. 11 in the Penn Quarter. First thing’s first — how did you ever convince your parents you could make money doing comedy?
I started [bussing tables] at Improv my junior year of college so I got in early — my first night there, Dave Chappelle was the emcee and Ellen DeGeneres was the headliner. … I was at Improv for such a long time, but there were stretches in between where it was difficult and there were definitely times during the process where my mom’s like, ‘Why don’t you get a job?’ But I’ve been blessed that they’ve been supportive and they realize the potential of what I’m doing.
What should we expect from Riot Act on the opening week?
We’re really trying to be a D.C. club. There’s no place now for D.C. comics to come and work out their [material]. So the first six weeks we’re hosting only D.C. comics. We’ve also got Tuesday open mic night and Wednesday theme nights like Gay-Larious and the Geek Comedy Tour.
What will Riot Act offer that’s different from Improv? More seating?
More seating, yes. We also have a lot of amenities like two other bars, we have a full-sized movie screen, we can do film festivals, fashion shows, power point presentations — there’s nothing that we can’t do here.
Humor us: If you were stuck on a deserted island, name five things you’d take with you.
Oh, man, this might offend some people if I don’t mention them. I think the only thing I’d really need is my music. I don’t think I’d make it otherwise.
Liz Farmer
