Weekend Nirvana to bring monthly comedy shows to Rochester's Townies
Jul. 22—ROCHESTER — Surviving a week of work is no joke sometimes. A new partnership between two Rochester businesses —
Townies Grill'd Philly Subs
and
Weekend Nirvana
— want to make people laugh before they face another Monday.
Weekend Nirvana and Townies are working together to bring a monthly comedy show pop-up to Rochester starting in September.
"Events like this are the last type of social frontier that we have as a society that brings people together to talk and, in this case, actually laugh," said Weekend Nirvana owner Mark Young. "We want to get people out of the house, make them laugh and give them a break from the monotony of everyday life."
Young and Townies owner Cody Livingood tested out this concept in May with a comedy show at Townies at 244 Soldiers Field Drive SW in the clubhouse of the Soldiers Field Golf Course. The response to that inspired them to make this a regular event.
The plan is to bring in a pair of comedians, an opener and a headliner, on a Saturday at Townies once a month. Tickets are $10. The first one is slated for Sept. 16.
When Minnesota's winter weather settles in again, Young expects to shift the pop-up show to
Townies' second Rochester location
at 3505 Eastwood Road SE at the Eastwood Golf Course.
Weekend Nirvana plans to use a percentage of the money generated by the event to help support a nonprofit favored by Townies.
In addition to bringing customers and attention to Townies, Young hopes the monthly shows will also spotlight his events business.
He founded Weekend Nirvana in 2021, a few years after moving here from South Carolina.
"Weekend Nirvana is what I call an event solution company. We are a full service, one-stop shop for everything that someone would need to put an event together," he said.
That ranges from private parties to entertainment booking to catering to corporate gatherings.
"At the end of the day, we're in the business of stress relief. We want to take the stress off our customers plate," added Young.
