Home Club: The History of Acme Comedy Co...Coming March 25

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 A story of hard-won successes, staggering failures, and unlikely redemption, Home Club shows how a soft-spoken Chinese immigrant and his small Minneapolis club changed comedy and kept the lights on.

Before the sold-out crowds, world-famous performers, and national prestige, Acme Comedy Company was in trouble. Too much debt and too few customers. A product no one wanted in an economy where everyone struggled. Then it all changed. 

Home Club is the story of Acme and its owner, Louis Lee, who came from China to Minnesota as a teenager and worked his way from busboy to club owner—only to watch it all come crashing down. Acme Comedy Company was his chance to redeem himself, and he spent years hustling, negotiating, and sometimes cutting corners just to keep it afloat. 

Today, Acme is one of the most iconic comedy venues in Minnesota, and one of the most respected in the country. It launched the careers of some of Minnesota’s biggest comedians, including Mitch Hedberg, Maria Bamford, and Nick Swardson. But it also courted controversy by unapologetically booking comics who weren’t always considered “safe.” 

Home Club is about failure and redemption, the tension between art and business, and the incredible story of how a soft-spoken Chinese immigrant and his 300-seat club in a Minneapolis basement became a home for a new generation of comics and fans.

Available now for pre-order to order through Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

Before the Twin Cities established themselves as a hotbed for stand-up comedy, producing some of the biggest names in comedy history, the local scene consisted of five guys in a basement bar doing their best to make people laugh.

The birth of Minnesota stand-up traces back to the 1970s and five people who paved the way: Scott Hansen, Louie Anderson, “Wild Bill” Bauer, Alex Cole, and Jeff Gerbino. The “original five” comedians got their start performing in a Minneapolis dive bar called Mickey Finn’s, and together they led the charge in establishing one of the most vital and vibrant comedy scenes in the country. They opened clubs and comedy stages across the Cities, brought the nation’s top stand-up acts to town, and inspired future generations of ground-breaking comedians—from Lizz Winstead and Joel Hodgson to Mitch Hedberg, Fancy Ray McCloney, and Maria Bamford. But like any artistic passion that rises quickly to become a mainstream phenomenon, the comedy scene eventually was fractured by bloated egos and an influx of money and drugs—until a second wave, led by the nationally renowned Acme Comedy Club, helped bring comedy back to forefront in Minnesota.

Now, decades later, the impact of these early comedy pioneers lives on through television, movies, clubs, and countless stand-up acts who followed their path. The way they carved that path—well, it’s actually a pretty funny story.

Available now to order through the Minnesota Historical Society Shop, Indiebound, Bookshop, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.