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The Bird Comedy Theater is the Crossroads’ home for improv, sketch, and standup — a comedy theater with an on-site bar at 103 W 19th St in the historic Hemingway Building, running shows Thursday through Saturday, a free show every First Friday, drop-in improv at Saturday happy hour, and a full classes program. It swept The Pitch’s Best of KC 2024 (Best Comedy Club, Best Improv/Sketch Troupe, Best Open Mic, Best Theater Company).

| Notable features | Free First Friday show; free drop-in improv Sat happy hour; Bird House Showcase (3rd Sat); classes from drop-in to 16-week advanced; Pitch Best of KC 2024 sweep ||

Description

The Bird is a working comedy theater in the Wednesday-through-Saturday sense: house improv and sketch ensembles, standup showcases, an open mic that The Pitch named the city’s best, and a school that feeds the stage.12 Its First Friday free show plugs it directly into the Crossroads art-walk rhythm.3 The weekly grid runs a Thursday Open Jam (7:30pm) and Open Mic (9:30pm), then Friday and Saturday improv (7:30pm) and comedy (9:30pm) shows, alongside recurring series such as The Truck Noises Show, The Bird Musical Comedy Show, and The Anarchy Fun Time Show; the in-house bar pours liquor, beer, wine, soft drinks, and snacks.1 The performing company, the Bird Comedy Players, runs 15-plus members, and the school ladders from one-off drop-in classes up to sixteen-week advanced sessions, with an eight-week Intro to Improv at $178.14 The venue’s own schema markup brands it “Kansas City’s Best Comedy Club Since 2022.”1

Ownership and history

PeriodOwner / operator
Dec 2021 → presentCo-founders Brandon Durkes, Bobby Miller Jr., and Colter Lemmon announced the 103 W 19th St venue in late 2021 (Kansas City Business Journal caption and story).5 Miller is a “second-generation entertainer born and raised in Kansas City” and is described on his agency bio and cast page as a co-founding member / technical director.67 Durkes also founded a separate production company, “Bird in the Middle” (2017), and worked as an artistic director 2018–2021 — that earlier company is not this theater, but Durkes is a co-founder of The Bird itself; do not treat them as unrelated people.85

Tier note: Tier 1 — local co-founder partnership with at least one confirmed born-and-raised KC principal (Miller). Exact equity splits and day-to-day operator titles beyond the public co-founder framing are not fully published.

  • Website: https://thebirdkc.com
  • Phone: (816) 929-4383
  • Socials: @thebirdkc (IG/TikTok) · @TheBirdComedy (X) · /TheBirdComedyTheater (FB)

See also

Sources

Footnotes

  1. The Bird — official site — address, show schedule, classes, bar; Organization schema description ”…Since 2022” (re-checked 2026-08-10). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. The Bird — news page (Pitch Best of KC 2024 sweep) ↩

  3. Crossroads Community Association — venue profile — Best Comedy Club/Improv since 2023. ↩

  4. KCUR, “Kansas City comedy: stand-up, improv, classes” (2026-04-18) — asserts: eight-week Intro to Improv at $178; free First Friday shows; Bird House showcase (3rd Saturday). ↩

  5. Kansas City Business Journal, “Homebase founder helps launch new comedy club in KC” (2021-12-28) — asserts: co-founders Brandon Durkes, Bobby Miller Jr., Colter Lemmon; 103 W 19th St venue planned. ↩ ↩2

  6. Moxie Talent Agency — Bobby Miller Jr. bio — co-owner, born-and-raised KC, second-generation entertainer. ↩

  7. The Bird — cast page, Bobby Miller Jr — co-founding member. ↩

  8. The Bird — cast page, Brandon Durkes ↩

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On the record — ks.city/registry/the-bird-comedy-theater · record updated 2026-08-10