The club was first opened by Dan “Wiley” Lafferty, who said that when he opened Wiley’s, there were only 30 comedy clubs in the country and just a handful around the Midwest.
It opened its doors for the first time on Tuesday, April 20, 1982. Originally it was located at 970 Patterson Road, where the venue had 150 seats. The club only had comedy on Tuesdays for the first year and a half. As comedy became more popular, Thursdays were added.
Credit: Lynch, Gregory
Credit: Lynch, Gregory
As the club grew in popularity and offered comedy full time, it needed more space. The club moved to its current location at 101 Pine in the Oregon District in 1990.
Numerous acts performed on the stage with the famous cityscape mural. Some of the biggest names in comedy have performed on the Wiley’s stage, including Paula Poundstone, Elayne Boosler, Jimmy Walker, Tommy Chong, Pat Paulsen, Rob Schneider, Jeff Foxworthy, Chris Rock, Carrot Top, Dave Chappelle and Emo Philips.
In 1999, it was reported that Chappelle, who had starred in the ABC sitcom “Buddies,” had dropped in “seven or eight times in the past six weeks” to try out new material.
Lafferty admitted while he had a good run at Wiley’s, the business of running a club was tough and getting people in seats was especially difficult. Eventually, after a clash with a comic one night, he decided to sell the club.
In June 2000, Lafferty sold Wiley’s to Rob Haney.
Haney, a touring comedian since 1977, also served as a contributing writer for Jay Leno and the “Bob and Tom” radio comedy show. By 1990, he decided he was somewhat tired of the comedian lifestyle and wanted to be closer to home for personal reasons.
“It was a certain point, and I was of a certain age,” Haney once told the Dayton Daily News. “I did what I wanted to do traveling the country and a doing TV pilot. This way, I could still be involved with comedy.”
In 2002, Wiley’s celebrated its 20th anniversary. Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait was headlining that weekend.
When Haney turned 62, he decided it was time to sell. Comedians Steve Hofstetter, Chris Bowers, Todd McComas and Anthony Deardorff inquired about purchasing the club, and Haney liked the idea of selling the club to another group of comics. Their ownership of the club, which started in 2014, lasted three years.
In 2017, Wiley’s again changed hands, and Gary Wood, another comedian, along with partners Eric D. Goodman and Matthew Vollrath took over ownership.
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
Wood said in a 2017 interview that he wanted to help Wiley’s “regain its popular notoriety and respect as the first comedy club in the state of Ohio,” and will promote it as “not just a comedy entertainment venue, but as an historic venue that has hosted some of the greats in the comedy and entertainment business.”
In 2022, a real estate holdings company owned by comedian Dave Chappelle purchased the Oregon District building that is home to Wiley’s Comedy Club for $1.975 million. The seller was Laff Ltd., operated by Daniel Lafferty.
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