Comedy Store owner Mitzi Shore died on Wednesday, and many in the stand-up community took to social media to express their condolences.
“It is with great sadness and very heavy hearts that we report the passing of Mitzi Shore, the legendary Godmother of the world famous Comedy Store,” the Comedy Store said in a statement. “Mitzi was an extraordinary businesswoman and decades ahead of her time, who cultivated and celebrated the artistry of stand-up comedy. She was also a loving mother, not only to her own four children, but to the myriad of comedians who adored her. She leaves behind an indelible mark and legacy and has helped change the face of comedy. We will all miss her dearly.”
Mitzi Shore’s son Pauly Shore had previously tweeted about his mother’s increasingly poor health, and on Wednesday wrote that she died at 87.
Comedians wrote about their memories of her, with Patton Oswalt saying that he “should’ve taken the doorman job when you offered it to me” at the comedy club, while “Roseanne” executive producer Whitney Cummings thanked Shore for “giving me a family and a home.” Joe Rogan added that “her creating the The Comedy Store was one of the most important things in the history of stand-up comedy, and I will forever be in her debt.”
“WTF” podcaster Marc Maron tweeted that Shore “made an indelible mark on comedy and my brain. ‘You’re a poet. You should wear a scarf on stage.'” Tom Arnold wrote that The Comedy Store “was a palace & Richard Pryor & Robin Williams were heroes we fantasized about to make it through long days. Thank you Mitzi for welcoming me & allowing me to be on your palace stage with my heroes.”
Kathy Griffin and Fortune Feimster both remembered doing their first stand-up sets at the Store and sent love to the the Shore family.
Read out more tributes below:
