Helium Comedy Club

What a great club with great performers, especially the MC. Had an awesome time and wayyyy better than any of the Funny Bone’s in St. Louis and their god-​awful management. This place blows Funny Bone out of the water! Excited they are in town.

The Gen admission seating is a joke…4 people to a small coffee table is akin to being an adult sitting on a mat in kg class. Better yet it’s like being trapped in a elementary school cafeteria with kids allowed to wear nauseating perfume and no matter how you try to avoid it… it gets stuck to you. No Thanks! I won’t ever come back to this place! News flash 18 an over need more room that a 1×1 table for 4 people!

My first ever Unilocal review goes out to Helium because I really want it to succeed. I can’t believe this place exists under the galleria, it’s huge. They’ve got some great names coming, it’s worth checking it out – will make you feel proud of your city :)

I have been to several comedy clubs, and NEVER have I felt as unwelcome as this club. (Except for the kitchen staff and bartender) The entire crew has horrible attitudes and makes you feel extremely unrelaxed. ‘Dave’ the doorman was truly the worst worker I have met at any club. While people being too disruptive during a show can be a distraction; when the comedian on stage starts to communicate and ask for a response from audience members, the doorman has no business going to that member and telling them «We need you to stay quiet during the show». The person bringing in the pay ASKED for reciprication from the audience. Also, forcing a two drink minimum when it takes 40 minutes to get a simple bottle of beer is atrocious! I WILL NOT return to this establishment until they make the shows feel inviting and relaxed. They need to teach their associates how to communicate and work efficiently. DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS CLUB!!!

Last night my son and i went to the 10 pm show. I am a very tolerant person so it takes a lot to irritate me but the experience we both had was downright awful. A two drink minimum per person was never mentioned and the drinks are extremely expensive. If you want anything other than beer or wine you will pay $ 11 minimum per drink. The waitress came to the table at the beginning of the show and that was it, saw her next when we got our check shortly before the end of the show. So order your two drinks per person immediately and expect to wait up to 30 minutes to get them. In all fairness though i dont think it was their fault, they were obviously understaffed. Every waiter and waitress was running around (literally) obviously stressed. It made for a very tension filled atmosphere. Not relaxing at all. On your tickets A B C will be written. They will call A’s first to seat them then the next letters in order, it was very chaotic since it is a very small waiting area. If your not very very skinny you will be sitting on top of each other as the tables are crammed together. Now, on to the WORST part of the night. Do NOT under any circumstances interact with the comedians if they ask for input from the audience. Several people throughout the night that interacted with the comedians after the comedians encouraged it had the staff come up to them virtually a minute later and were told word for word, «Please enjoy the show quietly» meaning to shut up. It was a very Nazi dictatorship like atmosphere. The couple next to us had this happen to them and told us this is what was said to them. Several couples had this happen to them. Two doormen watch the audience like a hawk watching for anything you might do wrong and they will come up to you and chastise you for it. The room where the venue was held in was very drab and plain and did not feel welcoming at all. Avoid this club at all costs. If you want a relaxed fun atmosphere this is NOT the place for you. Ticket prices are also extreme.

This place is a joke. Got there 20 minutes early to grab a drink, bar was not able to process credit cards and could not provide change. Doors to the seating area didn’t open until 15 minutes after the scheduled time. All the employees are idiots. Will never go again. Save your time and money. It’s over priced too.

I’m giving them a 2 star rating because I know they just opened and I don’t fault the workers there, I fault management.
Here’s the good:
— Cool space, it’s unique
— Good location
— Comics were awesome! The local comedian that served as MC was awesome! The feature and headliner were awesome! Good interaction with the crowd, etc.
Now the bad:
— We went to the 7:30 pm show, they ran out of most wine, the beer I was drinking. That would be excusable except they had another show at 10pm…
— If management is reading this, one word, STAFFING!!! Your facility is grossly understaffed! There are no servers in the front room so you have to order at the bar, there are only 2 bartenders and they are overwhelmed filling drinks and trying to take food orders. They have a couple of food runners but they spent most of the time they were texting or just hanging out waiting for food to come up to the bar.
— The pre show menu was pricey and had things I would not expect like full dinners. In my group, 3 of us ordered the Grilled Cheese dinners, the other 2 ordered the salmon. We ordered at 6:10 pm. It was almost an hour when we inquired where our food was, just as we were trying to close out our tabs and cancel the food as the line was forming to go into the theater, the grilled cheeses arrived. The food was barely lukewarm. The tomato soup was cold, fries cold and soggy. They were getting a manager to refund our food, they gave us a table so we didn’t have to wait in line. My friends that ordered the salmon got their food finally but they refused it when they say the shape our food was in.
— The way the keep tabs and close them out is completely inefficient, it takes to long. Also not having servers covering the front room overwhelms the bar staff and everything breaks down and you end up with a bunch of frustrated folks, both workers and customers.
— The table they gave us was a side view of the stage, which normally fine but at Helium where the comics walk out is a bumped out wall so we actually had an obstructed view. Awesome. Essentially we could see the comic unless they took 2 steps back, then we’d see a hand if we were lucky.
— During the show I don’t know how they enforced the 2 drink minimum, they were so understaffed we were able to get one round. To close our tab took a long time, the servers had tablets to enter orders but could not run credit cards from them, they had to go all the way back to the bar to run the cards… I tried to order the Schlafly beer and they were out of it, so I enjoyed my $ 3.25 Pepsi… Also the guys doing security doubled as busers and were running food out.
Overall it could be a successful space but they need much more staff, improve how they handle tabs and make the menu friendlier for speed. I’ll give them another chance but I will wait sometime before going back.

Let me tell you about the WORST service experience of my life! I arrived with a friend and received two coupons for free appetizers. Wait staff waited until the show had started to even take orders. They refused to start the appetizers, and would only take drinks. We ordered a beer and a cocktail. Much later, our waiter delivers the wrong beer and says the bar didn’t bother to get one of the liqueurs for the cocktail. Later, I finally put in our two appetizers, well into the show. When the show was almost over, we were delivered nachos, not what either of us ordered. We were told, «I don’t know what to tell you, they’re your if you want them.» Worst nachos ever, and we never received our actual appetizers. If all of that wasn’t bad enough, they charged my credit card for obviously false over a 100% tip. And, they refuse to deal with it. The manager is dodging my phone calls, and I’ve had to go to my credit card company to dispute the charge. This club has no idea what they are doing. And I will continue to tell this awful story.

The club is nice. Clean, stylish and a good location. However, since this was their first weekend there are several things they still need to iron out. First off is the general ticket admission. At the Funny Bone you line up before the show and are seated in that capacity, not here. When you came in they put a letter on your ticket to designate which seating group you would be in and you would be seated based on this letter (like Southwest Airlines). However, this is not what happened. They never made a loud announcement about lining up and people thus began to form lines. Some people had letters while others did not. Very confusing and frustrating if you had gotten then early.
Secondly, they don’t have a bucket of beer option and their showroom was under staffed. If you wanted to order a drink you had to keep looking out for your waitress to try to grab their attention to order. I witnessed my waitress attend to tables before mine and then go to the back without going to any other tables several times. Because of this I was only able to order 2 drinks, one when I got there and another when she brought food to two other people at our table. The next time I seen her was when she brought the check.
The check was another issue. There were 2 people in my party and then two other people got seat with us (despite there being several empty tables around us). The waitress dropped the check without asking whether or not it needed to be split and didn’t return again until she came back for payment. If your policy is to seat people with strangers, then you should be asking this question.
The waitress issues were a complete distraction from the show and the most irritating thing about the entire night. I feel like these are items they can correct with time and lessons learned. However, this is the 5^th Helium Comedy Club, therefore you would think they would have a smoother opening than this and better trained staff.
Overall, it’s a great Comedy club addition to the city and I look forward to another event their!

If you are over 120 pounds or claustrophobic at ALL, I would not advise coming here. I can’t believe how many tiny tables they managed to cram in… we were packed in like sardines. An FYI for anyone who utilizes the parking garage: You CAN enter the venue through the galleria. Good to know for nights like tonight where we froze our asses off coming in through the Helium main door, only to look to our right and see the galleria entrance. (That will make more sense when you get there. Trust me, on cold/​windy nights you’ll want to stay inside as much as possible!)
The people seating us and checking us in were lovely. Everyone who worked there was friendly. Our server… was TERRIBLE. I don’t know if they didn’t have enough people scheduled to work or what happened, but we ordered two beers (BOTTLED) and it took over 30 minutes to receive. The couple beside us ordered food and never got their order at all. Between the terrible service, the searing heat (hello, 85 degrees), and my penchant for personal space, I doubt I will return.

New spot, location good, not too small, the food was good but a lit pricey for me. The Atmosphere Was Good, Comedians Were Funny.

Gonna be generous! First week open a bit of a cluster… the staff is very confused. I get it I have opened a few restaurants… that being said. the kitchen was on point. I didn’t order any food (cause I didn’t have a server) but the food was coming out faster than the drinks. It looked good, presentation was nice. Our server couldn’t figure out our table number on her map so she winged it. I ordered double so I wouldn’t have to deal with it again. (Did I mention the prerequisite 2 drink minimum. No mentions of that anywhere but micro font entering the door.). Even the guy handing out menus didn t mention that, but the bartender outside the stage area with the same venue told us. «Don’t order drinks here wait til your inside. There is a 2 drink minimum and these won’t count! Confused why would you work here? Noone told me when I paid for my $ 40 ticket I would be expected to buy $ 40 in drinks…

I have followed Helium on Facebook since they announced they would be opening a new comedy club in St. Louis. Doing so afforded me free tickets to their soft opening on 1÷5÷16. For those not in the know– the comedy club is located at the North end of the Galleria Mall near the Restoration Hardware entrance. The comedy club entrance in down a long hallway (where you will find the box office). You will then proceed downstairs to the restaurant/​bar (called Elements Sustenance & Spirits). Before you are allowed to enter the showroom, you can order drinks/​food. When seating began, they call your ticket group (A, B, C, D are marked on the ticket you received from the box office) so that there is not a mad dash to wait in line.
Since I was at the club on the opening night, we were given 1 free appetizer per person. We ordered just the spinach artichoke dip. Kitchen times were long, but I expect they will get better. We ordered 2 drinks in the restaurant area (before going into the showroom). They were out of watermelon liqueur needed for one of the specialty drinks. They also did not yet have Schlafly beer on tap. Hopefully they will be fully stocked soon! Drink times were also long– but it was their first night and they were packed. Big John (our server) was very friendly, very speedy in running back and forth to the kitchen/​bar/​tables.
Important items to note:
–There is a 2 item minimum purchase per person inside the showroom– drinks/​food purchased at the restaurant/​bar do not seem to count towards the 2 item minimum.
–The venue recommends/​requires arriving 45 minutes (30 minutes for reserved seating) prior to show time. This, of course, gives you more time to buy drinks/​food before the show. Seating at the bar was full 45 minutes before the show, and seating the restaurant seemed to fill up about 15 minutes before the show. There were some people just standing around waiting for seating to begin. Plan accordingly.
–You are assigned a table when you get to the front door of the show room. You cannot change seats once inside the venue. If you are particular, you may want to try to get a booth, or one of the bar-​height tables farther back. My date and I sat at a 4 person table, but the 2 other seats were never filled.
–You will have a server inside the venue (they have assigned sections). On the soft opening, the sections did not appear to be clearly defined and we never had someone wait on us. I’m sure if I caught their attention, I would have been served, but they were not actively looking to add more tables to their already busy section.
Overall, everyone was very friendly. Hopefully the speed in getting drinks/​food out will get better. The showroom was very clear, easy to navigate, and well-​decorated. I would definitely see more comedy shows here.