The venerable Velv, as it's known to habitués, started in 1988 as a stand-up comedy offshoot of Esther's Follies' next-door emporium of sketch and improv. Re-named after comedian Kerry Awn's shecky persona Ronnie Velveeta, what had once been Sixth Street's last strip club (The Embassy Room) was transformed into a sometimes thriving, sometimes struggling bastion of stand-up that is currently, under the management of Mario DiGiorgio, enjoying a sort of 21st-century renaissance with top local and hot touring acts setting the weekends on comedy fire.
