Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle, Comedy club in Royal Oak, United States.

Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle occupies a 400-seat room at 310 S. Troy St. in Royal Oak, with a stage for stand-up sets built around an emcee, a feature performer and a headliner. It is the oldest operating comedy club in Michigan.

The club opened in 1979 and relocated several times before settling in Royal Oak in 1990. This journey reflects how the business found its footing and grew in the local comedy scene.

Mark Ridley created the emcee, feature and headliner format after seeing the long performer queues at Los Angeles clubs The Improv and The Comedy Store, making the Castle one of the first clubs in the country to run shows this way. Local comedian Bill Bushart, named Detroit's Best Comedian 2010 by the Metro Times, teaches a stand-up class here on writing jokes and working a club.

The club sits at 310 S. Troy St. in downtown Royal Oak, a short walk from the city's main parking structures. The 400-seat room fills quickly for well-known headliners, so booking ahead is wise. Bill Bushart, named Detroit's Best Comedian 2010 by the Metro Times, teaches the club's stand-up class for those who want to try the stage themselves.

Kathleen Madigan, who otherwise tours theatres, makes an exception for this club and works nowhere else of its kind. In 1991 the club produced the Emmy-winning local variety show "Funny Side of the Street", featuring Tim Allen.