Lilac Room at Downtown Spokane Comedy Club: Your Pre-Show Guide

A bartender rings a bell. A cocktail shaker goes into a small door behind the bar, then travels through tubing that runs across the ceiling and walls of 319 W. Sprague. It comes back to the bar, gets one last shake and is poured. The system is called the Lilac Express. The contractor who built it told the Spokane Journal of Business it is the second of its kind in the country.

The Lilac Room opened at the end of August between Spokane Comedy Club and Gamers Arcade Bar. That gives a comedy club with first-come seating a place to spend the hour before the doors open.

The Club Had a Stage and No Front Room

Spokane Comedy Club opened in 2016 in two connected buildings on West Sprague between Bernard and Washington streets. Adam Norwest and his parents, Renee and Kevin Fandt, built it as an offshoot of the family's Tacoma comedy club. They put Gamers Arcade Bar next door. The space in between became Pinot's Palette, the guided painting business. Early last year Pinot's Palette moved to 1919 E. Sprague Ave., and the family decided to fill the space themselves.

Norwest gave the reason to the Inlander:

"The comedy club doesn't have a separate lobby or bar or anything, and people love the arcade, but it's just not for everyone every night."

Gamers is a 21+ retro arcade with classic coin-op games, pinball, a full bar and 31 canned beers, according to the Downtown Spokane Partnership. It suits one kind of evening. The Lilac Room was built for another.

One License, Three Rooms

The 3,800-square-foot renovation cost $200,000 and kept the exposed brick and older architecture of the building. All three businesses now operate under one liquor license, and the space is designed so guests can move through all three, the Spokane Journal of Business reported.

Levi Steverding of Sturdy Solutions LLC, the contractor on the project, explained it in the same Journal article. "In the winter, it's a big advantage," he said. "It eliminates the need to wait in line. Guests with tickets to the comedy room can wait in the Lilac Room, have a cocktail, then be escorted to the club."

So the block now works more like one venue with three rooms. You can have a drink in the lounge, watch the show next door, then play pinball afterward without stepping back out onto Sprague.

Why Showing Up Early Now Pays Off

The club's own rules are what make the lounge useful. Its FAQ says general admission seating is first come, first served: "The earlier you arrive, the better seats you will have!" Premium tickets guarantee the front couple of rows, but only if you arrive before the show starts. There are no paper tickets. Everyone in your group checks in at the front desk under the buyer's name, and everyone needs ID.

Under those rules, getting there early was always the way to get a good seat. Until this fall, it also meant waiting with nowhere in particular to be. The Lilac Room opens at 5 p.m., two hours before the club's standard 7 p.m. curtain, so the early arrival now has a couch, low lighting and a drink menu.

The menu is built for that window. Norwest told the Inlander the food is "easy, loungy stuff that you can eat sitting on a couch with a coffee table." That means a smoked salmon dip with naan for $20, a hot honey pepperoni flatbread for $18 and a Cubano flatbread for $19. Four drinks go through the tube: Lilac Heist, The Summit, Executive Session and the Butterfly Bloom mocktail. The Summit, $18, mixes Browne Family Northwest vodka with house huckleberry syrup and hibiscus tea. The Butterfly Bloom is $14. Spirit-free options that skip the tube, the Garden Grove and Hibiscus High, are $10 each.

Where the Two Schedules Don't Line Up

The pre-show lounge only works when both businesses are open, and their hours don't match perfectly. The Lilac Room is open Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 5 to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to midnight. It is closed Monday and Tuesday.

Here's how that lines up with the club's calendar from this week through late November:

The Saturday afternoon shows are the main gap. A 3 p.m. Saturday ticket gets you in two hours before the lounge opens, so that afternoon goes better if you save the Lilac Room for after the show. Saturday headliners also start earlier, at 6 p.m., which leaves an hour in the lounge instead of two. Artists set their own ticket prices and dates can change, so check the club's calendar before you plan around a specific night.

The Age Lines Inside One Building

Moving freely between three rooms doesn't mean the same age rules apply in each one. The club's FAQ says shows starting at 9:30 p.m. or later are strictly 21+, and earlier shows are 18+. On this fall's calendar, that makes every Friday 9:45 p.m. show 21+. The Saturday 8:45 p.m. shows start before the cutoff, so they fall under the 18+ rule. Gamers is listed as 21+. If your group includes anyone under 21, ask the venue about the lounge and arcade before you plan the whole night around them. Guests under 18 are not admitted to the club unless a show is listed as family-friendly or all-ages.

Planning a Show Night on the Block

With the lounge open first, the evening goes in this order:

1. Buy tickets on the club's own website. The FAQ says the club isn't affiliated with any third-party ticket seller, warns that resellers for sold-out shows are usually scams, and charges $5 extra plus tax per ticket at the door if any seats are left. Online fees generally run $2 to $4 per ticket, on top of a typical $10 to $20 ticket.
2. Park before the meters stop mattering. City of Spokane on-street parking is paid Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., so a 5:30 p.m. arrival means feeding a meter for the first stretch. On-street parking is free on Sundays, but posted time limits still apply. The River Park Square garage, with entrances at Lincoln and Main and on Spokane Falls Boulevard, caps evening parking at $5 after 5 p.m. It stays open until 1 a.m. Monday through Thursday and 1:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
3. Check in, then sit down in the Lilac Room. Comedy ticket holders can wait in the lounge and be escorted to the club.
4. Put the phone away once you're in the club. The FAQ bans talking and phone use during shows. Anyone asked to leave doesn't get a refund.
5. Pick the room for afterward. On Fridays and Saturdays the lounge stays open until midnight, so there's a quieter option after an early show besides the arcade.

There is one more detail for some readers. The club's Friday late show and Sunday show are free for military members, police officers, firefighters and EMTs, plus one guest, with a reservation by phone. The offer doesn't apply to special events. Call ahead to confirm whether a specific show qualifies.

Norwest told the Inlander he hopes the lounge stays relaxed even on busy nights: "even if we are busy, you still have your own spot to enjoy. It's just a space to slow down." For more downtown evenings, the Lilac City mural tour through the alleys is another downtown walk to pair with an evening out.

At Bill Richard, we follow changes like this one block by block because they affect what daily life feels like in Spokane. If you're thinking about what your own home is worth in today's market, we're glad to start with a free home valuation and a straightforward conversation.