Before O’Reilly, This Was Home to the Funniest People in Michigan

If you're ever looking for a laugh and you find yourself in Lansing, Michigan, get on Cedar Street and keep driving north until it turns into N. East Street. There you'll find an O'Reilly Auto Parts. Useful? Absolutely. Exciting? About as thrilling as reading the back of a bottle of power steering fluid.

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But longtime Lansing residents know this patch of pavement once delivered something far more valuable than a discount on brake pads: uncontrollable laughter... and cheap drinks.

Connxtions Comedy Club: Lansing's Former Comedy Hotspot

Connxtions Comedy Club opened in 1984 and, for 30 glorious years, brought some of the biggest names in comedy to Mid-Michigan. Before they were sitcom and household names, Jerry Seinfeld, Tim Allen, Drew Carey, and Rosie O'Donnell were testing punchlines right here in Lansing.

Then in 2014, Connxtions suddenly closed its doors after three decades of bringing the country's finest comedians to Michigan's Capitol City. One day, we had a legendary comedy club. The next day, poof. MLive reported it was temporary, but over a decade later... crickets.

Connxtions Comedy Club would be demolished and replaced by an O'Reilly Auto Parts store. And honestly, that feels like the perfect metaphor for adulthood in Michigan. One minute, you're watching the world's funniest people perform just feet from you. Next, you're buying windshield wipers and a serpentine belt.

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Lansing still gets laughs, in smaller doses. Venues like Crunchy's, Mac's Bar, and Grewal Hall host stand-up and improv events. Still, that stretch of N. East St will always be remembered as the place where comedy legends came to Mid-Michigan.