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Paul & Ernie's / Limelight / Shangri-La / Diamonds Strip Club / Comedy House, 14 Berryhill Road: mid-2000s   29 comments

Posted at 10:55 pm in closing

This building off of Saint Andrews Road is now an "Ultra Lounge". I'm not sure what it was built as, but I first recall noticing it in the 1980s, when it was a strip club, the name of which I can't remember. After that, it was for a number of years the original site of The Comedy House, now on Decker Boulevard in the old Winn-Dixie building. I think it may have been something after the strip-club and before The Comedy House and after The Comedy House and before Pure, but I'm not sure.

I saw a number of comedy shows there including one guy who made me laugh so hard it hurt, but whose name (or act) I cannot now recall at all. I'm not sure what happened to The Comedy House as it was non-existent for a long while after closing shop here. Normally if a place is moving just as a normal course of business, they will do it as quickly as possible to keep a revenue stream active, but I think it took over a year in this case.

UPDATE 15 October 2009: Added a bunch of extra names to the post title based on the comments.

UPDATE 29 March 2023: Adding map icon. Also this building has been razed. Click on the address tag for details.

29 Responses to 'Paul & Ernie's / Limelight / Shangri-La / Diamonds Strip Club / Comedy House, 14 Berryhill Road: mid-2000s'

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  1. I remember this being Limelight, probably in the late 1980s. I think it was an alternative lifestyle bar (like Our Place on Assembly Street in the '80s), but my memory may not be good on that point. I don't remember it ever being a strip club, but it might have been after Limelight. I recall the name because they had a green neon sign on a tall pole with the name on it.

    59 Ford Wheelman

    15 Oct 09 at 6:57 am

  2. It started out as Paul & Ernies, a show club-style restaurant.

    Lou B

    15 Oct 09 at 7:24 am

  3. The club was called "Shangri-La." I'm thinking this was @1990.

    badger

    15 Oct 09 at 8:42 am

  4. It was limelight before Shangri-La. Shangri-La was one of the strangest clubs I have ever been to. The crowd was mostly redneck and they had metal bands live on stage (this was during the hair-band era). In between sets and both before and after, they had a DJ who played club music.

    There were more dudes with scuzz-staches and chains on the outside of their shirts there at Shangri-La. And of course, IROCS in the parking lot.

    Steve

    15 Oct 09 at 9:13 am

  5. Was Xanadu in this location, too? If so, either Xanadu or Shangri-La was the strip joint. Maybe both. Seems like it also had a short life as something with "Gold" in the name. I think that was a strip joint.

    badger

    15 Oct 09 at 9:43 am

  6. For a short while there was a separate strip joint upstairs while whichever regular club it was went on downstairs. Early 90s.

    Dennis

    15 Oct 09 at 11:57 am

  7. The stripe club was called Diamonds.

    Lyni

    15 Oct 09 at 1:56 pm

  8. Right, that's it. I thought it something to do with some kind of bling-bling.

    badger

    15 Oct 09 at 2:17 pm

  9. Wow, there are some amazing memories out there. I had forgotten most of that.

    59 Ford Wheelman

    15 Oct 09 at 6:57 pm

  10. OK, added all those except Xanadu to the post title. Can anyone confirm Xanadu? I know there was a Xanadu in Myrtle Beach for years, but I don't recall one in Columbia. (I certainly wouldn't name one that after the awful movie of the same name..)

    ted

    15 Oct 09 at 10:54 pm

  11. Xanadu, owned by the same people who owned the one in Myrtle Beach, was on Lady Street in the old book warehouse building at the intersection with Gadsen in the 1980s.

    Tom

    16 Oct 09 at 5:42 am

  12. Xanadu was in the building on Lady Street that had been Jullian's (not Jillian's) , Bryan's Warehouse and The Spaghetti Factory.

    Eric S

    16 Oct 09 at 6:42 am

  13. I happened to see Dave Chappelle at the Comedy House once before he was big. Only time I ever went.

    The only other notable thing I can think of about this building was that a girl from our church youth group danced there when it was a strip club in the early '90s. So, I still tend to associate it with sketchiness and scandal. lol

    Brian

    23 Oct 09 at 1:50 am

  14. Tommy Chong put on a great show at the Comedy House a few years ago, if you like that kind of humor.

    Terry

    24 Oct 09 at 8:12 am

  15. During the mid-80's it was Limelight. Never actually went there tho.

    PsAustrinus

    28 Jan 10 at 12:06 pm

  16. Please, does anyone know who owned Shangri-La?

    I'm look for someone who used to work there.

    Elizabeth

    4 Feb 11 at 4:44 pm

  17. I believe the Limelight opened around 81-82 not sure when it closed (I left columbia 82)
    It was a dance club with djs snow machines fog machines dance floor was lit from below
    Bartended there for a semester or two

    GM

    23 May 11 at 2:52 am

  18. The last act I saw there (when it was still the comedy club) was Joe Piscapo of SNL fame. But the best comic they had (and he played there often) was Ricky Mokel (not his real name). He had the place rolling in the isles, grown men had tears streaming down their faces! He was a little bit like Larry the Cable Guy but before Larry and totally original. In a red-neck accent he would pretend he was grabbed off the street and shoved on stage to perform even though he had no act prepared. And he would constantly talk about jello shooters. He was a hoot!

    Ned Harkey

    31 Dec 11 at 2:38 am

  19. Paul & Ernie's was built and opened around 1980 by none other than "Paul & Ernie." One of those fellow's (can't remember which) was from the Columbia area, and were friends who met in Sarasota, Fla. They became friends with a "grand ole'lady" by the name of Ruth Edwards who actually owned the land, building, and the business. The guys came up with the concept and designed the building and operated it for about one year before going out of business. Mrs. Edwards bought a house around the corner (litterally) in Woodland Hills, and lived here until her death, commuting back and forth to Fla. I am aware of these facts, as I was the one who sold her the property. They were under capaitalized, and had inadequate parking, and knew little about the New York style of night clubs. Columbia, at that time was not into that type of entertainment. It reminds me somewhat of the old Laurel Hill Super Club up on Laurel and Assembly Streets....a good super club, but way ahead of its time. I believe that Laurel Hill Super Club was owned by the Mayor of Columbia, at that time, The Honorable Lester Bates, Sr.

    Charles Brooks

    23 Aug 12 at 8:30 pm

  20. We went to see Gary Conrad there. I believe that was his name. He was a hypnotist. Anyway, drinks at Cobblestone prior to the show. There was a very cute girl that worked with us and she was very pure. Quiet demeanor, Christian type. Well she somehow agreed to get hypmotized and he had her do some pretty crazy things. Once she got back to work on Monday, w/ all the ribbing and what-not, she had to quit. I guess that stuff is real. I had never believed in it prior. I thought all were plants.

    jonathan

    24 Aug 12 at 9:40 am

  21. Has this place closed again? I drove down the frontage road this afternoon and the grass (and weeds) seemed to be awfully tall for an 'upscale night spot'.

    Homer

    2 Jun 14 at 1:41 am

  22. This is now an upscale dance club called Myxx nightlife.

    Scott

    7 Jun 17 at 7:34 pm

  23. 1983-1985 it was a gay bar named La Club.one of the first openly gay danced club here. Neon Green sign near the outer roof top. Had the best, and fun times of my life there.

    Ike kerr

    28 Nov 19 at 1:49 am

  24. I hung out there tons when it was shangri la. they had bar courtesy if you worked at another restaurant so i would get in free.

    to show my appreciation i would bring 20 wings with me to give to the bouncers. if you get in good with those dudes you are set.
    i went there every weekend. saw great bands, had great memories. they let me stay after closing..money would be everywhere.

    i drove jesse james dupree of jackal to his hotel because he was so drunk he could hardly walk. i met janie lane of "warrant"..

    New years eve 1991 they had a band called "stranger" play there..those dude rocked. chamagne was poured from the stage into cups. if it was empty it was filled.

    craig

    31 Mar 21 at 4:19 pm

  25. Drove by there today. The building is gone.

    Tom

    7 Dec 22 at 11:06 am

  26. @Tom

    Yep, I commented elsewhere yesterday morning that they were in the process of bulldozing the building. When I drove by in the morning they already had about half of it down. The rest was down when I went back by in the afternoon. Is the rubble still there or did they already manage to get it cleared out?

    Gypsie

    7 Dec 22 at 10:48 pm

  27. I got some pictures a month or so ago that I'll get up eventually, but for some reason they had gutted the place completely and then left it like that, but intact on the outside for a good while.

    ted

    7 Dec 22 at 10:53 pm

  28. @Gypsy, there was still some there as of this morning.

    Tom

    8 Dec 22 at 3:27 pm

  29. I had done a little Urban exploring in August of 2021 when I was staying at that Red roof. unfortunately downstairs I didn't have a strong enough flashlight to be able to climb over the debris and stuff but I saw a huge disco ball that crashed down in the middle of the dance floor. took a picture and a video of upstairs because it actually had windows, and of course homeless people were living there at night, graffiti on the walls and trash on the floor but it was still pretty neat though. someone was using the pool table as a bed and they had a definite affinity for Pokemon cards.

    PC

    14 Jul 23 at 10:22 am

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