Community Leader of the Year: Nick Kostis

Nick Kostis always knew he wanted a job where he could help people. He started as a teacher; several decades later, he owns one of the biggest comedy clubs in Cleveland and continues to serve his community. 

He taught in West Lafayette, Ohio, then started businesses ranging from a vending machine company to a tavern before he eventually got into entertainment in 1985 with Hilarities Comedy Club.

“Laughter is, in fact, as the adage goes, good medicine,” Kostis says.

Kostis jokes that he was born in a log cabin and lived alongside Abraham Lincoln. “Working in entertainment brought me to something that was a theme for most of my life; it just kind of resonated and stirred me throughout everything I did, which was humor, comedy, laughter,” he says.

Hilarities 4th Street Theatre was first in Cuyahoga Falls; eventually, he opened another Hilarities in Cleveland on West Sixth Street. In 2002, Kostis moved the club to East Fourth Street, where it still operates today inside Pickwick & Frolic.

Kostis grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and despite not being from Cleveland, Kostis calls it his adopted hometown. “(Hilarities 4th Street Theatre) is a tribute to the city, which is the only thing I really started out to do. I wanted to do something that wasn’t mediocre. I wanted something that would further enhance the comedy experience,” Kostis says.

He has spent the past 41 years witnessing the effect comedy has on people. “Comedy clubs, if only for a moment, are a mental health clinic,” Kostis says.

Hilarities 4th Street Theatre has hosted some of America’s biggest comedy stars such as Jerry Seinfeld, Tim Allen, Steve Harvey and Sebastian Maniscalco. “We have a national reputation. And we’re very proud of that,” Kostis says. “But it’s based on the concept of hospitality, being activated to a culture of caring and valuing people.”

At 83 years old, Kostis is still running Hilarities 4th Street Theatre and its sister restaurant, Pickwick and Frolic, bringing the same level of care and devotion that helped launch Hilarities.

For those seeing a show or going to the restaurant, that often means having Kostis stop by the table for a quick chat. “We hope when people come to us they experience a sense of warmth and caring,” he says.  

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