Joystick Arcade toasts to a new era as Alley Cat, a multi-genre entertainment venue

Once the bustling Iowa City Yacht Club, then electrified as the Joystick Comedy Arcade, a downtown nightlife hub has been reborn as Alley Cat.

Still owned by Corridor Entertainment Group, which also owns Studio 13, Players Sports Bar & Grill, and other businesses, 13 S. Linn Street in Iowa City has changed in name and focus only to offer a more conducive nightlife experience.

Jason Zeman, CEO of Corridor Entertainment Group, told the Press-Citizen that Yacht Club’s live music heyday was in the 1990s and early 2000s. Since the hospitality group took over in 2011, the club has seen multiple renditions of popular nightlife trends.

“Covid changed everything,” Zeman said. “We looked at what we could do that would still serve the community with live entertainment, and that is how we came up with the Joystick concept. Plus, there was no bar like that in the area.”

Joystick’s programming (which opened in 2021) was anchored by live stand-up comedy and supported by traditional arcade games like Mortal Kombat, Donkey Kong, and Pac-Man. This was a substantial shift from the building's predecessor when local music acts often performed at the Iowa City Yacht Club.

However, Alley Cat, which opened Wednesday, May 1, combines the best of both worlds: live music and comedy.

“It’s hard programming five nights of comedy each week,” Zeman said. “We wanted to make the space multi-purpose, so we decided to rebrand and pack our nights with various live entertainment more often.”

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A fusion of Entertainment

The name Alley Cat came naturally. It was Studio 13's original name until 2001. Corridor Entertainment Group and Zeman thought the name encompassed Alley Cat's upcoming programming.

The bar will continue with comedy but fold in other forms of live entertainment. Allowing local bands to perform at the nightlife space and other artists like poets, will better reflect the Iowa City arts community.

“Now that things have returned to the new normal (after Covid), we got a lot of feedback that there’s not a lot of spaces for local artists and young bands who might not be getting booked at Elray's Live & Dive,” Zeman said. “And so, I listened. It’s just about supporting these local artists, whether that is music, spoken word, or poetry, because our town is known for that, and we want to showcase as much as possible.”

The comedy isn’t going anywhere.

Alley Cat will still host open mic sessions on Sunday and Tuesday evenings. An open mic night will also be held on Wednesday for musicians and spoken word artists. Thursdays will rotate through live entertainment from local bands to local and national comedians. Fridays are specifically dedicated to music. Saturday nights at Alley Cat will have a rotating variety of comedy, drag shows, and music.

The popular arcade games will remain, as will karaoke.

“Alley Cat has blossomed into a hybrid format of what Yacht Club and Joystick were,” Zeman said.

Alley Cat will also serve food after taking a year off. The service returns with a menu of typical bar foods, like chicken strips and French fries. The bar is also dedicated to having a strong variety of non-alcoholic drinks because it is one of a few downtown establishments that are 19+.

“These spaces are really important,” Zeman said. “We try to make sure that we have like with our space and have different things to do in here if you are sober or 21 yet, that people can have a good time here without alcohol being a part of it.”

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Preserving a historic legacy

History seeps through the brick walls of the 100-year-old building at 13 S. Linn St.

It initially opened as a mortuary at 605 Kirkwood Ave, operating for more than 50 years, though bodies were never stored in the building. The facility was primarily used for embalming and moved to its current location in 1984.

From the mid-80s on, the building went through a variety of iterations, housing a furniture store, several telephone companies, a photo development store, and even a bus leasing company.

Scott Kading owned the Yacht Club before Corridor Entertainment Group took over in 2011 and has been committed to maintaining the charm and history of the building.

“I'm very cognizant of the past, and I do change things for the future because you always have to get the upgrade and innovate and such, but we (do) keep certain things the same,” Zeman said, referring to the signed bricks in the lower level, some of which were signed back in the 80s.

Alley Cat is open Tuesday through Sunday from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.

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Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and business reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at [email protected] or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rishjessica_

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Alley Cat aims to support Iowa City artists in old Yacht Club