The Punch Line was opened,
circa October 1978, by Jeffrey Pollack and sold to Bill Graham in 1981. The building was adjacent to the
Old Waldorf, a music venue originally opened in 1976 whose owner (Jeffrey Pollack) booked all the acts he could find, including music legends such as
U2,
Metallica,
Dire Straits,
Elvis Costello,
R.E.M.,
AC/DC, and more. the Punch Line Sacramento, and Cobb's Comedy Club were all owned and operated by
Bill Graham Presents up until the death of
Bill Graham in 1991. Stand-up comic
Dave Chappelle launched a #savethepunchline campaign and rallied SF city supervisor
Aaron Peskin and Bay Area comedians
W. Kamau Bell and Nato Green. In July 2019, an agreement was reached between Morgan Stanley,
Google (new tenant of the building complex) and the Punch Line to secure the renewal of the lease. The club also received the Legacy Business status from the city of San Francisco, which safeguards the club as a cultural institution. ==Venue==