Celebrate 40 years of Pong with Geeks & Gamers Comedy 11/28

Geeks & Gamers Comedy Showcase: A Pong 40th Anniversary Celebration

Co-sponsored by the Computer History Museum, with Special Guest Allan Alcorn, Pong Designer

Join us Wednesday November 28 as we celebrate the birth of the Video Game Industry, right in our very own bar!

The original Pong machine!

In 1972, Allan Alcorn created Pong as a training exercise assigned to him by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell. Surprised by the quality of Alcorn's work, Atari decided to manufacture the game. Pong quickly caught on and became the first commercially successful video game, which led to the start of the video game industry. (source: Wikipedia)

In the fall of 1972, the Pong machine designed by Alcorn was beta-tested in the Sunnyvale bar called Andy Capp’s Tavern, located at 157 W El Camino Real. 40 years later, Rooster T. Feathers Comedy Club now occupies this historic building. The original Pong machine is currently on display at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

With host Erikka Innes (Sex with Nerds) and headliner Tim Babb (Last Comic Standing, Wipeout), the Geeks and Gamers Comedy Showcase will feature a full line up of comedians, some pro and some amateur, beta-testing their jokes! The festivities will include a few words from Allan Alcorn, a prize for the best Gaming joke, and a special grand prize drawing featuring a gift bag from the Computer History Museum plus free tickets to an upcoming Roosters’ show.

Show details:
Wednesday, November 28, 8pm (doors open at 7:15pm), $10 per person
Tickets available online at www.RoosterTFeathers.com. Click here for the full event listing.
Reservations encouraged. Call 408.736.0921 for more information or to make reservations.
21 and over only with valid ID. Two-item minimum purchase per person applies.

Roosters' Place in History

Did you know...

Back in November 1971, the building that now houses Rooster T. Feathers was a bar called Andy Capp's Tavern, and it installed the world's very first commercially sold video game: Computer Space (against the far wall, near the back door).

And then a year later, in September 1972, Andy Capp's installed the very first Pong game (near the middle of the room), which was the first video game to be a big commercial success (Computer Space was too complex to play easily). Both games were created by Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari, and our building was where he beta-tested those games. Click here to watch a video about it on History.com, or here to read about it on Video Game Trader Magazine.


As part of Roosters' 30th Anniversary celebration in 2009, original Roosters' owner Tony Modica talked about the role of the Roosters' location in history. Among our little known facts: In the 1970s there was mud-wrestling going on at The Country Store, the predecessor to Roosters. The mud-pit was in the middle of the stage area. Here's a video clip from our Anniv Event. Enjoy!