Nightlife in Goldsboro

Audiences often arrive an hour early to Laugh Out Loud’s comedy shows, lured in by the comedy club’s amiable staff, frequent visits by nationally renowned comics, and full dinner menu. After dinner, audience members stay at their tables as the lights dim and the Laugh Out Loud stage is swarmed by daring and original joke tellers. Shaun Jones inaugurates the month of May with his outrageous personal anecdotes. Along with appearances on TV outlets such as BET's Comic View, the dapper funnyman also slunk onto the silver screen as a shifty poker player in 2003 Jamie Foxx vehicle Shade. Laugh Out Loud regularly schedules shows four nights a week, including a popular free Wednesday night open mic, which showcases the fresh talent of amateur comedians and the soundman's admittedly unoriginal microphone check.

For more than 10 years, the enthusiastic instructors of Elite Cheer and Dance have been teaching kids to leap, tumble, and electrify a crowd. Timid beginners and seasoned cheerleaders alike are welcomed into the center's spacious gym to realize their fitness potential and make new friends. Whether it's the eye-catching cheers, the Olympics-inspired routines of tumbling, or the graceful moves of dance, the classes work together to make kids stronger, more confident, and less likely to notice when the planet's gravity turns off.

Whether sinking into a lounge chair with a cup of joe or drinking in the sounds of live music, visitors to Electric Beanz Coffee Bar will discover freshly brewed, locally roasted coffee and pastries in a laid-back atmosphere. In addition to serving a selection of coffee standards, Electric Beanz's baristas also blend fresh-fruit smoothies, pour Italian sodas, and sling a variety of fresh-baked pastries, ranging from muffins to empanadas. Specialty single-origin coffees are also available, brewed in a French press, an appliance that famously gave Jean-Claude Van Damme all his muscles.

Formed in the glory days of heavy metal, Queensrÿche rocks audiences with songs that reveal the fierce polish of 30 years of evolving artistry. The band's distinctive mix of prog rock, metal, and subliminal messaging rocketed their Empire album up the charts, launching hits such as "Silent Lucidity," "Jet City Woman," and "Best I Can." Normally reserved only for members of Queensrÿche's fan club, a backstage meet-and-greet lets a small group of the devoted make personal connections with the four lords of loudness, shaking their lightning-fast hands and comparing headbanging techniques. With experience opening for Nickelback and Staind, opening band The Fifth's wailing guitars rally fist pumps and head thrashes as raging as a riverbed full of angry bulls.

Arthur Murray has been a leading name in franchise dance since 1912, when the entrepreneur began selling mail-order dance lessons. Expanding his reach, he enlisted teachers to spread his signature dance lessons on first-class steamships and skyrocketed to fame in the '30s after introducing the public to such dances as the Lambeth Walk and The Big Apple. By the 1950s, Arthur and his wife, Kathryn, were hosting their own highly popular TV show on ABC, The Arthur Murray Dance Party, which ran for 12 years. Today, Arthur Murray's team prepares students for rug cutting at special events and weekend nightclub jaunts. Throughout lessons, instructors teach the foundations of two to four dances from a long list of styles that range from Latin to country-western, helping students to learn basic step patterns, timing, and the ability to lead or follow.