Sketches of two giants of comedy stare down from the front wall at the stage of Magoobys Joke House. Richard Pryor has a wry smile on his face, like he’s amused slightly. The look on George Carlin’s mug is a bit more quizzical, as if he can’t believe what he’s hearing.

For the past 15 years, the Timonium comedy club has hosted stand-ups of all ilk, from heavyweights like Tracy Morgan, Nate Bargatze, and Richard Lewis to up-and comers and down-and-outers. Through it all, brother-owners Andrew and Marc Unger (no relation to this writer) have remained dedicated to providing a top-notch venue for the full spectrum of fans and performers of an art form that Andrew says has no equal.

“It’s just [the comic] and a mic and a different audience each night and you never know exactly how the crowd’s going to respond,” he says. “I can’t think of anything harder in entertainment.”

Andrew was in the investment banking business when, seeking a professional change, he and his brother, Marc, a stand-up comic and co-creator of the web series Thespian, took over an existing comedy club in 2007 beneath The Bowman restaurant in Parkville. Marc had performed there and thought it had the potential to be improved. Within a couple of years, the Ungers transformed it from a place attracting 50 or so people a week to one that drew upward of 400.

In 2010, they moved it to what was formerly a dinner theater on Deereco Road and, three years later, added the Wits End Saloon, an attached whiskey-focused bar that hosts open-mics on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Now, their 300-seat club is among the largest in the region.

“You want to motivate people to put some pants on and come out to see live comedy,” says Andrew, pictured above. “Make it a special night for them. Great service.  Good food. Provide an environment that is conducive to good stand-up comedy. The more intimate, the better connection the comedian has to the audience.”

Each month, the club hosts a new-talent showcase. Winners advance to a larger competition in which Magoobys crowns its New Comedian of the Year. It may soundlike a silly title, but it can provide a significant boost to a comedian’s career. Past victors include Tires stars Shane Gillis and Baltimore’s own Stavros Halkias (whose photo was recently stolen from the club’s wall-of-fame in the lobby).

Besides, silly is exactly what the Ungers were going for when they came up with the name Magoobys. A combination of Andrew’s nicknames for his two oldest c hildren, what it lacks in gravitas it makes up for with inanity.

“We knew comics would make fun of it, and they do, which is great,” he says. “It’s kind of ridiculous that you have to go work at a place called Magoobys Joke House.”

Pryor and Carlin would no doubt agree.

With “women’s issues” at the forefront of the national debate, now is the perfect time to celebrate the accomplishments of fearless females throughout history. Whether learning about lives, commemorating contributions, or helping a cause, Baltimore has something for everyone this Women’s History Month.

MAR. 1-31 // B&O WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
B&O Railroad Museum, 901 W. Pratt St. Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Free-$18. 410-752-2490. Learn about past and present women’s roles in the railroad industry.

MAR. 1-31 // MT. CLARE WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
Mount Clare Museum House, 1500 Washington Blvd. Thurs.-Sat. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Free-$5. 410-837-3262. Examine the lives of women during the Colonial period in this 18th-century home.

MAR. 6 // QUEER QUEENS OF QOMEDY
Magooby’s Joke House, 9603 Deereco Rd., Timonium. 5 p.m. $25-40. 410-252-2727. Laugh along with this lesbian trio’s comedy show.

MAR. 7 // CELEBRATE GREAT WOMEN & GIRLS
Enoch Pratt Free Library, 6310 Reisterstown Rd. 4 p.m. Free. 410-396-0948. Bring your kids for an afternoon conversation about historical women and girls achievements.

MAR. 10- APR. 2 // WOMEN’S WORK: CHANGING THE SUBJECT
New Door Creative, 1601 St. Paul St. Tues.-Sat. 12-5 p.m. Free. 410-244-8244. Consider female artists as printmakers at this all-new, international exhibit in Station North.

MAR. 12 // QUILTER JOAN GAITHER
Reginald F. Lewis Museum, 830 E. Pratt St. 1 p.m. Free-$8. 443-263-1800. Hear this local artist discuss her documentary quilts, which tie together stories of our state’s history and communities.

MAR. 18-APR. 3 // LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR & GRILL
Spotlighters Theatre, 817 St. Paul St. Times vary. $10-20. 410-752-1225. Explore one of the last performances of famed jazz singer Billie Holiday’s life, set in a bar in Philadelphia—just four months before her death.

MAR. 26 // PORTRAITS IN SONG
Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave. 8 p.m. $17-23. 410-276-1651. Hear local musician Ellen Cherry perform songs inspired by historical women, accompanied by artist Liz Downing’s portraits.

When Donnie Sengstack was growing up in Damascus, he loved Jim Gaffigan’s comedy and was inspired to write his own material.

However, the jokes remained in his journal for years—partly because he was born with a stuttering speech impediment.

He didn’t break out of his shell until a high-school drama teacher, who also had a stutter, encouraged Sengstack to act in Anything Goes. Now a freshman at the University of Maryland, Sengstack hasn’t looked back.

“My stutter is unpredictable,” he says. “I always want to address it to the crowd right away, so I’m always writing new jokes about it.”

He describes his act as “observational wordplay,” and certainly uses his stutter for material. (“I put the stud in stutter,” “I can turn a one-liner into an entire HBO special.”)

His witty sets earned him a finalist spot in the New Comedian of the Year Competition at Magooby’s Joke House and performances at the Baltimore Comedy Factory and Broadway Comedy Club.

Sengstack says performing comedy full-time is the ultimate dream. “I have tried speech therapy,” he says. “But this isn’t going away, so I have learned to embrace it and make it funny.”