Aaron Sorrels was once an unemployed alcoholic. That’s not something he hides or softens. It’s something he wears like a badge of honor. Heck, he even named his company The Unemployed Alcoholic.
“It’s true,” Sorrels said. “When my employees cash their checks, they’re cashing them from The Unemployed Alcoholic.”
This is probably a good time to tell you that his company is a virtual reality comedy club—and that being an unemployed alcoholic (sober, but still an alcoholic, as anyone in recovery will tell you) is how he stumbled (pun intended) into comedy.
A Mason, Michigan native with both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Ferris State University, Sorrels spent years in Big Rapids before moving to downtown Grand Rapids with his wife, Renee, who worked in the city. He had what he calls a “grown-up job” in marketing until he was unapologetically dismissed from it. Unemployed. Newly sober. And wide open.
The big turning point came during LaughFest, the annual comedy festival that takes over downtown Grand Rapids each March. Sorrels signed up for an open mic night at Dr. Grins inside The B.O.B. It was a Friday. The place was packed. And Sorrels crushed it.
The rest, as they say, is history. He started booking clubs around Michigan, then around the country, even crossing into Canada. Comedy wasn’t just something he did. It was something that fit.
Today, Sorrels runs The Soapstone Comedy Club, a mixed reality comedy venue that exists entirely in the digital world. People can attend shows using VR headsets, their phones, or a web browser. Inside Meta Horizon, The Soapstone has hosted more than 5,000 events: stand up, music, improv, trivia nights, talk shows, and open mics, featuring everyone from first timers to well known comedians like Jay Pharoah, Natasha Leggero, and Cristela Alonzo. He now employs 10 to 20 people and coordinates hundreds of volunteers.
Sorrels and Renee moved to Drenthe during COVID, an area west of Byron Center known for its barbecue restaurant American Char and proximity to Moo-ville (West), Sorrels says.
When we talked back in January, on one of the coldest days Michigan could throw at us, Sorrels was driving to the airport with Renee, headed for a flight to sunny Orlando. Not bad for an unemployed alcoholic.
He’s quick to point out none of this would have happened without sobriety and a Christian based twelve step program grounded in the AA Big Book and the Serenity Prayer: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Turns out, knowing the difference can change everything.
Learn more at soapstonecomedy.com. The Soapstone Comedy Club is a sponsor of LaughFest 2026, March 11 to 15 at venues in Grand Rapids and Gun Lake Casino Resort.
