Boston has always prided itself on being the breeding ground for a boatload of comedic talent. Steven Wright, Denis Leary, Dane Cook, Lenny Clarke – they all worked their way up through the dingy, smoke-filled club circuit en route to national prominence.

Wright, who recently became the first inductee into the newly formed Boston Comedy Hall of Fame, hit the big-time when he appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and became a fixture on cable television comedy specials. Leary vaulted to fame with his caustic attacks on the human element and is the star of the FX hit, Rescue Me, which also features his pal, Clarke. Cook has become a mega-star with a handful of recent feature films, sold-out shows at venues like the TD Banknorth Garden and Madison Square Garden, and recognition by Time Magazine as one of the world’s "100 most influential people."

Each of them earned their stripes on the stages of some of the Boston area’s most intimate comedy venues, honing their acts, deftly handling hecklers, and perfecting their delivery. There’s something equally satisfying and terrifying for a budding talent in a stripped-down setting: a comedian, a microphone, and a show-us-what-you’ve-got audience.

It’s that kind of atmosphere that Northeastern University graduates Jon Lincoln, BA’04, and Jeff Fairbanks, AS’06, have created in the newly opened Mottley’s Comedy Club near Faneuil Hall Marketplace. The club opened last September, just in time to host a portion of the annual Boston Comedy Festival.

The 100-seat venue has gotten solid reviews as a great place to see up-and-coming comics. Its intimate feel allows the entertainers to connect with the audience.

"There’s a definite shortage of venues this size in the Boston area," said Lincoln, who last year sold a comedy club he owned in Hyannis, MA, to form Boston Entertainment Group with Fairbanks. "We looked at this as a great opportunity to jump into the market, especially after the Comedy Connection closed."

"We knew that there was an opportunity there," Fairbanks added. "We knew what we wanted and how we wanted to do it. And when this space became available we grabbed it."

Mottley’s is located in the basement of Trinity nightclub on Chatham Street, next to Faneuil Hall Marketplace, in the shadow of the Custom House tower. Boston comedian Tim McIntire is the third partner in the club.

"I’m very excited about Mottley’s," Boston Comedy Festival co-founder Jim McCue told The Boston Globe last September. "I think it's going to open up a lot of things for a lot of comedians in Boston."

Lincoln, himself a budding comedian, met Fairbanks when both worked co-op jobs at Northeastern’s afterHOURS, Lincoln as the assistant manager and Fairbanks as the audio-video technician.

"Northeastern is the reason I got into comedy," Lincoln said. "I was a DJ at WRBB and the Comedy Connection had free tickets they gave out through the radio station. We gave some of them away, and I conveniently won a few myself. I went to the Connection, and from the first day I saw it, it was one of those epiphanies. ‘This is what I’ve been looking for.’

I tried open mike nights and when you start performing it’s like a bug. You gotta do it again and again and again."

AfterHOURS had just opened and the venue was looking for performers. Lincoln volunteered to find talent and also performed himself. From that point, he was hooked.

Meanwhile, Fairbanks was hosting a morning jazz program on WRBB while becoming engrossed in the technical production of events at afterHOURS.

"A place like Northeastern allows students to get both the entertainment experience and the business end of it, as well as the programming," Fairbanks said. "We both found each other there. I started doing technical stuff, trying to help out the bands with sound and lighting, and Jon was doing the comedy bookings."

After graduating, Lincoln opened his comedy club on Cape Cod and started doing comedy bookings for colleges. He made a call to Fairbanks for production help.

"That was really the first time we put our heads together for one function," Fairbanks said. "Then we said, why don’t we just merge our two companies and see what happens?"

Which eventually led to the formation of Mottley’s, named in honor of John Mottley, who published the first book of jokes in the 1700s.

"We want to see this become its own entity. I have a unique vision. Jon has a unique vision. Tim has a unique vision," Fairbanks said. "But, we just want to give it the support it needs and watch it grow into whatever it is."

"The club’s a work in progress," Lincoln said. "You kind of hope as you build and it gets more popular, you make it better and better. Hopefully, eventually, you outgrow this place."

For now, though, they’re content with the realization that they’ve found their niche.