Jose Paul Corona Comedians are fast becoming...

Jose Paul Corona

Comedians are fast becoming to the Surf City bar scene what

karaoke machines were in the 1980s. While Thursday night comedy at

Gallagher’s Pub and Grill in Downtown Huntington Beach has always

been wildly successful, several other local establishments have begun

to offer a weekly menu of comedians and have seen a vast change in

their patronage.

Thursday nights at Martini Blues were always slow.

“It was our worst night ever,” said Bobby Cee, owner of the 1940s

style supper club. That was before he began booking comedians along

with the clubs usual musical fare. Now the club is packed with

patrons and laughter every Thursday, he said.

“It was the worst night in the week, now it’s the best,” Cee said.

“It’s been really successful.”

Comedians have been so well received at Martini Blues that Cee is

planning on expanding the size of the club and restaurant along with

adding a Saturday night show.

“That’s basically because of the comedy night,” he said.

The club had offered live jazz and blues seven nights a week, but

Cee approached comedian Bill Word about setting up a comedy night on

Thursdays at the club for one simple reason.

“I think people should start laughing a bit,” he said. “Life is

getting way too serious.”

Audiences must have agreed, because the club was standing room

only for a week straight, during a comedy contest hosted by the club

in August and continues to do a booming business on Thursdays.

But Martini Blues and Gallagher’s aren’t the only shows in town

for comedy. Centerfields Sports Bar & Grill, on Beach Boulevard has

joined the fray with Saturday night comedy fests.

Centerfields’ owner Larry Davis has added a twist to the

traditional comedy night. He has comedians open for bands on Saturday

nights, in hopes it will bring a different type of crowd to the bar.

“I think it’s good to mix it with something else,” Davis said.

Not only will people get to see a comedian, but aspiring comics

will get the exposure they want.

“What we’re doing is giving comedians an opportunity to come,” he

said. “They get exposure.”

And it is exposure that aspiring comedians like Huntington Beach’s

Jay Demtrak are seeking. Demtrak headlines at Centerfields on

Saturday night and couldn’t be happier with the sports bar venue

right here in Surf City.

“The shows are better down here,” Demtrak said of Orange County.

“People sit down and pay attention.”

The fact that comedy classes are being taught at the Irvine Improv

along with a more open-minded audience adds to the increase in Orange

County shows.

The Huntington Beach resident has appeared at the Irvine Improv,

the Comedy Store in Los Angeles and the Laugh Factory in Hollywood.

But still he prefers the Orange County comedy scene.

“There are usually bigger crowds down here and you’ll get more

stage time,” he said.

The average amount of stage time a comedian gets during an open

mike night in a Los Angeles club is about three minutes, he said,

whereas in Orange County aspiring comedians can get between eight and

10 minutes onstage. There are also more venue choices.

“Down here there are a lot of places,” Demtrak said, of the many

comedy clubs, restaurants and bars that make up the comedy circuit in

Orange County. “Those are the different types of environments that

you have to work and learn. That’s why when you do a comedy club,

it’s a piece of cake.”