The lobby walls of Comedy Off Broadway are covered with photos of the comedians who have performed there: Jerry Seinfeld, George Carlin, Carlos Mencia, Kevin Pollack, Bill Engvall. All are names most of us have seen doing stand-up before massive crowds on television.
But beyond the lobby, Comedy Off Broadway is anything but massive. I sat down for an interview with owner Jordan Hawley in the small, comfortably dark interior with a tiny stage at the front of the room.
“This intimate setting is going by the wayside,” Hawley said. “It’s really a change in the wrong direction, I think.”
The club was started in 1987 by Jeff Gillstrap, who wanted in on what Hawley calls a “huge boom” in comedy. Originally opened across from the Opera House on Broadway, it soon moved to its current location in Lexington Green. After Gillstrap’s death in 2005, his wife ran the club for five years before Hawley, an employee of 14 years, bought it in 2010.
Corporate clubs in larger cities are busy opening venues that Hawley describes as “cavernous.” He’s seen shows in these places, and it’s a very different affair, he said.
“It’s almost as though it’s a giant dining room that happens to have a stage on one side,” he said. “But the crowd is right up on the stage here.”
There’s no question of proximity. Almost anywhere in the room is spitting distance from the microphone. But what about the alleged “crowd”? The economy isn’t as bad as it has been, but people are still pinching pennies. Is attendance up or down?
“It’s definitely down,” Hawley reported. “It’s been a tough four years. A lot of comics quote these euphemisms that ‘people need to laugh when times are tough.’ I don’t necessarily think I buy into those. Expendable income is what really rules the day.”
Comic Craig Shoemaker agreed in an email interview. “Attendance is lower for all entertainment right now,” he said. “I talk to some rock star buddies and even they have to give away tickets to play to a full house.”
However, Hawley does believe that laughter is still good medicine.
“I hear that from patrons constantly, and I think they’re genuine,” he said. “I get a lot of feedback from customers who claim after they came and saw a show, they really did feel better.”
Shoemaker stated it more plainly: “Laughter is affordable health care.”
But in tough times, it seems people still see comedy more as recreation than panacea, including Hawley.
“I view it more analytically from the diversion and entertainment side,” he said.
Plus, of course, there’s competition. “Movies and music concerts are much more of a widespread, universal appeal than something like this,” he said. “That’s just the reality of it.”
If laughter is indeed “affordable health care,” then it seems the comedy club should be the prime destination, since the audience is more involved in the performance.
“People benefit greatly from social interaction,” said associate professor of psychology Nathan DeWall, via email. “It’s not only easier to laugh with others — being with friends often makes people happier than being alone — but it also makes your relationships stronger. By showing another person what makes you giggle, you open yourself up to have a closer, more intimate bond. People laugh alone, but I doubt they get the same benefits that they do laughing with others.”
Shoemaker is writing a book called Finding The Humor In Everything, and he couldn’t agree more.
“I know how important laughter is for anything that ails you, and it’s my intent to raise awareness of the healing powers of a hearty guffaw,” he said. “I’m approached almost daily and told how meaningful my comedy is for certain individuals. It warms my soul, and the stories are remarkably moving. I’ve heard anything from an 18-year-old girl’s remission from leukemia to five different couples giving me ‘credit’ for their babies being conceived. The laughs at my show apparently loosened things up in the fertility region.”
Comedy Off Broadway is one of Shoemaker’s favorite spots to perform.
“I get a general sense that the people of Lexington have a unique quality that is positive and elevated,” he said. “I was pleasantly surprised by the high level of laughter in the room. The town is friendly and safe, making it so much easier to connect with the audience.”
Hawley attributes this to his club’s well-preserved, intimate atmosphere. “A lot of comics have told me one of the reasons they love this place is that there’s nothing bigger than the show. I take seriously the fact that people come and pay for a ticket to actually see the performance. That’s what it should be all about. Some places tend to get away from that.”