Comic’s Dream of Downtown Success Is No Laughing Matter

Did you hear the one about the stand-up comic who tried to make a go of it at downtown L.A. night spots?

It’s no joke to 53-year-old Perry Kurtz, comedian by night, mattress salesman by day. And it’s been a test of his good humor.

He got a dismal reception, for instance, at the Redwood 2nd Street Saloon, the L.A. Downtown News said. I could have predicted that -- the Redwood is full of newspaper people, lawyers and bail bondsmen, none of whom are great listeners.

Kurtz also held a comedy night in a community room at the downtown Premiere Towers, where he lives, and it drew four tenants.

“How sad is that?” he told the Downtown News’ Kristin Friedrich. “People next door wouldn’t walk down the hall!” But maybe there are a few laughs to be had downtown after all. Kurtz is drawing respectable numbers on Wednesday nights at Little Pedro’s Blue Bongo Bar on East 1st Street.

And he’s ignoring the taunt in this calendar listing in the L.A. Weekly: “Perry Kurtz hosts live comedy in Downtown L.A., for some reason, at Little Pedro’s.”

Dressed for? “A resident was concerned that a porno movie was being filmed at a residence,” the police log of the Los Alamitos News-Enterprise reported, “and that an adult female was in front in black lingerie with a black whip.” Unless the whip indicates she’s a jockey at the Los Alamitos Race Course. OK. Maybe I should leave the laughs to Kurtz.

Dueling directions: Grady Miller of West Hollywood spotted some bathroom humor in a set of signs in Morro Bay (see photo).

*

Name game: Dolores Richey of Monrovia found a Stephenville, Texas, jewelry firm that’s been in business for 61 years (see accompanying).

How did it get a name like that? Well, founders Grady and Gracie Swindle could tell you.

Someone pulling a fast one? After inspecting the ticket receipt he received for an event at California Speedway, Paul Schowalter was a bit concerned about the quality of his seats (see photo). And whether he got them at a good price.

Speaking of racing: The item here about a doggie goggles product, available in prescription form, brought this note from Wendy Andruschak: “My dog could probably use them. She doesn’t like people on motorcycles, and has a hard time distinguishing between regular motorcyclists and motorcycle police.”

miscelLAny: David Dillon of Pacific Palisades saw it in Beverly Hills: A couple of folks were about to drop coins into the cup of a panhandler when the guy “turned away -- he had to answer his cellphone.”

Could it have been his broker?

*

Reach Steve Harvey at (800)LATimes, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012 or steve.harvey@latimes.com.