HEARING ON COMEDY CLUB SET IN IRVINE

The Irvine Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. over the proposed opening of a new Improvisation comedy nightclub near UC Irvine.

The commission will decide whether to allow the club to open in the Marketplace shopping center near Campus Drive across from UCI. The hearing will focus on a required permit specifying club size and features, parking availability and questions as to whether it be compatible with the neighborhood.

If approved, the Irvine Improvisation is expected to be similar to the 11-year-old Los Angeles nightclub, which is considered one of the top showcases for comedians. The Irvine club would become the third “Improv” in California, joining the Los Angeles establishment and a San Diego franchise that opened in 1984.

Budd Friedman, owner of the original club, will either own or franchise the new club.

Preliminary plans call for a one-story, 6,500-square-foot club that would serve dinner along with humor. The Improvisation would open in three to four months if the commission approves it, said Dennis Trapp, Irvine’s principal planner.

The commission meets at Irvine City Hall at 17200 Jamboree Blvd.