NEW IMPROV CLUB: WILL IT GET LAUGHS AT RIVAL’S EXPENSE?

For 10 years, the Laff Stop in Newport Beach has been Orange County’s one and only comedy nightclub, the favorite spot for laugh-hungry locals. But now there’s a new joker in town, complete with a national reputation and eager to grab some of the limelight.

The prestigious Improvisation, known for its famous clubs in Los Angeles and New York, plans to open an Irvine franchise by late November less than four miles from the Laff Stop.

Is there enough room for both, even when they are within jogging distance of each other? Owners of the Improvisation and the Laff Stop obviously think so, and hope the game of dueling punch lines will not divide their audience but rather generate more interest in comedy in Orange County.

“You never know what could happen, but I don’t see us getting into a war with them,” said Laff Stop manager Al Korn. “This may improve things for everyone--a place with the reputation of the Improv will make people think about comedy.”

Optimism aside, Korn does admit he’s a little bemused by the closeness of his new neighbor. “There are so many places it could have gone; Orange County is a very big place,” he said. “But this is not necessarily a harmful or drastic venture for us. We’ll adapt. We’re not sitting here with our knees knocking.”

Irvine Improv franchise owner Mark Anderson said several months of study, including a detailed demographics analysis, led him to the site, which is in the Irvine Co.-owned Marketplace Shopping center near Campus Drive across from UC Irvine. The area, which is growing and relatively affluent, should provide a ready audience that will include UCI students, he said.

“This is a very exciting area with a lot of bright, young people,” Anderson said. “We’re sure we won’t have any trouble attracting fans.”

Korn is also confident of the Improv’s chances, particularly in the first few months when the club’s newness and the quality associated with the Improvisation name should guarantee a large audience. In fact, the Improv’s early days will probably prove the most troubling for the Laff Stop, Korn conceded, as local comedy fans, even regulars of his club, try it out.

But Korn believes any drop in Laff Stop business will be short-lived. The club has a steady and “very devoted” crowd that “won’t leave us for the new guy in town,” he said.

Korn further emphasized that the Laff Stop and Improv will offer different talent lineups. “I don’t think it’s too far off to say that people may go to both places during any given week,” he said.

Anderson claims that his establishment is not trying to eliminate the Laff Stop, but only develop its own following. To accomplish this, Anderson said, it will try to feature well-known headliners who play at other Improvs and stoke local interest by using area comedians as opening acts and emcees. Budd Friedman, who started the first Improv in New York more than 20 years ago and is known for discovering and nurturing comics, will help line up the acts, he said.

The fact that a new club may present twice the opportunity for work has not been lost on local stand-ups who complain that competition for jobs is getting tougher all the time. They characterize the Improv as probably the top chain of its kind in the country and say a gig there would do much to help their careers.

“Sure, it’s really good news for us because the Improv is just about the best,” said Jerry Miner, 24, a Huntington Beach comedian who has performed professionally for three years. “If you can work there, it’s no doubt your future would improve some.”

Although a regular at the Laff Stop, Miner said he will approach the Improv for an audition with the hope that Korn and the Laff Stop won’t hold it against him.

“Hey, the Laff Stop has been good to me, and I want to continue to work there,” Miner said, “but this is business. I’m optimistic that they’d understand. After all, there will probably be quite a few guys who have played the Stop who will try the Improv, too.”

But Don Ware, 36, a Newport Beach comic who has performed at the Laff Stop and clubs across the country for four years, isn’t so sure that it will be that easy. Ware said it is common for a club to demand that a comedian not perform for a nearby competitor.

“They shouldn’t be able to do that, but it has been done to me,” he said. “It happens when the market really has a hard time sustaining both clubs. Basically, you have to be hard-nosed about it and make a decision to play where you want.”

If it gets nasty between the Laff Stop and Improv, Ware believes that there will probably be little positive impact on Orange County comics who are forced to choose between the two. But if a more relaxed attitude prevails, the Improv could present great opportunities for stand-ups.

Both Ware and Miner believe that there are enough comedy fans in the area to sustain both establishments. They also agree with Korn that the Laff Stop may be hard pressed to come up with anything to joke about during the Improv’s first months.

“This Improv, if it looks anything like the other Improvs, will probably look better inside than the Laff Stop,” Miner said. “People will hear about that . . . but it will probably even out in the long run.”

To help keep up, Korn said the Laff Stop is renovating its stage, bathrooms and showroom on the eve of its 10-year anniversary, which will be marked on Oct. 7.