COUNTY’S COMEDY SCENE SEES FLURRY OF ACTIVITY

Comedian Jay Leno admits that he’s a little nervous about his New Year’s Eve performance at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Not only is he the first comic to appear at the Center, but Leno’s last appearance in the county in 1984 was at the tiny Laff Stop comedy club in Newport Beach.

But why, you might wonder, is Leno, who has since reached the comedy pinnacle of subbing for Johnny Carson as guest host of NBC-TV’s “The Tonight Show,” worried about working in the grand expanses of the 3,000-seat Segerstrom Hall?

“Well, it’s hard to do the disappearing dime trick,” Leno joked in a recent telephone interview.

The appearance of Leno, one of the nation’s hottest comedians, highlights a sudden flurry of comedy activity in Orange County, where for years the only game in town was the Laff Stop.

But that has dramatically changed in recent months. The Improvisation is scheduled to add an Irvine locale early next year to its national chain of comedy clubs, and several other nightclubs have turned over one or more nights a week to comedy bookings.

“People are looking in their own backyard for entertainment and things to do,” said Linda Barragan, director of public relations at the Newporter Resort in Newport Beach, which in October began booking comics on Monday nights.

“I think Orange County is just becoming more sophisticated, and it’s starting to stand on its own, apart from L.A.,” Barragan said. “We have the Performing Arts Center (in Costa Mesa) and now we’ve got good comedy in the area.”

The county’s growing comedy scene is in part a reflection of an increasing nationwide interest in live comedy, particularly noticeable in suburban areas, according to comics and club owners.

TV shows like “The Cosby Show” and “Late Night with David Letterman,” as well as hit movies starring Eddie Murphy, Rodney Dangerfield and other comics who also do stand-up acts, have fueled nationwide interest.

“It seems like in the last two years, there has been an uprise of so many clubs--not just in this area, but across the country,” said Laff Stop administrative assistant Rozey Martinez.

“Everywhere you turn your head, there’s a new club. . . . It’s just hot. I have to give a lot of credit to David Letterman. I mean, people have always gone on Carson, new comics and all that, but David Letterman--he’s really something else. People are really devoted to his show, and he really brings that comedy scene out. He talks about it a lot.”

In fact, the way Leno tells it, his frequent guest spots on “Late Night With David Letterman” were a key factor in the widespread popularity he has finally achieved after years on the club circuit.

Leno was booked into the Performing Arts Center by a San Diego promoter who said the Center was the only suitable Southland-area location available on New Year’s Eve. There is currently no other comedy on the Center’s schedule, but officials have said they hope to broaden their audience base by offering some comedy, jazz and pop music acts in addition to the staple diet of symphony, ballet and opera.

Leno, who continues to tour the country playing everything from small clubs to Carnegie Hall, suggests that younger audiences have been less accustomed to attending live entertainment than their pre-television generation parents, particularly when it comes to comedy.

“For people in my age group (baby boom generation), when you grew up in Boston or New Hampshire, once a year you drove to Foxborough to see the (Rolling) Stones--there was no small entertainment,” Leno said. “I’ve found . . . when going into suburbs to play a comedy club that most people have never seen a comedian in person, but when they do they think it’s really neat.”

Nevertheless, he rejects the notion that just because suburban audiences may have had fewer opportunities to see live comedy that they are any less sophisticated than their urban neighbors.

“Everyone has cable, gets Time (magazine) and reads the newspaper,” he said. “There are no hicks overall. You don’t get audiences yelling ‘Sooey!’ at you on stage. Hey, there’s more money out there (in Orange County) than there is in Hollywood.”

Leno even prefers to try out new material in outlying areas to get a better feel for how it will go over with the average American.

“I’m on the road so much, I have to try out new material on road,” he said. “But I’ve seen some wonderfully hip acts, where a guy talks about a three-picture deal at Paramount or does a whole routine on a pilot commitment. But when you go out in the real world, Hollywood salaries don’t mean much to people who have to work for a living.”

For the same reason, Mark Anderson, the owner of the Improv franchise in Irvine, said that talent scouts sometimes journey to suburban clubs to get away from the industry-heavy crowds that are often found at the Los Angeles Improv.

“You get a little more accurate view of (how) middle-of-the-road America might respond to a performer--as opposed to the industry--by going outside of Hollywood,” said Anderson, who plans a March opening for his club. “Even now, there’s a club (the Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach) that is frequented by talent coordinators. We expect to be in that same situation.”

For some club owners, comedy is admittedly an experiment in the ongoing search for ways to keep the public’s interest level from flagging.

“On the slower nights, it’s always a good vehicle for a club to go (with) comedy,” said Mike Walker, entertainment director for Kartoon’s & Kaper’s in Anaheim, where comedy has been offered every Tuesday since fall.

“It’s something different, it’s giving the club a little hepper image than putting on a wet T-shirt contest or an oil wrestling contest,” Walker said. “I think it upgrades the club as far as the people we get in here. And I think it holds its own in comparison to the nights we have bands in here.”

Besides the club opportunities, which are ballooning at a time when the number of county outlets for live original music is dwindling, the local comedy upsurge also can be seen in some local cable TV shows, such as “What’s Next?” on Rogers Cable TV in Garden Grove and Group W Cable in Fullerton’s “After Hours,” which last year won an ACE (Award for Cable Excellence) from the National Cable Television Assn.

There is now even an Orange County-based comedy troupe, Fractured Mirror. However, the ensemble finds most local clubs are geared more for one-person acts.

“We’re trying to work in both areas, Los Angeles and Orange County,” said troupe member Dana Hanstein. “We want to be Orange County-based because that’s where our homes are. But we’re having a harder time finding clubs that take groups our size for comedy. So we’re having to go to L.A. to do shows. (But) we’d love to be working here all the time.”

Ironically, comedian Pat Hanifin is finding more work in Orange County than he expected, having recently purchased a condominium in Los Angeles to be closer to the clubs he would play most often.

“I’m kind of laughing: I’ll (move) up to L.A. and end up driving back to Orange County all the time,” said Hanifin, who still resides in Huntington Beach. “I see the people in L.A. fighting over the four or five little comedy clubs. It almost seems like I’m getting more work than they are because I’m isolated with all the (Orange County) clubs pretty much to myself.”

With the coming of the new Improv, there’s been considerable debate in the comedy community over the county’s ability to support two all-comedy clubs.

“I think there’s a demand for (comedy) that hasn’t been here before,” Hanifin said. “I mean, the Laff Stop does well with it. I think the Improv’s going to do well, too.