The Crystal Bay Casino’s Crown Room houses a number of stellar musical acts like Sol’Jibe, Ozomatli, Blues Traveler, The Donnas, Tea Leaf Green, Dr. John and more. But on Tuesday nights a different kind of entertainment takes center stage, the kind that leaves you in tears and cradling your stomach, as you valiantly try to keep from falling to the floor.
Picture this: a cozy date cuddled up next to you, candle-lit tables draped with white linen, a single spotlight drenches the stage holding one microphone and a stool, and booths are filled to the brim with people ready to get down and have a good time. Then your date screams, ’44-Hour Fitness’ in response to the comedian’s question about where the audience members work. Instantly she becomes the punch line of a stream of jokes that has the crowd laughing, including her. What better way to spend a night laughing the chaos and turmoil of the world away?
When Wayne Wright, founder of Tahoe Comedy North (TCN), moved up to Tahoe, leaving his So. Cal nightclub behind, he found himself missing the comedy scene. Wayne stopped in to assess the entertainment scene and met the Crystal Bay Club’s (CBC) Marketing Manager, Bill Wood. The two tossed around the idea for a comedy night to parallel the music scene and found their conversation to be rank with the scent of success. During the course of a dinner at the CBC, Bill and Wayne worked out the details and comedy night at the main stage in CBC’s Crown Room.
‘We were hosting comedy night every other Tuesday when we began last spring; it quickly gathered momentum and we started hosting comedy night once a week,’ Wayne said. One of Wayne’s favorite comedians happens to be Robin Williams due to his spontaneity, which brings almost-painful tears to your eyes every time he performs.
The popularity of Tahoe Comedy North at the CBC has yet to dwindle. From stand-up routines jam-packed with witty, biting one-liners, impressions and off-beat topical humor to woah-that-was-weird hypnotists.
On Tuesday Dec. 18, comedian Mike Winfield of Sacramento, will host Comedy Night for feature comedian Kathleen Dunbar, a Wisconsin-raised barrel of laughs full of sass. The headliner John DiCrosta, hailing from Woodland Hills, provides hilarious content influenced by a few of the classics – Steve Martin, The Smothers Brothers, Robin Williams, and Captain Kangaroo.
On December 26, get psychically in tune as CBC hosts two shows with hypnotist Chris Cady – a G-rated version and an adult-content session.
Dec. 30 marks TCN as the CBC’s final show of their inaugural year. Host Drake Witham, brings his audience to tears with his impressions of co-workers, bosses, and relatives. Now, he’s just the warm-up. Robin Cee, the featured comedian from Las Vegas, who considers her attention span to be that of a bunny on expresso, dabbles into every corner of the comedy world. Her latest comedy endeavor is a cartoon series ‘Coco-Cop’ for which she provides her voice. With a host and opening act like the aforementioned, the headliner has to come out big or go home. Enter: Mike Mancini, the man for the job to follow up these two high-caliber comedians. Mike has a background in law enforcement and draws from his personal experience to fuel his dynamite act.
Stand-up routines full of improvisational skill, impressions, and most of all quick-witted humor keep audiences coming back for more. On Jan. 8, Del Van Dyke will headline TCN’s first show of the New Year. He hit the comedy scene in San Francisco in the 1980s and marks his performances with the Pointer Sisters and the Neville Brothers, plus numerous comedian competition awards as milestones in his adventures as a stand-up comedian. Van Dyke brings veteran stand-up experience to the stage with personal experiences and influences of the cream-of-the-comedy-crop: Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, George Carlin, and Steve Martin. Now he even coaches new comedians through a workshop. Phat Joe, a featured comedian of the evening grew up in South Sacramento making everyone laugh at his own expense and continues to do so today, with a little help from the ‘culturally diverse and imperfect’ communities his hometown.
Kinsie Damon co-host of Tahoe’s own KMTN Television’s Morning Resort Report will host the 2008 kick off show for TCN. Wayne like Del Van Dyke is inspired by the positive energy that circulates the comedy world. The laughter they provide others makes their daily crusade of comedy worth all the effort.
~ Tickets for comedy nights are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Doors open 7 p.m. with shows starting at 8 p.m.
For a schedule beyond the one listed here go to tahoecomedynorth.com.
