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Laugh Factory

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Coordinates: 34°5′52.8″N 118°21′52.1″W / 34.098000°N 118.364472°W / 34.098000; -118.364472
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34°5′52.8″N 118°21′52.1″W / 34.098000°N 118.364472°W / 34.098000; -118.364472 The Laugh Factory is a comedy club with locations on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, Long Beach, (California), Chicago, and inside the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas. The chain is owned by Jamie Masada.

The Laugh Factory
Original Laugh Factory in Hollywood, CA
Map
Address8001 Sunset Boulevard
LocationLos Angeles, California
OwnerJamie Masada
Typecomedy club
CapacityHollywood: 300
Opened1979
Website
www.laughfactory.com

Masada arrived in America at age 14. He worked multiple jobs in Hollywood while also performing on the comedy circuit to build his stand-up career. Despite the fact that he was living in a garage and barely spoke English, he combined Persian and Hebrew and soon was working with professional comedians like Richard Pryor, David Letterman, Jay Leno, and Redd Foxx. Masada's father told him, “Making people laugh is the greatest Mitzvah of all.”[1]

In 1979, after a dispute over club owners refusing to pay comedians, a then 16-year-old Masada decided to open a new venue for comedians to perform. After obtaining a loan of $10,000 from Neal Israel, he opened the Laugh Factory in a building formerly belonging to Groucho Marx.[2] Richard Pryor was the first comedian to perform at the club.[3]

To this day Masada attends Tuesday Open Mic Nights to screen possible comedians for performances.

Michael Richards incident

Michael Richards went into a racist outburst during a November 17, 2006 standup comedy routine at the venue. In response to that incident, The Laugh Factory banned comedians from using the word "nigger" in their acts. The first known incident involving this new rule involved Damon Wayans (himself an African-American), who used the word 16 times in a 20-minute show. He was fined $320 ($20 for each offense) and given a 3-month ban from the club.[4] The ban actually lasted just a month as he was back performing in January.[5]

Charity fundraisers have been held at the club, including benefit nights for Red Cross, USO, Cops For Causes, Comics Without Borders, Wounded Warriors, Middle Eastern Comedy Fest, and Stand Up For Pakistan.[6]

Endurance record

The Laugh Factory keeps track of an endurance record for the comedian who can deliver the longest single set at the club. The record-holding performances are listed below:

Date Duration (hr:min) Performer
January 2, 2008 7:34 Dane Cook
December 3, 2007 6:12 Dave Chappelle
April 15, 2007 6:07 Dave Chappelle
April 10, 2007 3:50 Dane Cook
1980 2:41 Richard Pryor

Guinness World Record

On December 8, 2010 at 4:38pm the Laugh Factory broke the Guinness World Record for Longest Continuous Stand Up Comedy Show (Multiple Comedians).[7] The record was previously held by Comic Strip Live, who set the original record of 50 hours. The Laugh Factory surpassed 50 hours on Wednesday and continued non-stop until 10:38pm Thursday December 9 when they stopped and set a new record of 80 hours. Dom Irrera was on stage when the record was broken, and Deon Cole was on stage when the new record was set. The event, titled "Toy to the World," was paired with a Toy Drive for Children's Hospital. Over 130 different comedians performed and the event was live-streamed over the internet. The Laugh Factory held this record until April 15, 2015, when the record was broken by comedians at The East Room in Nashville, Tennessee.[8]

Notable performers

Comedians who have performed in the club include: 

[9][10]

Notable musical guests who have performed in the club include Diane Neal, John Mayer, Justin Bieber, Melissa Joan Hart, Mike O'Malley, and Reza Farahan.

References

  1. ^ "Jamie Masada". Huffington Post. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  2. ^ "Jamie Masada: The Laugh Factory Impresario's Biography". Carl Kozlowski. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
  3. ^ http://articles.latimes.com/2009/apr/05/business/fi-himi5
  4. ^ TMZ Staff. "Wayans Drops N-Bomb, Faces Fallout looks like they need to give the Freedom of Speech Award back". TMZ. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  5. ^ TMZ Staff. "Laugh Factory "Ban" a Joke, Wayans to Perform". TMZ. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
  6. ^ http://www.npr.org/2016/02/20/467458650/stand-up-bridges-decades-long-boundaries-by-crossing-the-line
  7. ^ "Culture Monster". Los Angeles Times.
  8. ^ Conzett, Lance (16 April 2015). "Local Comics Set the World Record for Longest Comedy Show and Aren't Stopping". Nashville Scene. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  9. ^ http://www.newjerseystage.com/articles/getarticle.php?ID=4799)
  10. ^ http://parade.com/380637/michelewojciechowski/stand-up-comic-vic-dibitetto-finds-the-funny-in-winter-freakouts-4/2/
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