Jay Leno Comedy and Magic Club is a popular entertainment venue located in Hermosa Beach, California. It is named after the famous comedian, Jay Leno, who is known for his hosting gig on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The club is a hub for comedy and magic lovers, attracting both local and international talent. It offers a unique combination of hilarious stand-up comedy acts and mind-boggling magic shows. With a seating capacity of over 200, the club provides an intimate and cozy setting for the audience to enjoy the performances. The club has gained a reputation for showcasing top-notch comedy acts, with many well-known comedians and up-and-coming talents gracing its stage.
The club has gained a reputation for showcasing top-notch comedy acts, with many well-known comedians and up-and-coming talents gracing its stage. In addition to stand-up comedy, the club also hosts magic shows featuring skilled magicians who leave the audience awestruck with their illusions and tricks. Jay Leno, being an established name in the entertainment industry, has been actively involved in the club and frequently makes surprise appearances to perform or support fellow comedians.
Jay Leno sharpens his wit weekly at Hermosa Beach comedy club
As his show winds down Sunday night at The Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, there’s a good chance comic Jay Leno will hold up a small stack of index cards and begin reading.
On those cards will be jokes he may or may not use in the week ahead as host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show.” Whether his material lives to see airtime in front of millions depends in part on the reaction he gets from the audience of a couple hundred.
It’s an audience Leno has come to depend on since he first appeared at The Comedy & Magic Club in 1978, about a month after the venue opened. First doing occasional shows there, Leno has been performing almost every Sunday evening since about the late 1980s.
Even after he became Johnny Carson’s successor, taking over as “The Tonight Show” host in 1992, he continued the weekly drive from his home in Beverly Hills to the club down the street from The Strand.
And the 250-seat venue continues to prove a valuable testing ground for his humor.
“It’s a good cross-section of America in the room,” Leno said backstage prior to a recent show. He and his weekly opening act, Jimmy Brogan, were eating dinner in front of a wall filled with the autographs of Jerry Seinfeld and other comics who have played The Comedy & Magic Club during its 34 years – an anniversary owner Mike Lacey is celebrating this month.
“Sometimes for these rooms in Hollywood you get a particular type of audience – it’s a real show business crowd. Here, you get regular people, you get people who are staying at the airport hotels, they’re here for a couple of days, or at the beach,” Leno said. “I come down here and you know exactly what you’re gonna get. It’s not going to be a drunken melee of some sort. It’s regular people coming to see a comedy show. And you can do new material and try out stuff and see what works and what doesn’t.”
Lacey recalls seeing Leno’s act at The Comedy Store in Hollywood prior to opening his own club. When he started booking acts, he said, he sought out the up-and-coming comic and the two hit it off. Along with a fondness for laughs, Leno and Lacey share a love of cars and restoring them.
“When you eat dinner with someone every Sunday it really is like you’re family,” Lacey said. “A lot of comics know that he’s here. Robin Williams will come by. Arsenio Hall was here a few weeks ago. It wasn’t that long ago that Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld and George Wallace all came down together. `Oh, it’s Sunday night. We’re going to hang out with Jay.”‘
That Lacey can rattle off the names of such comedy headliners visiting his club – many of whom also will take the stage with little advance notice – is not surprising to Leno.
“It all comes down to how you’re treated when you start out in the business and here’s a guy (Lacey) who’s always treated everybody very nicely, and all comics – rich, poor, funny, not funny,” Leno said. “And consequently, when people make it, they feel a sense of loyalty and they come back here and they work this club.”
For Leno, the weekly shows at the Hermosa Beach venue not only allow him to try out new jokes, but they give him an opportunity to hone his skills.
And yes, he said, even after all these years he does still need to hone them.
“I mean, if you’re a runner, you can’t just run marathons – you can’t just run a marathon three times a year – you’ve got to run every day,” he said. “When you’re trying to keep 90 minutes to two hours of material in your head … you can’t just play to the mirror. It just doesn’t work. You need the feedback of the audience. It’s like a drill – you just need to go through it.”
Part of that practice, he said, has to do with simply standing in front of a crowd.
“The stage is not a natural place to be,” Leno said. “It’s an unnatural place to be and the longer you’re away from it, the more unnatural it is. And you get onstage and somebody goes ah-cha (he clears his throat) – and now you’re thrown. Somebody coughs and it just throws you off. But if you do it every day, then coughing and crashing and things happening do not affect you as much. And that’s really why you do it.”
Looking back at his three-plus decades playing The Comedy & Magic Club, Leno said little has changed for him except for what it takes to capture an audience.
“When you start out comics will always say, it took me five minutes, but I got ’em; it took me 20 minutes, but I got ’em; or I was onstage for half an hour and I never got ’em,” he said. “When you’re well known, you’ve got them from the get-go, now you have to keep them.”
That’s something he plans to keep trying to do.
And Lacey has no problem with that.
“He’s a superstar at this point, one of the most well-known guys in Hollywood, but one of the classiest things is he doesn’t know it. … He doesn’t have a lick of Hollywood in him,” Lacey said.
“What an honor that Jay plays here each week.”
There is still a possibility that the club will return. Hermosa Beach officials have confirmed that Lacey has sought changes to the club’s Conditional Use Permit, as he wants to increase the seating capacity in the main room, expand the lounge with outdoor seating, and “modify some conditions of the CUP that he finds too restrictive,” according to a Hermosa Beach city report.
His presence adds an extra element of excitement and anticipation, making the club even more desirable for comedy enthusiasts. Furthermore, the club offers a full-service dining experience, with a menu featuring a variety of delicious food and drinks. The audience can enjoy a meal or grab a drink before, after, or even during the shows, adding to the overall entertainment experience. The Jay Leno Comedy and Magic Club has been a cornerstone of the local entertainment scene for many years. It provides an intimate and enjoyable atmosphere for people to unwind, laugh, and be mesmerized by talented performers. Whether you are a fan of comedy or magic, or simply looking for a fun night out, this club is definitely worth a visit..
Reviews for "How Jay Leno's Comedy and Magic Club Helps Local Comedians Succeed"
1. Michael - 2 stars - I was really disappointed with my experience at the Jay Leno Comedy and Magic Club. The comedy acts were stale and the magic tricks were cliched. I felt like I was watching a show from the 90s. The atmosphere was also lacking, with minimal interaction between the performers and the audience. Overall, it just didn't live up to the hype for me.
2. Sarah - 1 star - I had high expectations for the Jay Leno Comedy and Magic Club, but unfortunately, it fell short. The comedy acts were offensive and relied too heavily on cheap jokes. The magic tricks were predictable and didn't bring any wow factor. The club itself was crowded and uncomfortable, making it difficult to enjoy the show. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a quality comedy and magic experience.
3. John - 2 stars - The Jay Leno Comedy and Magic Club was a letdown for me. The comedy acts were lackluster and lacked originality. The magic tricks were outdated and failed to impress. The venue was also not well-maintained, with uncomfortable seating and poor lighting. I expected more from such a well-known club, but I left feeling underwhelmed and unsatisfied. I won't be returning in the future.
4. Lisa - 1 star - I regretted going to the Jay Leno Comedy and Magic Club. The comedy acts were cringeworthy and relied too heavily on offensive humor. The magic tricks were amateurish and felt like tricks I could easily do myself. The overall atmosphere was disappointing, with a lack of energy and excitement. I wouldn't recommend this club to anyone in search of a memorable night of entertainment.