Laugh Factory Gives Long Beach Something to Smile About

By Phillip Zonkel

Jamie Masada loves to laugh, but right now he isn’t joking.

Masada, who 29 years ago opened the renowned Laugh Factory in Hollywood on the famous Sunset Strip, is ready to open a sister location, the Laugh Factory Long Beach, at the Pike at Rainbow Harbor.

Saturday is the grand opening, which also is a fundraiser benefiting the United Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. The event will feature comedians Dane Cook, Brad Garrett, Jamie Kennedy, Jon Lovitz, Bob Saget and Paul Rodriguez.

As of press time, an itinerary of upcoming comedians scheduled to appear at the Laugh Factory Long Beach was unavailable.

Masada, 49, said the $10 million, 670-seat venue will do wonders for the city. The 12,000-square-foot facility, he said, is the largest comedy club in the world.

“There’s nothing signature in Long Beach apart from the Queen Mary and the aquarium. The city needs something that tourists from around the world would come to Long Beach to see and visit,” Masada said, during a telephone interview earlier this week. “We have to put this city on the map.”

Masada plans to achieve that lofty goal with the venue hosting award shows, stand-up performances and an international stand-up comedy festival that will be recorded and later televised. No events have been scheduled yet, he said.

Masada said he expects domestic and global visitors to be drawn to the Laugh Factory Long Beach’s Stand-Up Comedy Hall of Fame, which will house more than 500 pieces of memorabilia. The collection includes a shoe worn by Rodney Dangerfield, a script from the Marx Brothers’ 1935 comedy “A Night at the Opera” signed by Groucho Marx, an Abbott and Costello album signed by Bud Abbott, and a variety of other material.

Laugh Factory Long Beach also will include a Stand-Up Comedy Wall of Fame, with photos and life-size statues of well-known comics such as Eddie Murphy and the Three Stooges; and a Stand-Up Comedy Walk of Fame, similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Masada said.

“There’s a Baseball Hall of Fame, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and even a TV show hall of fame, but no Stand-Up Hall of Fame,” he said. “Comedians deserve this.”

Phillip Zonkel (562) 499-1258

phillip.zonkel@presstelegram.comLAUGH FACTORY LONG BEACH

When: Grand opening with Dane Cook, Brad Garrett, Jamie Kennedy, Jon Lovitz, Bob Saget and Paul Rodriguez.

Where: 151 S. Pine Ave., Long Beach.

When: 8 p.m. Saturday.

Tickets: $75-$125.

Information: (562) 495-2844, www.laughfactory.com.

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