The Comedy Stop makes a new go of it at the Sahara
Sometimes it’s good to do something just for laughs. If that’s an idea that tickles your fancy, you might want to make a comedy stop – at the Comedy Stop, which just moved to the Sahara after 19 years at the Tropicana.
The long-running comedy club, which opened in Atlantic City in December 1983 (and is still operating) and in Las Vegas on May 1, 1990, is nationally recognized as one of the Top 10 comedy rooms in the country. According to owner Bob Kephart, that is something that didn’t happen by accident.
“I’m an old showbiz guy from Philadelphia,” he notes. “I worked as an usher in a beautiful theater there when I was 16 and I realized early on that the show had to start when the curtain came up. You can’t expect people to sit through two mediocre comedians waiting for the big guy. What made Comedy Stop different from the beginning is that, I always spent more money on the opening acts than other comedy clubs – many of the openers were headliners in other rooms. It was like an investment. I wanted to create excitement and fun from the start of the evening and then build to a crescendo.”
At the Sahara, Comedy Stop can be found building in the 650-seat Congo room seven nights a week. As always, there are three new acts every week, with the changeover occurring every Monday night. Kephart, who has 150 comedians in his stable, says that he uses a lot of the people he has used for years because he knows that their material is original, having been there when they wrote it, and that they hit a home run every time. He also introduces three or four new faces every year.
“We’re very critical; we only want the best of the best,” he maintains. “We have to get these acts on their way up because once they hit, we can’t afford them. I have always had a secret weapon – I have a God-given ability to see talent. Before I take comedians, they have to do 10 minutes in front of a live audience. I have to see them work an audience and if they’re successful, they may have a shot at a slot.”
While Comedy Stop started out attracting a 25-40 demographic, it now gets audiences from 25-75. Much of that is attributable to the fact that Kephart doesn’t let the comedians get into X-rated material.
“I tell the comics that if you can’t write material without using the F word, don’t even come in,” Kephart says. “That doesn’t happen in other comedy clubs.”
- by Bobbie Katz, Las Vegas Reporter for HelloMetro
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