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“It’s first-class catering for everybody,” he said. He will acknowledge that he orders food for about 3,500 homeless or needy folks for each of the holiday meals. Masada won’t reveal the cost of the annual Thanksgiving dinner, annual Christmas dinner and toy giveaway for the poor and the homeless at the club, also a 40-year tradition. Jamie Masada, founder, The Laugh Factory in his office
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“He took that big stack of money, all $100 dollar bills, and said: ‘This is for your rent, boy,’” Masada said. Masada said he tried to give Pryor his cut, but Pryor wouldn’t take a dime. On the club’s opening night, headliner Paul Mooney surprised Masada by bringing comedy legend Richard Pryor onstage.
#Laugh factory for free
“We wanted to compete with the size of House of Blues (venues),” Masada said.Ī Laugh Factory in New York City closed following a reported financial dispute between Masada and a business partner.įrom the beginning, back when many comedians were performing for free in local venues just for the exposure, Masada insisted on dividing the door between the club and the comedians. The Laugh Factory’s $10 million Long Beach club, opened in 2008, seats 600, making it one of the largest comedy clubs in the world although many stand-up comedians play to much larger audiences in arena shows. Masada has also been the producer of a number of Laugh Factory franchises for film and television. A location in San Diego is scheduled to reopen in January. Masada has parlayed his passion for laughter into a comedy empire that includes clubs in Hollywood, Long Beach, Las Vegas, Reno, Chicago and one planned for Washington, D.C. Comedians are the rarest breed in the world - what I call them is the doctor of the soul.” “We sit down, we laugh together it’s like breaking bread together. “The wonderful thing about live performance (is) it brings people together,” Masada said. Masada attributes the Laugh Factory’s longevity to the appeal of live performance and, well, funny stuff. That includes the two highest-earning stand-up comedians of 2019, according to data from Forbes: Kevin Hart ($59 million) and Jerry Seinfeld ($41 million). Housed in a building once owned by Groucho Marx, the 300-seat Laugh Factory has hosted nearly every major comedian of the past 40 years.