Soldout first show at Alameda Comedy Club proves it’s safe to laugh again.
Alameda spot opens with soldout show staged on back patio for social distancing
Comedians often start their sets by asking the crowd, “How are you doing?” But seven months into this pandemic, Joy Gohring already knew the answer to that question. Instead, she walked onto Alameda Comedy Club’s outdoor stage and asked whether it was the first time anyone in the audience had left their house. It was for her. “I literally just left L. A. to risk my life and entertain everyone,” Gohring deadpanned.
Her live, inperson set during the club’s opening night on Friday, Oct. 16 — on the bill with San Francisco comic Doug Ferrari ( who almost fell off the stage) and headliner Eddie Brill, who flew in from New York — brought muchneeded laughter back to 2020. Despite having to perform on a small wooden staircase as their stage before a masked crowd, it was like any other show. “I’ve been furloughed for the last six months. Other than trips for necessities like groceries, I’ve been home,” said Oakland resident Lisa Brink, who was among the four dozen socially distanced fans at the soldout show. “Being out at something like this is such a treat.”
Patrick Ford wouldn’t let the coronavirus pandemic keep him from realizing his dream of opening a comedy club in the East Bay town, a dream he’s had for more than a decade. A software engineer who once worked as Bill Gates’s PR coordinator, Ford has always loved live comedy.
In the 1980s, he lived four blocks away from the original Cobb’s Comedy Club on Chestnut Street and saw all the San Francisco comic greats of the day, including Ellen DeGeneres, Bobcat Goldthwait and Paula Poundstone. He even spent some years performing standup himself in Los Angeles, where he built up enough stage time and material that he secured a spot on the competition show “Last Comic Standing” in 2008.
Ford said he and his wife, Lori Theis, decided to start the club after they ordered bad pizza at a comedy show in L. A. At the time, Theis, a veteran restaurant manager who helped open nine restaurants and operate such establishments as Farallon and Epic Steakhouse, was thinking about opening her own place. The terrible comedy club pizza made it clear what she needed to do.
“We decided to up the game of comedy food,” Ford said.
The couple moved to Alameda in 2013 and just last year found the location for their new club on Central Avenue. They invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into setting up the space how they wanted, building a stage, updating the kitchen, installing a stateoftheart sound system. And they were on track to open in May.
Then by midMarch, the coronavirus changed everything. Venues all over California shut down, and for a moment, Ford considered abandoning the project altogether. But the state gave his club a second chance when it allowed for food service and limited gatherings in outdoor venues. He took another look at the club’s layout and determined he could fit about 40 people, social distanced, in the back patio.
“Could I still run a business? It turns out I barely can,” Ford said.
Indeed, Ford’s gamble seems to be paying off. During a few soft opening shows, each has sold out.
Other comedy promoters are seeing similar successes, even without permanent venues. Marty Cunnie and Janesh Rahlan of F Bomb Comedy have been booking inperson shows since September and are proud to report they’re seeing soldout crowds at such spots as Chambers in San Francisco and Luka’s Taproom & Lounge in Oakland.
“Comedy has been well suited to the current regulations,” Cunnie said. “What other form of entertainment sits you down and has you stay there and not yell too loud? It’s perfect.”
It’s unclear when Ford can host shows inside his brandnew theater, but he’ll be happy to continue to book his back patio for as long as people keep showing up. He’s already booked weekend headliners straight through to the middle of December and is already promoting weekly show ideas like drag brunches on Sundays.
He also signed a lease with three fiveyear renewal terms, so as he sees it, he’s committed to the club for the next 15 years — at least.
“In my mind, this is the last job I’m ever going to have, and I want to die on that stage,” Ford said. “Just not on the first night.”