Almost six months ago, comedy fans in Fresno had reason to cheer when Joseph Merhi, a partner in the Laugh Factory chain of comedy clubs, announced his intention to open a new location in Fresno.
But the laughter will have to wait, and it’s not certain when it might commence. Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer touted the prospects for a comedy club during an October presentation on downtown revitalization efforts, putting Merhi on the spot by declaring, “We need the Laugh Factory here in downtown Fresno — nowhere else. We need it right here in downtown.”
While Merhi at that time was noncommittal about downtown, he told The Fresno Bee that the company would “definitely” be opening a comedy club in Fresno. He added that he was considering several sites in the city, including downtown.
His expectation was to make a decision on a location and sign a lease within three to six months.
“The young people tell me that downtown Fresno, and Fresno in general, is the place to really invest,” Merhi said in October. Once a site was selected, he said, “we want to try to open as soon as possible.”
A week later, he told The Bee by text message that “we’re very close but it’s gonna take a couple of weeks before we sign” a lease for a still-undisclosed location.
This week, however, Merhi told The Bee that those optimistic plans are “on hold.” “We are very eager to open in Fresno,” he added. “(I) love your city.” But Merhi did not elaborate on when the project might be revived.
Elliott Balch, president of the Downtown Fresno Partnership, said Tuesday only that “we look forward to continuing to work with the Laugh Factory.”
Laugh Factory founder Jamie Masada told The Bee that he had no comment at this time on where things stand for a Fresno location. Dyer did not respond to a text message seeking his reaction to Merhi’s revelation.
Merhi — a producer and director of independent films, entrepreneur and real estate investor who lives in Los Angeles — said last fall that he was looking at sites in Fresno ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 square feet to accommodate a comedy club with 300 to 600 seats plus bar and food service. For his part, Dyer had been actively courting Merhi and pushing hard for a downtown location.
“I feel like I’m (Merhi’s) personal real estate agent,” Dyer said in October. “I’ve been taking photos and texting them to him.”
Merhi praised Dyer’s enthusiasm and contrasted it with challenges the company was confronting in its efforts to open a club in San Francisco.
“I don’t want to badmouth San Francisco, but … it’s been really difficult,” he said. “We’ve been in negotiations with the city to rent one of their buildings that’s been empty for five years or so, and we’re having a very difficult time.
Any time we ask for anything, they need three weeks to answer back.” It’s been years since Fresno had a dedicated comedy club: Screwballs was owned by Fresno talk-radio personality Ray Appleton at a Van Ness Avenue location now occupied by Kocky’s Bar & Grill.
In the intervening years, some Fresno restaurants, nightclubs, breweries and other venues host occasional comedy shows or open mic nights, but the city currently does not have a stand-alone comedy club.
Major touring comics such as Jerry Seinfeld, Fortune Feimster, Jo Koy, Bert Kreischer and Gabriel Iglesias have performed larger Fresno venues such as the William Saroyan Theatre, the Save Mart Center or the Tower Theater.
The Laugh Factory’s flagship club on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood was founded in 1979 by Masada. Other locations are in Long Beach, San Diego, Las Vegas, Reno and Chicago, along with the most recent location in Covina, which opened last year inside a historic theater near an Italian restaurant that Merhi and Masada own.
