Laugh Out Loud

Having live performance pictures of music greats like Santana and KRS-One on the walls leads one to believe that Velvet Jones only brings in great musicians. Wrong.

The Velvet Jones Tuesday Night Comedy Party Yay brings live stand-up comics to the State Street venue every Tuesday night starting at 9 p.m. In the coming weeks, Velvet will host Hollywood stars like Ian Edwards (of The Boondocks fame), and last week national headliner Rich Aronovtich took the stage and left everyone in the place laughing.

Skippy Simon, the event’s emcee and member of local improve team The Naughty Show, has been working the Tuesday Night Comedy Party since its inception about two-and-a-half months ago, and has been super excited about they way everything has turned out so far.

“We have a following that has been coming since we started,” Simon said, “and it’s a reciprocal thing; the more people we get coming on a regular basis the better the vibe is for the audience and for the comedians that perform. We work on a Plan-B-Yourself kind of plan, and it’s working.”

Craig Jenkins, owner of Velvet Jones, is happy about bringing comedy back to his venue after a four year lull, and believes it’s important to find local talent as well. He hopes to introduce an open mic night within the near future, with aspirations of finding Santa Barbara’s next great comedian.

Last Tuesday’s show also brought Steven Randolph and Taylor Ketchum to the stage, both of whom brought a sizable chunk of the crowd to tears. Aronovich, who has performed on the Tonight Show, as well as at Madison Square Garden and various Vegas venues, commented on the intimacy that Velvet Jones has to offer comedians. “It’s the best to have shows in smaller venues like this, it’s better for the comedians and it is better for the people watching because we know that they are here to laugh.”

This Tuesday’s show features actor and comedian Rusty Dooley, and Jenkins says that if you buy a ticket for this week’s show, he’ll throw in next week’s ticket as well. And if that doesn’t make you smile, be sure to check out the show, where you’re guaranteed to crack a smile.

4•1•1:

Velvet Jones (423 State St.) hosts Velvet Jones Tuesday Night Comedy Party Yay every Tuesday night at 9 p.m. For tickets and info, call or visit velvet-jones.com