Hardy-hars at JR's
By Kevin Gate Special to the Acorn

FUNNY FACES- Comedian Randy Lubas made faces and elicited plenty of belly laughs at the first weekly J.R.'s Comedy Club, hosted by Coco D'Amour Restaurant in Simi Valley on Saturday evenings. IRIS SMOOT Acorn Newspapers

The Simi Valley nightlife had a touch of laughter added to it after the Sat., June 2 debut of J.R.'s Comedy Club at Coco D'Amour on Tapo Street.

An island-style cuisine eatery by day, the restaurant, every Saturday at 9 p.m., transforms into a stand-up comedy spot, one that the organizer promises will host good-natured, quality comedians who have appeared on radio and late-night television programs.

"The shows are never going to be raunchy," said Randy Lubas, the club's founder. "Every week there will be great comics."

The original J.R.'s was founded in Valencia in 1998 by Lubas and his wife, Diana. Because of it's success, Lubas said, the club has now expanded to Simi Valley, where he hopes it will attract a mature Saturday night crowd.

"There's no entertainment for grown-up people anymore," Lubas said. "People can get a nice dinner and a great show right here for the normal price of only a dinner somewhere else."

Lubas, a stand-up comedian himself, closed out J.R.'s opening night with nearly an hour's worth of joke telling. Comedians Nehl Bobal and Lee Levine were the first on stage that evening, and both drew a good response.

"This is going to be the best comedy club in Simi Valley," joked comedian Lee Levine, who received much laughter throughout his set.

Levine appeared on stage after an introduction by Bobal, who performed about a 10-minute set himself and appeared to be well liked by the evening crowd. Bobal will continue to host J.R's Comedy Club every Saturday night, as well as open the shows.

Still, Lubas, a comedian for 20 years, was definitely the star of opening night. The Valencia resident even stuck around after the show to wish everybody a good night as the restaurant cleared out.

"I couldn't even breathe- he was relentless!" said Gina Koch, 23, of Lubas' act.

Koch, like several others, complimented Lubas and even purchased his live standup comedy album, "Worst Case Scenario" after the show.

J.R.'s will continue every Saturday night starting at 9 p.m. for $12, or a dinnerandashow special can be purchased at the door for $29.99.

Scheduled to appear tomorrow night is comic James P. Connolly. Described by industry professionals as a "young Steve Martin with a healthy dose of Ted Baxter" and possessing a "Bobby Darin swagger," Connolly has been entertaining the troops with the Comics on Duty World Tour in Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan and domestically since 2004.

Coco D'Amour is at 2321 Tapo St. behind McDonald's, and Randy Lubas can be found online at RandyLubas.com.