Desert dwellers will get a double dose this month of what’s commonly referred to as the best medicine — laughter.
Jason Stuart
Stand-up comedian Jason Stuart, who’s appeared in TV’s “The Closer” and “House,” will take the stage at 7 p.m. June 21 at Hunters Nightclub, 302 E. Arenas Road in Palm Springs.
Stuart is expected to riff on his experiences as a single, Jewish, gay man in Hollywood, an act that’s been described as original, cutting-edge and, of course, funny.
He’s appearing as a part of Moxie Studios’ Out for Laughs (for the Boys) series. It’s the 10th show in the series; the first six were slanted toward a lesbian audience.
Consistent entertainment for lesbians was sorely lacking in the Coachella Valley prior to Hunters’ support for the series, says Shann Carr, executive producer of Moxie Studios.
Carr, a comedian for 26 years, says she wanted to offer LGBT- and gender-specific comedy with the series.
“It’s not that gays don’t understand straight comedy,” she says. “It’s just that comedy is about seeing a reflection of yourself. It’s why gay comedy is so fabulous for gay people.”
Though the June 21 show is once again the guys’ turn to yuck it up, a co-ed audience is always welcome, Carr adds.
Tickets are $10 in advance at www.shanncarr.com or $12 at the door.
Out For Laughs is the latest but not the only comedy series designed for a desert audience.
For more than two years, Comedy Night at Azul has showcased comedians from L.A. and beyond. Each month three comics engage a diverse audience of Palm Springs residents and visitors in a night of good, old-fashioned belly laughs.
“We did the first show as an experiment,” says Randal Black of Blackwell-Black Productions. “The casinos have the big names that come out, but there wasn’t an intimate setting in Palm Springs.”
The experiment paid off, with people coming out for the first several shows. And what some consider a rare occurrence took place: the series drew people from mid-valley to Palm Springs.
“Everybody needs to laugh,” Black says.
Like the comics, the Azul audiences are gay and straight, he adds.
The appeal of the gig for comedians is the Palm Springs audience, which is far less cynical than what they might be accustomed to, according to Black.
“They laugh, they’re intelligent — it’s just a more appreciative audience and word has gotten out across the country,” he says.
Twenty-eight sold-out performances later — each with a minimum of 120 seats — a new show is planned for 7:30 p.m. June 30 at Azul, 369 N. Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs. The pre-show starts at 6:30 p.m.
The show will feature Jackie Loeb of Australia, Jerry Rocha of “Last Comic Standing” and Rob O’Reilly of “America’s Got Talent.” Admission is $10, and reservations are encouraged. Call (760) 325-5533.
The success of Comedy Night has spawned a new quarterly series from Blackwell-Black Productions. It features a solo big-name comedian instead of three up-and-coming acts. Titled An Evening With, the series’ inaugural show last month featured Judy Tenuta.
