The following is excerpted from a talk about Comedy and Magic Club owner Mike Lacey in 2012 when El Camino College recognized Lacey as a Distinguished Alumnus.
Mike Lacey was just 24 in 1977, when he opened Comedy and Magic Club. He stuttered, was dyslexic and had stage fright. To this day, I donβt think heβs ever set foot on his own stage in the presence of an audience.
And perhaps most damning of all, he had a passionate dislike for alcohol, the one thing that makes clubs money.
Comedy and Magic Club may be the only nightclub in the country where two drinks is the limit, not the minimum. Ask for a shot of tequila or whiskey and youβll get a shot on ice, with water. He wonβt allow straight shots to be served.
Heckling is an accepted part of comedy, but rudeness isnβt, not at the Comedy and Magic Club. Guests who ignore the performers in favor of entertaining themselves at their tables Β are asked to be quiet or leave.
When Lacey opened the Comedy and Magic Club the popular image of a comedy club was a seedy bar with a bad sound system and strippers. Comedy and Magic, by contrast, was described by an early reviewer as a Cathedral to Comedy. The sound system was recording quality. Even the confetti carpet was custom designed.
Lacey has made continual improvements to his club
A few years ago he installed Smithsonian quality dioramas of famous comediansβ costumes. Guests waiting for Gary Seinfeld or Robin Williams to appear on stage could admire Seinfeldβs βPuffy Shirtβ and Williamsβ βPopeyeβ costume. Costumes worn by Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, WC Fields and Buster Keaton and a bumper car from βToy Storyβ are among the other displays.
Lacey began collecting costumes not as investments, but because the studios were throwing them out and he thought the history of comedy should be preserved.
He keeps his most important costume in storage, not out of security concerns, but out of concern for the sensitivities of his guests. It is Charlie Chaplinβs βGreat Dictatorβ costume.
Lacey was inspired to open a comedy club after visiting the Comedy Store in Hollywood and seeing the then unknown Robin Williams.
From the start, he understood comedians needed to be respected. That included being paid, no matter what his clubβs financial difficulties might be.
Thatβs the reason Jay Leno, Kevin Nealon, Jerry Seinfeld, Gary Shandling, Jimmy Brogan keep coming back.
Itβs why Seinfeld and Rosanne Barr worked out their new stand-up routines in Hermosa Beach after their hit shows ended.
Lacey showed them respect when no one else would. Just as he continues to to do today to the unknown but no less talented comedians who appear every night at Comedy and Magic Club.
