
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 11, 1995                   TAG: 9505110017
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CAROL TEEGARDIN KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SOMETHING FUNNY IS GOING ON IN DETROIT

Ray Lambert saw something missing from Detroit's historic theater district. In this predominantly black city, there were no downtown comedy clubs bringing in nationally known African-American and Hispanic comics on a nightly basis.

So last fall he got together with theater district developer Chuck Forbes and result is the city's newest comedy club, All Jokes Aside.

``This is a city that has a huge black population and I didn't see any comedy clubs in the area that have been been set up specifically for this market, so I brought [All Jokes Aside] in,'' says Forbes. ``It brings a diverse population to the center of our city. It's just good business.''

There are other small venues for comedy in downtown Detroit - such as Bea's Comedy Kitchen, which features mostly local stand-up comedians, and Second City-Detroit, which showcases ensemble comedy. There are also comedy nights in various bars and restaurants throughout the metro area.

What All Jokes Aside is doing is featuring some of the nation's top talent nightly - Sinbad or Shirley Hemphill or Carlos Mencia or Steve Harvey - who have all appeared in their own shows on cable and network television. Local talent is a part of the mix. Most clubs in the nation often feature national African-American and Hispanic comics, but not on a nightly basis.

``There are about 400 mainstream comedy clubs that do one-nighters for African-American and Hispanic comedians. But that's not their full-time business,'' says Lambert, who will manage the club and produce the shows. ``You might see one minority comedian one night a week. At our place, you'll see minority comics the majority of the time.''

Despite ongoing renovations to the building, All Jokes Aside has been open on weekends since January and, so far, the response has been positive. On Saturday nights, it has been common to find long lines of predominately African-American and Hispanic patrons ranging in age from 25 to 40.

Lambert and his partners hope to have the same kind of success in Detroit that they've had with their All Jokes Aside club in Chicago, which they own and run. And the intent will be the same - to book mostly African-American and Hispanic comics.

Lambert knows of only three other African-American-owned comedy clubs in the country besides his clubs - the others are Uptown Comedy Corner in Atlanta, the Comedy Stop in Columbus and the Comedy Act Theatre in Los Angeles, all with a similar format.

by CNB