The Comedy Store

Founded in 1972, The Comedy Store continues the tradition of showcasing top-notch talent to this day. On any night you can watch newcomers and legends on one stage. The story of The Comedy Store is also the story of a family. Sammy Shore was a comedian who had his own local TV show in Detroit when he met Mitzi, a young college student who would become not only his assistant, but also his wife. In the mid-1960s, Sammy moved his family to Los Angeles after landing a gig opening for Trini Lopez on the Sunset Strip. It was in this sunny vista that Sammy decided to open a club with his friend and fellow comedian/writer Rudy Deluca. The pair rented a room in the building that had formerly housed Ciro's, a nightspot that had for years attracted some of Hollywood's most glamorous stars. Sammy originally wanted to call it The Sammy Shore Room, but Deluca talked him out of it. Mitzi then came up with the name The Comedy Store, and on April 10, 1972, the venue opened to huge business. It was helped even further by the decision by Johnny Carson to move The Tonight Show to the West Coast, essentially creating a seismic shift in the comedy world, which had previously been centered in New York and Las Vegas. Witnesses have reported that, appropriately enough, a prankster ghost haunts this building. Employees have stacked roomfuls of chairs away only to find that, seconds later, they were all set up again. A dark entity also is said to reside in the basement. Comedians Blake Clark and Joey Gaynor have reportedly witnessed the haunting.