Slapsticks Comedy Club opens in Bethel Park
David Kaye is bringing laughter to the South Hills with Slapsticks Comedy Club at the Crowne.
David Kaye
Talk about targeted marketing.
Say you’re with a comedy club promoting a guy who works as a urologist by day and cracks jokes at night. You might want to do something along the lines of what David Kaye did.
“These particular postcards,” the head of SlapSticks Productions LLC said while holding a stack of printed promos, “went out to about 160 urology associations throughout the region. And it actually drew some people in.”
Those folks who focus on, uh, male plumbing will join what looks to be a crowded house for the Oct. 7 debut of Slapsticks Comedy Club at the Crowne.
OK, let’s be thorough and include the entirety of the venue’s official title: Crowne Plaza Hotel and Suites Pittsburgh South, on Fort Couch Road in Bethel Park.
Whatever the case, Dr. Rich Harkaway, bringing his “Mommy Doesn’t Love Us!” comedy show all the way from Philadelphia, will join local favorite Sean Collier for what Kaye calls the club’s “soft” opening, giving staff members at the newly renovated hotel an opportunity to get acclimated to serving a roomful of comedy enthusiasts.
The grand opening, so to speak, is Oct. 29, featuring Erie’s own Mike Stankiewicz and his “Blues Man of Comedy” act.
“I think Mike is the perfect comic for this club, because he’s got that hip kind of vibe to him,” Kaye said. “He reminds me of a Jack Kerouac kind of guy. He has that same writing style, and he’s very poetic in his standup.”
Joining Stankiewicz will be frequent Pittsburgh radio guest comic Mike Wysocki. And of course, with the show two days before Halloween, guests are welcome to dress up as their favorite witches, warlocks or whatever for the obligatory costume contest.
Speaking of holidays, Thanksgiving weekend has musical parodist – and Peters Township High School graduate! – Tom Anzalone headlining at Slapsticks.
“I would say he’s a pared-down Al Yankovic,” Kaye said about his style. “And he plays the guitar vs. the accordion.”
Joining Anzalone will be Terry Jones, the Pittsburgh-based and much younger version of the same-named Monty Python’s Flying Circus legend.
And speaking of legends – at least, in the context of this article – is Mr. Kaye, himself, who is doing double duty on New Year’s Eve with a dinner show and then a second set as midnight approaches.
“I’ve always sought attention, and that’s what really got me into the business,” the Crafton resident said about going the comedy-as-a-career route. “I was in engineering, and I just wasn’t getting the gratification that I needed in my day job. I found the gratification came from performance.”
His performances usually draw on his own experiences and his own personality: “You have to be someone that people want to talk with in the line at the grocery story,” he explained.
In that sense, his comedy is comparable to the likes of Wanda Sykes – hey, who can resist gratuitous rhyming? – along with Jim Gaffigan, Kevin James, John Mulaney and the man who’s made the most money with everyman humor, Jerry Seinfeld.
“People are like, ‘Yeah, I’d hang out with them. I’d ask them to go to a football game, or invite them over for dinner,'” Kaye said. “That’s the kind of persona that works for me.”
These days, his material often reflects the sensibilities of someone who has passed the half-century mark. So does his life in general.
“I find now that I’m doing things with an urgency,” he said. “I feel that there are certain things that I have to get done. And I don’t know if opening this comedy club is one of those things I need to get done, but it just feels right for me at this time.”
For more information, visit slapsticksproductions.com.