Brenda Ahearn/The Gazette
Michelle Foreman of Baltimore performs a stand-up comedy routine at the Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club in Oxon Hill.
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Tables fill the room at the Laugh Out Loud at Club Elite Thursday open mic night with the lights centered on the stage and microphone.
A Redskins game means a small audience this night, but Lawrence Owens takes the stage and performs with the same energy and precision as if the room were filled to capacity, which it sometimes reaches on weekend shows.
"I like people who live in Upper Marlboro or Fort Washington, as if they've never seen a roach before," he says, proceeding to yell and run from an imaginary cockroach. The audience bursts into laughter.
Owens opened his set with regional jokes, a nod to audience members from the county, as they laughed in agreement.
Laugh Out Loud at Club Elite may be the county's only comedy club, but the county is home to a number of comics and comedy nights, providing residents with a variety of inexpensive, and sometimes free, nights of entertainment.
"Open mics for comics is like going to the gym for body builders," Mitchellville resident and comic Damien Hicks said.
Sometimes Laugh Out Loud weekend headliners, like Earthquake, perform at the club's open mics as well, Williams said.
Laugh Out Loud is the only comedy club in the region dedicated to urban comedy, club manager Troy Williams said. The next closest is in Baltimore.
A lot of couples and groups of women attend the club's weekend shows, club manager Eddie Bryant said, and the club has hosted Def Comedy Jam casting calls and regulars who performed with Greenbelt-native Martin Lawrence for his recent comedy special, "First Amendment Standup."
The audience at Laugh Out Loud demands quality performances, Bryant added, saying it stems from a 30-year-old tradition of comedy in the metropolitan area.
"We have a high comedy IQ," Bryant said. "You can't just do all hood jokes, and you can't do all political jokes … We are going to give you the authentic laugh."
Some of the newer comics at the Laugh Out Loud open mic tried out jokes that didn't go over so well, but the audience stayed with them and laughed at others throughout their sets.
Hicks said the lack of big-name comics keeps some people away from open mics. But, he noted, open mics allow audiences to see potentially famous comics before they hit the big time.
And laughter isn't the only interaction audience members have with the comics. Some comics, like Owens, constantly asked audience members questions and talked to them in a conversational manner, making his comedic prowess seem effortless.
Audience member BJ Jenkins was dubbed by Owens as "Usher" for most of the night because of his appearance, but Jenkins played along and said he didn't mind. Most of comedy shows Jenkins had previously attended featured big-name comics like John Witherspoon. But he was impressed with Owen's command on the stage as he hosted the open mic.
"I laughed at him more than I laughed at Chris Tucker and Chris Rock," Jenkins said.
But north county residents don't have to travel to southern Prince George's for a good laugh. EJ's Landing in College Park is home to a regular comedy night every Saturday night with varying shows. Some Saturdays are open mics and others are themed shows like the recent "Lawyers Can Be Funny, too," a show that featured lawyers-turned-comics.
"My main reason in starting the room is to give comics another place to find work," organizer Irwin Weinstein said.
The crowd varies and often draws hotel guests, he added. Open mics also allow audience members to watch seasoned comics work on their material.
"It's not really an expensive thing to do … and very often you get to see the creative process at work," he said. "What else would you be doing? It's cheaper than a movie."
Cassandra Archer of Greenbelt performs "clean comedy," so she doesn't use profanity. She hosts a family comedy night about once a month at EJ's Landing. Archer said there is a variety of comedy that is showcased at the open mics throughout the county.
"There's clean, there's wild," she said. "Not everybody sees comedy in the same way."
Adding to the variety of comedy opportunities in the county is Mount Rainier's New Horizon Christian Faith Church, which hosts a comedy show and dinner every third Friday of the month.
The shows, which feature three to four comedians performing Christian comedy, are family-friendly and groups from other churches attend as well. They began about five months ago and attendees are urged to reserve a table in advance since some shows have sold out in the past, Pastor Charlene Monk said.
Comics at the show tell jokes dealing with their personal experiences and family life, Monk said.
And although there is a serious aspect of church, Monk said it can also bring laughter into people's lives.
"Jesus laughed, so why cant we?" she said. "Laughter is good because sometimes you may feel really low, but then you come into a show and feel the ministry of laughter, people that have the ministry to make you to laugh."
E-mail Elahe Izadi at eizadi@gazette.net.
IF YOU GO
Laugh Out Loud at Club Elite
-3285 Brinkley Road, Temple Hills. 301-894-7668
-Open mics every Thursday, free for women until 11 p.m., $5 for men.
-Comedy shows every Friday and Saturday, $10 at the door.
EJ's Landing
-8601 Baltimore Ave., College Park. 301-474-5951
-Comedy shows and open mics every Saturday.
-Open mics, free. Comedy shows, $5 at the door.
New Horizon Christian
Faith Church
-Hall of Elegance, 2209 Varnum St., Mount Rainier. 301-277-5922.
-Christian comedy and dinner every third Friday, 7:30 p.m.
-Suggested donation of $10 in advance, $15 at the door, and $20 for dinner and show. Call to RSVP.
