Comedians rarely take their acts beyond the lights of the stage.
"You'll find a lot of comics are humble," said Russ Rivas, owner of Laffs Comedy Club. "Most of them are very well-read, pretty educated - me being the exception, of course."
Each week, the club presents three performers. It was voted among the top 10 comedy clubs in the west by PM Magazine, Rivas said.
Rivas, a comedian, has met many comics while performing across the country.
"Which makes this pretty lucky, because comedy clubs aren't typically high budget," he said. "A lot of guys will come out to hang out for a week and do the club a favor. For instance, like in the week of Feb. 13, we have Tim O'Rourke. He was a bartender on 'The Drew Carey Show' and a writer for 'SpongeBob SquarePants.' He is hilarious. He's always been kind of a staple at the club."
In two weeks, Laffs will host Chris "Zoo Man" Clobber.
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"He just got picked for a show on Animal Planet," Rivas said. "He used to work at the San Diego Zoo. He has a little bit of animal jokes, but he's pretty observational. He talks about the freaky people who hang out in coffee shops, the really wired Unabomber-looking people who sit in the corner."
Vince Martin, from North Carolina, performed last week at Laffs. He got his start in New York five years ago.
"This is definitely one of my favorite clubs," Martin said. "The crowds are big, and they're smart."
Besides weekly stand-up performances, Laffs also has karaoke and 'Guitar Hero' night.
"I know so many people who hang out in their bedrooms or dorm rooms or their mom's basement," he said. "We wanted to give them an outlet with professional sound and lights to showcase what they've spent all that time alone doing. Who doesn't like to show off what they've done? But there's no place to do it other than having your friends over at the house."
He said 'Guitar Hero' night won't be boring, because even if someone's not talented at the game, the audience still gets good music.
Amateur comics can perform starting Feb. 13. Rivas said he'll host a short meeting at 7 p.m. to let people know how things work and how long they have to perform.
"A lot of people don't know how comedy works," he said. "They think you go on the Internet and find a bunch of jokes. It's not that way. You have to sit down and plan out your set list and what's funny and unique to you. And a lot of people think they can memorize an old Richard Pryor album and do it. If you do that in a professional environment, you'll never work. Unless your name is fuckin' Carlos Mencia, you can't do that. He is a notorious thief."
