On June 1, Gary Bynum walked through the doors of Laffs Comedy Caffe with a mission. There was work to do. Bathrooms needed to be gutted. The carpet and tile had to go. The bar at the foyer needed a face-lift. The celebrity pictures hanging in the lobby needed updating. There were plumbing issues that had been long ignored. The walls begged for fresh paint. Except, that is, for the back wall in his office. It is stained yellowish from the sun beating onto it through two small windows, and there is a visible film of dust collected over the years. That wall, with Rainy-n-Colby's mural of W.C. Fields, the Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, inspires Bynum as he begins the task of rebuilding Laffs — the comedy club he opened in 1988 and hasn't run in a dozen years. "I'm going to make this the showcase it once was," he said last Wednesday.
Nearly 20 years to the hour after he opened Laffs, Bynum was back in the hot seat. He took over the club from longtime owner Scotty Goff, a comedian who bought it from Bynum in 1996. Bynum said Goff left the business for health reasons.
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When Bynum walked through those doors on June 1, he was greeted by 15 local comedians standing on scaffolds and ladders, deep-cleaning the walls. A few of his neighbors, including a guy who flies jets for the military, also came to help.
They ripped out and replaced the old carpet and tile. They painted the walls in burnished tones. The women's bathroom was gutted first and made over with new tile, toilets, sleek sinks and lighting fixtures. The men's bathroom got a similar makeover.
All the while, Bynum never missed a beat. The club remained open throughout the renovations, which are ongoing. Last Wednesday, workers were putting the final touches on the men's bathroom just hours before the club opened for the night.
To date, Bynum estimated that he and his wife/partner, Denise, have sunk $75,000 into remaking the club in its 1980s-early-'90s image.
He's not finished yet.
"I'm making it a lean, mean comedy machine," he said, noting that he has reduced the square footage to make the club even more intimate.
He also has reduced the hours; Laffs is open only on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Thursdays are for local comedians, and Fridays and Saturdays are for national touring acts. He also added a third show — a dinner show — to the Saturday lineup.
So far, word from the comics and agents has been positive, he says. He's confident customers will also embrace the changes.
The cosmetic work merely scratches the surface. Bynum's biggest challenge is to change the public's perception of and confidence in the club. He started by revamping the Web site, which in recent years was rarely updated. He also is booking in-demand road comics from high-profile clubs like the Hollywood Improv, Denver's Comedy Works and New York's Gotham Comedy Club, home of Vanessa Hollingshead, who will headline Laffs Oct. 17-18.
Bynum conceded that the comedy business in Tucson is much different today than when he opened Laffs in 1988. He had no competition back then; today comedians regularly perform at the Fox Tucson Theatre, Rialto Theatre, the Tucson Arena, Tucson Music Hall and the area's two casinos.
But Bynum has never really gone after those big-stage comedians. He offers an intimate space for comics on the rise, "comics of tomorrow here, now, before they're a big name," he said.
Examples over the years have included Tim Allen, David Spade, Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen DeGeneres, David Brenner, Paul Rodriguez, Brett Butler, Kevin Pollak, Paula Poundstone, Pablo Francisco, Dennis Miller and Dana Carvey.
The Bynums have spent the past dozen years in semi-retirement, tending to their Tucson and Phoenix commercial real estate holdings. Getting back into the comedy business was the last thing they imagined doing.
"You know what's scary? I didn't know this was my element," Bynum said. "Now that I'm getting back into it, I want to make it sing. I want to bring old blood to the old club."
Laffs Comedy Caffe
• Where: 2900 E. Broadway.
• Cost: $10 at the door, $15 for preferred seating; reservations encouraged.
• Details: 323-8669 or online at www.laffstucson.com.
• Showtimes: Open mic and local comics, 8 p.m. Thursdays; national comics, 8 and 10:30 p.m. Fridays, 6:30, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Saturdays.
• Coming up: Ben Creed, one show only at 10:30 p.m. Friday, three shows on Saturday; Jason Russell, July 11-12; Troy Baxley, July 18-19.
