Funny business rules at Munster comedy shows

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Chicago's Patti Vasquez performs her comedy in Munster on Feb. 24. | Photo Provided

If you go

What: “Comedy Night”

Where: The Center for Visual and Performing Arts, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster

Who: Jack Mayberry, with
Tiffany Ellen, Jan. 27

Frank Del Pizzo, with
Bill Brady, Feb. 10

Patti Vasquez, with
John McDonnell, Feb. 24

When: The buffet dinner is from 7 to 8 p.m.; show begins at 8:15 p.m. A cash bar is available.

Tickets: $32, includes dinner and show: Tickets need to be paid for in advance. A limited number of tickets are available at the door. Call 836-1930.

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Maps

Updated: February 28, 2012 8:07AM

Nick Gaza is giving Northwest Indiana an opportunity to laugh.

He’s making it convenient, too.

Gaza, a Schererville resident who’s a veteran comedy-club comic, produces “Comedy Night” at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts in Munster.

Professional stand-up comedians are performing in a series of four shows that continue Friday, Jan. 27, with Jack Mayberry, who’s appeared on NBC’s “Tonight Show” more than two dozen times, according to his website. Mayberry gained a reputation for impersonating colorful presidential candidate Ross Perot.

“We’re getting A-list entertainment in our back yard at a great price,” Gaza, 46, said.

He feels he books comedy shows that are a cost-efficient alternative to the Chicago comedy-club scene.

“You don’t have to drive downtown,” said Gaza, who grew up in East Chicago and has displayed his jester side at big-name clubs such as the Improv in Los Angeles and Catch a Rising Star in New York City.

At “Comedy Night” in Munster, tickets cover a full evening.

“We’re at $32, and that includes dinner and the show,” said Gaza, also noting the free parking.

The “Comedy Night” series kicked off Jan. 13 with Bil Dwyer, known for his recurring role as Valerie Bertinelli’s ex-husband on “Hot in Cleveland,” the hit TV Land sitcom.

Chicago funny lady Patti Vasquez headlines Feb. 24.

Vasquez has spread her humor with television appearances on Fox’s “Good Day Chicago” and the “WGN Morning News.”

She said she bases her humor on “personal stories — things that happen to me.”

Vasquez’s experiences in the world around her provide inspirational fodder.

“I tell those stories on stage, and my reactions to stupidity or ignorance, and also my own stupidity and ignorance,” she said.

For Vasquez, the tricky job of trying to get consistent laughs from an audience carries its own rewards.

“I think it’s one of the most pure forms of art,” Vasquez said of stand-up comedy. “It sounds so hoity-toity, but there’s no music to rely on. There’s often not even a script. Sometimes we just react to what’s happening in the room. It’s very immediately consumed by the audience, and you get the reaction instantaneously. You know whether or not they like it.”

The knack for getting a positive response from the public is a quality possessed by Frank Del Pizzo, who stars at the Feb. 10, “Comedy Night.”

Del Pizzo has popped up on TV’s Comedy Central channel, while also snaring television exposure on outlets such as ABC, ESPN and Showtime.

A 1983 graduate of Bishop Noll Institute in Hammond, Gaza is happily promoting his cavalcade of comics at the Munster venue.

“The shows are in the banquet room, where you have dinner before the show, and you just
stay right there and then the show takes place right in the banquet room,” Gaza said. “It’s a buffet — all you can eat and all you can laugh.”