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Giggles gets new place for laughter

By LOGAN NEILL
Published January 3, 2007

SPRING HILL - Starting Jan. 12, standup comedy fans in Hernando County will have a new place to get their laughs, when the Saints & Sinners Lounge takes over as the Friday night host of the Giggles Comedy Club.

The change of venue marks a rebirth of the 2-year-old effort by Giggles club owner Jay Thomas to establish a professional comedy club in Hernando County. Thomas had operated Giggles inside the Best Western Resort in Weeki Wachee for nearly two years before the resort's ownership terminated the agreement in December.

"Hernando County has been a good home to our club, and we didn't want to let it get away from us," Thomas said. Saints & Sinners "is going to be a nice place for comedy."

Saints & Sinners Lounge co-owner Rob Starz agreed, saying he thinks live comedy will fit well with the eclectic nature of the venue, which is in the Mariner Village plaza.

"We're trying to be diverse and offer lots of different things to people," Starz said of the club, which features everything from burlesque to hip-hop dancing. "We had been wanting to try comedy for a long time, but we weren't sure how to go about it. Having Giggles is great because it has an established following."

Thomas, who has presented entertainment for such venues as Walt Disney World and Universal Studios, launched his comedy club in the early 1990s. He and his wife, Candy, operate six Giggles, which are located throughout Florida.

In 2002, the couple opened their first Hernando County Giggles club in the former Bentley's Restaurant in Spring Hill but closed it a little more than a year later when the restaurant changed ownership. In March 2005, the Thomases opened a Giggles franchise at the Weeki Wachee Best Western and later expanded to another location in Homosassa, which also closed in December.

Thomas is hopeful that he can find a suitable venue in either Pasco or Citrus counties for an additional club.

"Being able to offer another club date would be helpful in getting the caliber of comedians we want to attract," he said.

Two comedians are slated to open the Giggles club at the Saints & Sinners Lounge with a performance at 8:30 p.m. Jan. 12. Headlining the show will be Mike McCarthy, who bills himself as "the Comedy Barbarian" and has appeared in comedy specials on the Showtime and A&E networks.

Also appearing will be Matt Bellace. Tickets to the performance are $7. For information, call (352) 686-5171.

Logan Neill can be reached at (352) 848-1435 or lneill@sptimes.com.

[Last modified January 3, 2007, 10:49:39]