Episode 10: Serving Up Laughs - Comedy Club Chaos from Behind the Tray with Scott Edwards

What happens when you're trying to serve drinks and dinner while a comedian is absolutely crushing it on stage?

In this episode, I'm chatting with Scott Edwards, a man who has spent over 40 years on the fringe of show business producing live stage shows, concerts, and TV with acts like Jay Leno, Bob Saget, Dana Carvey, Willie Tyler & Lester, and so many more. 

But today we're talking about the unsung heroes of his comedy clubs, the serving staff :) The people balancing trays in the dark, navigating hecklers, dodging punchlines, and somehow keeping a straight face while the room breaks out in laughter around them. Scott shares the funniest, wildest, and most unforgettable moments his servers experienced while working the floor.

We'll cover:

• What it's really like serving tables at a live comedy show
• The hilarious moments when servers became part of the act
• Dealing with audiences who forget you're a person, not a prop
• The unique challenges of hospitality in an entertainment venue
• Scott's wildest stories from decades of running comedy clubs

If you've ever worked in a restaurant and thought YOUR job was chaotic, wait until you hear what comedy club servers go through. This one is packed with laughs.

Check out Scott Edwards: 

🌐 Website — http://www.scottscomedystuff.com 

🎙️ Scott's podcast is available on Spotify — https://open.spotify.com/show/7eZ0sIyArgkDD9FxOeHM3X?si=ebf4767c6f6545eb 

You can also find his podcast on Stitcher, iHeart, Pandora, Apple, Google, Podchaser, and more!

Don't forget to tip your favorite waitress!

Click on the link to help out the podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/bitterwaitress

Support the show (https://buymeacoffee.com/bitterwaitress)

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Don't forget to tip your waitress, a famous line that's used by many stand-up comics. So, what goes on in the wild world of serving tables at a comedy club? Today we have Scott Edwards, who owned a chain of comedy clubs in the 80s and 90s, to tell us all about it. So today's guest is uh gonna be Scott Edwards. He's been on the fringe of show business for over 40 years. At just 24 years old in 1980, Scott opened Laughs Unlimited, the 12th full-time comedy club in the United States. He fell in with comedy legends like Bob Sagitt, Dave Coulier, Gary Shanling, and helped develop talents like Paula Poundstone and Dana Carvey, to name a few. Scott worked with icons like Graham Chapman from Monty Python, Soupy Sales, Tommy Chong, love him, and even had Tom Hanks work on his live comedy stage. He's produced three TV series, countless concerts, and thousands of live comedy shows. This man is an expert in all things comedy, and I'm so excited to have him here with us today. Hey Scott, how's it going?

SPEAKER_01 1:09

Yasmin, I'm so excited to be talking to all the waitresses and audience people you have out there. It's incredible. And yes, I'm R. Scott Edwards. Thank you. Set it down, down and back. Here we go. We're here to have a good time on the podcast. I'm so excited, Yasmin. And I've been checking out your podcast. You're doing a great job. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

Thank you. Thank you. I mean, there's nothing like talking about the absurd behavior of customers when they come out to dine and to eat. They just have there's some great stories, always, always.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

There's nothing like the uh paying public to uh brighten up your day. I gotta tell you, first off, let's make it clear I'm not a stand-up comic. I am a producer. I did produce some TV series, I did several large concerts, and of course, I had three comedy clubs and ran those for about 21 years. Uh I'm out of the business now, but I do comedy podcasts now. So I love stand-up comedy. I've been a part of it for uh most of my life, and uh part of the success I've had is the quality of waitresses that have worked for me over the years, not only in my comedy clubs, but I owned uh a few restaurants, a jazz club, and and a few other things. And waitresses are the backbone of any service operation.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

I love that I love hearing that because it's one of these one of these positions that almost feels like an invisible job role to most. Um, and what is um I think super interesting is that comedy clubs in specific, I had one shift, one shift at a comedy club, and then I was out of there because it's actually really hard. Like serving drinks in the dark, there were stairs to where the the customers were. I almost ate shit a few times, like just trying to serve these beverages. It is not easy. So I'm so interested in some of these cool stories that you have to share with us.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Well, and yeah, let's educate the uh listening audience because being a cocktail waitress is hard enough uh in a bar and a nightclub, uh, you know, trying to deal with the noise and and the obnoxious customers and the exchange of uh money. But a comedy club is like a step above. It's like the Mount Everest of waitressing, because for those that weren't aware, when there's a live show going on, you have to make you do have to kind of become invisible, which means whether they're sitting in the front row, which is m where it's mostly important, but even in the back rows, uh my waitresses would have to crouch down to uh deal with in uh you know, do the financial transaction and deal with customers, and then you'd have to whisper so you didn't interrupt the show, so you would whisper and the audience or the customers would hopefully whisper back, and that means you have to hear it over the din of the club. And uh the strength it took in the arms and legs to go down at every table and get the order, bring the drinks, it it was uh such a challenging situation. And then Yasmin, I come my clubs, uh I'm an old guy, see the gray hair. Uh my clubs, I had them in the eighties and nineties. So this was before um massive use of credit cards, and so all my waitresses were cash business people. They had to provide their own hundred dollar bank.

SPEAKER_03 4:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

They actually purchased the drinks at the waitress window, and then they would go out and sell them.

unknown 4:47

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

Right?

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

So they would go to the table and then say, Hey, you owe me eight bucks or nine bucks or whatever, and they would do the cash transaction right there at the table. Again, in the dark, trying not to interrupt the show and trying to make it all, you know, work. And then the way you know they got tipped was at the end of the night, uh, they had already purchased their drinks, so anything in their bank over $100 was their money.

SPEAKER_04 5:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

And my girls uh were making, you know, anywhere from $80 to $150 a night.

SPEAKER_00 5:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:22

No, it's 1980s money. It was a lot of money.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

It was a lot of money back then. Yeah. I grew up in like the 80s and 90s, and I I remember that being no, yeah, it's true. Oh, I appreciate that. Thank you. But definitely, like back in the day, like that amount of money was was really, really good. Even, I mean, even now, like it's nothing to scoff at. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

And my young ladies, and and I have to admit, it's a sexist industry. I know there's male waitress waiters out there, but in the most nightclubs and especially comedy clubs, it's 100% uh female waitresses. I don't, I think it's because they can make more money and and they're very adept at uh the job, uh, to be honest. I never had uh a male employee ask to be a waitress. I think it's not, as you said, it's a difficult and sometimes a thankless job. And uh uh anyway, uh just so excited to share the information because they don't get a lot of attention, and especially my waitresses, which were like family. We we always had a kind of a family atmosphere in my club. Uh they were such an important part, uh big cog of the machine.

SPEAKER_02 6:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

Uh I and I don't mean to extrapolate, but as a producer, uh I have to pay the entertainers and I have to pay the staff and I have to pay for rent and lease and pay for all the product. So I'm collecting the door money, and I have to make money off the drinks. It's a very important part of the operation. And uh I would say, you know, 30 to 40 percent of the income comes from uh drink sales, and then you have some food sales, and then of course you have the door. But the waitresses really always stepped up, and what was great was because uh they were getting paid minimum wage, but back then it was like $1.75 an hour, I don't know, $2.50 an hour, it wasn't much. Their real income came from the tips, so they never lounged around or goofed off because they were losing money if they were not selling drinks. Uh now a lot of clubs these days have a what's called a two-drink minimum, Yasmin. Have you been out and had to deal with that?

SPEAKER_00 7:44

Oh, definitely. Like you just um because a lot of businesses are afraid of the liability if somebody jumps in their car and like oh, two drink minimum. Like you have to purchase the two drinks. Oh, I work at a casual dining restaurant, so ours, ours is like a two-drink maximum. We don't want people drinking, we don't want we don't want grandpa joe being like all over the place, so it's a little bit different with with uh with my restaurant, but the two drink minimum, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

I was just gonna make the point that as a uh family man, I didn't believe in the two drink minimum. You know, if people wanted to buy a drink, go for it. If they didn't want to buy a drink, no problem. In fact, we had a situation where if we had a designated driver in a group, they got free sodas and coffee through the uh evening. Um, I was lucky because I was doing comedy shows in my nightclubs. People would come in, sit down, see an hour and a half show, and leave. So they weren't hanging around like a regular bar and where they could get too intoxicated. However, of course, people would go and drink before the show and come in. And so the waitresses not only were doing financial transactions, trying to make a living, and trying to do it quietly and while crouching in the front row to not interrupt the show, they were also basically the drink police. If they had somebody that was uh um uh you know getting a little loud or they could tell was intoxicated, I put it on them to one, let me know, because I not only was the club owner, but I was the bouncer. Yeah, but also you know, to limit how much they would serve them. You know, like if you had a table that was already somewhat intoxicated, you might not go to them two or three times in the in an hour and a half. You might go to them once and then or recommend, hey, would you like some free coffee or water?

SPEAKER_00 9:39

Water, yeah, definitely. That's uh industry sort of known when you feel like someone's had too much to drink, you sort of dodge the table so that they don't they don't ask you and you don't have to feel that uncomfortable conversation of telling them like, hey, hey, buddy, you've had too much. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

Right. And then as me as the boss, if I found that the table was a little extra obnoxious or something, I would tell the waitress, hey, give those people low service or um stay away from them, and and then I would deal with them as the bouncer to tell them that it was time to be quiet or leave. But uh still the waitresses had a tough job because they were kind of caught between me, uh I won't say me, management of any operation, uh, manager, owner, whatever, the management and the customer that bridge was the waitresses, and then in the front bar to be the bartenders. And um it's so important for a business owner or a show producer as I am to trust the people that you're putting in that responsible position. Now, you may know Yasmin. What type of waitressing were you doing?

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Um, so uh I still still doing it, and it's at a at a casual dining restaurant, it's um a high volume restaurant, it's more families and um retired folks, and that's the the typical clientele that we get. But like I said, I did uh I did a shift at a well-known comedy chain, and it's uh it's it's not it's not easy. So um uh any sort of nightclub, sort of evening event where there is a lot of alcohol being served, that's an even bigger challenge because, like you said, you have to be that police, but it has to, you also have to make a living, like you gotta keep the lights on at home, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 11:29

Right, right. No, no, and that's why I always showed a lot of respect to my waitresses because they were in that delicate position between management and customers, and they had these other jobs where they had to stay quiet, not interrupt the show, and this and that. Now, there are some pluses to being a cocktail waitress in a comedy club. One, they made really good money. I mean, the people were in and out in an hour and a half. We would have two shows each night on the weekends, so they could make bank. Um, you know, during the week it's quieter, maybe 20, 50, 80 people. They don't make as much, but on the weekends, uh, just like the club, they were they were making some good money. The other thing was um, one, we treated them like family, so everybody uh would do a lot of uh after show event, you know, we would have some fun, or on uh days off, we would take uh groups of staff out for uh parties or picnics or uh river rafting or whatever, you know, there was a lot of side stuff. But I wanted to lead to that one of the things that you probably don't get in a dining restaurant, Yasmin, is that the waitresses were seeing some of the best stand-up comics in the country. We're coming through. I was in A-list room, much like the improv or the comedy store. Yeah, so some of the best, you mentioned some names in the beginning, were coming through the club. So the waitresses were also enjoying the show when they weren't working, yeah, and it was so funny because it by the end of the week they could almost do the guy's act. Yeah, if you hear the same act over and over for six or seven nights, I didn't memorize yeah, it's not quite as funny, but you have the act down.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

I love it, and that was like a really special time in comedy 80s and 90s stand-up is where a lot of these legends were born, like that's where they were starting really their careers, like your, you know, like Jerry Seinfeld, and um, you know, we have all like Dana Carvey. I mean, like, you know, just huge names, and so it must have been so incredible to just be able to see that in you know, in the beginning of their careers. Was there anybody that came through that you're like, wow, that was I I can't believe I had that opportunity?

SPEAKER_01 13:50

Well, you know, what's interesting is I've been in show business on the fringe of show business for uh so many decades that uh I don't get wowed like uh an average person, but and as a producer, I was paying them. So I was their boss, you know, Ray Romano and and Gary Shangling and some of these guys, Harry Anderson, that were um, you know, really famous. Well, not all really famous. What's interesting, you named uh dropped a lot of people. Paula Poundstone, for example. Yeah, we were one of the first clubs that she worked when she left uh Boston, and she was only the only comic I ever let work three weeks in a row so she could find her comedy and find her act. And then we introduced her to Gary Sandling, who introduced her to Robin Williams, and they both kind of took her under their wings and helped her develop because she was as she she still is kind of a bizarre entertainer. Uh she was much, much more when she was young. But my point of the story is um my club is a stepping stone to TV shows like Ray Romano's show or or Bob Sagitt, Dave Coulier with Full House. And so they weren't always famous when they were working in the early days, right? But some of them became very famous. Jay Leno worked for me many, many times, and uh they would come back because they their roots were in my club, so they would come back after their fame. Uh, for example, Bob Sagant, Dave Collier co-headline for my 10th anniversary.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

So um it was really uh exciting, not only for me as a producer, but for the staff to have people not only really funny and talented in their youth, but when they became famous or got a TV show that they respected where they came from and would come back and visit. And then, of course, we had people kind of drop in and out, like you you mentioned, uh Graham Chapman from Monty Python, Super Sales, Pat Paulson became one of our favorite regulars from uh the Rowan and Martin uh show. And so all these people coming through not only were entertaining the audiences, but the wait staff became um able to not only see all these acts, but they became friends with some of the acts. Now I do want to mention this is very important, yeah. Waitresses out there listen to this, young male comics on the road might be a little lustful.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:19

So I established and actually had posted in the green room a set of rules, and the famous one was rule number eight, and that was don't mess with my waitresses or I'll mess with you. Oh well, it didn't work all the time. Oh, it didn't work, but uh I did here after the fact, but it it was you know, these comics come through and they change every week, and a lot of them are uh anywhere from uh you know 20 to 26 and single on the road, so they're trying to live their life um each and every week, and waitresses are right there in the middle of it, and a lot of waitresses are uh beautiful young ladies, and so they uh there was a kind of a natural opportunity for may I say sex? And so I took on the role, even though I was 24. So I mean I was young when I started this, but still I took my responsibility as the owner manager and bouncer to protect the ladies that work for me. And so even though it didn't work all the time, rule number eight did establish a uh kind of a red line that don't pass it. You can, you know, hang out with the girls after the show in the club, you can, you can, you know, whatever, go we would go play football, flag football, or volleyball. We would do activities together, but I tried to maintain a uh wall, um a personal wall because between the waitresses and the comics, because you really can't build a lifelong relationship in a week.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

Yeah, oh no, you can't.

SPEAKER_01 18:07

Right. I mean, they may say, Oh, I love that gal, and I go, Well, it's been four days. I don't know how much we really know her.

SPEAKER_00 18:14

Maybe we'll re-evaluate that.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

But exactly.

SPEAKER_00 18:17

But what I I I really resonate with is the fact that you guys were like a family, like the staff was a family, and I think that's so important in the restaurant industry, in the serving industry, where you have people that have your back because sometimes you have, you know, maybe uh not so great interactions. Um, and you want, you know, to have that um confidence where you know that your boss or the owner or um is looking out for you. Like at one time I had some guy, I cut him off. I was like, listen, this is a family restaurant. I can't, I can't, I can't give you any more drinks. And he was swearing at me, and the owner was like, he's banned. Like he absolutely can't be swearing at my servers, that is unacceptable. So just having that family dynamic is really, really crucial. And I love that one of your rules was you know, what it was, don't mess with the servers, because it does set the tone that hey, like we're a family. If you mess with us, we are gonna talk behind your back.

SPEAKER_01 19:23

But well, I would do more, I would uh fire a comic at midweek if I needed to.

SPEAKER_04 19:30

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 19:30

Thankfully, it didn't really happen very often. I in fact, I don't know if uh it ever happened because of rule number eight, because when rule number eight was broken, the boss is probably the last one to figure it out. Um the other thing was, and I I should mention this, um, I also had food staff. You know, when you own a comedy club, it's interesting, Yasmin. You're not just producing a comedy show, you have to run a bar. Yeah, and there's a whole different set of uh aspects to running a bar. Well, in California, you have to sell food to sell drinks, and so I would have to have a kitchen. So I'm also a restaurant, and I didn't run it like a restaurant, it was a lot of bar food and and stuff like that. But the staff in the kitchen were even younger, you know, 18 and older. And uh and when my kids I broke all the child uh labor laws, my kids worked there when they were even under 18, uh 12. Um, but uh but the point was um so I was also protecting them. In fact, there's a funny story where a comic out of LA uh was and was kind of a horned dog, and and we knew that everybody kind of knew that, and he was in the kitchen and he was kind of getting close to this young lady that worked for me. And I was dating um well, I don't want to I'm trying to throw off the story, but anyway, he was hitting on her pretty good. And you know, hey babe, you know, you're sure good looking, and what's your name? And uh and sh she stopped and she looked at him and she goes, You don't know who I am. And he goes, Well, no, you just told me Kelly. He goes, Yeah, I'm Jill's little sister. Well, Jill was my girlfriend, but also like one of the managers.

SPEAKER_03 21:24

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

And he realized he was like, Oh shit, oh god, yeah. And ran away because he realized the one person he was being uh a little bit in uh too direct with was real family.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

Yeah, yeah, not the right person to be saying that to.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

And I think she was, you know, 17, 18 at the time, and you know, she was just a uh uh food server, uh hostess. We had hostesses that were also food servers, and they could, you know, they were even younger. So yeah, my job as the uh show. Producer and club owner was to try to watch out and protect the all the staff. But the waitresses, as you mentioned, Yasmin, you understand that uh and everybody listening that's in the industry, that it's pretty transient. There's a lot of job changes.

SPEAKER_02 22:14

Of course.

SPEAKER_01 22:14

And because we treated our waitresses the way we did, I had a couple that were with me for over 10 years, and several that were with me over five years, and those are really long job uh stretches in that industry.

SPEAKER_03 22:31

Oh, for two years.

SPEAKER_01 22:32

In fact, we even created uh awards when they made five years and ten years.

SPEAKER_03 22:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:37

They all got pendants and and like a uh you know, $500 bonus or something. So it, you know, we really respected the work they did and they enjoyed the environment of my club so much that they stayed around for many years, which is unusual.

SPEAKER_00 22:53

Yeah, no, it's fantastic. I mean, like you said, it's just such a um like a quick turnover with serving staff. Sometimes you get people who just need um are students and they're just doing it temporarily until they get their degree or until they get their diploma, or sometimes somebody just needs some like extra cash temporarily. So you don't really have people sticking around long, long term. So it's really admirable that that that your staff like hung in with you, and then you have like that, like that mutual respect. You're like, you know, they're loyal, they're loyal. And I think that makes a big difference, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Yeah, they were loyal to me. I was loyal right back. And as you mentioned, uh waitressing, which is a great career for men and women, because it's usually part-time and you can work around your schedule. Now I know nightclubs, so there was no day work. So um they could go to school and then come, but it was great because even those that would go away to school when they would come home for the summer, they'd come back and work for me. Because they they knew they could make money, they knew the system, they knew me, and I would gratefully take them back every time. But it was uh one of the jobs that you could work around someone's schedule. And the other thing was, as you know, Yasmin, is that there has to be a little bit of family amongst the employees, because I know the ladies, I call them girls, they were they were young women, and they would uh coordinate, hey, I need Saturday off. Okay, I'll cover your shift if you cover my shift, right? And when they would come to me, I would say, no, talk to your brethren, your your your fellow employees first. Yeah, and then if you absolutely can't swap out something or do something, let me know and I'll see what I can do. But I was also the boss, so sometimes I didn't make them happy.

SPEAKER_00 24:45

Yeah, well at the end of the day, you know, it is a business, you gotta run it, gotta make money, gotta have, you know, the proper amount of staff. So, you know, it's understandable. Sometimes you're like, man, I just wanted the Saturday off, but it's all good. It's all good.

SPEAKER_01 25:01

It was uh, you know, it's funny because I I'm a workaholic. I went through an early quick marriage because of it, and I I believe in a strong work ethic. And so somebody would say, Well, I want Saturday off because it's my birthday, and I go, Well, hey, have a good time on Friday or Sunday because you're not getting Saturday off. That's our meet night, right? Yeah. But you know, it it is part of the business. And if you're, you know, one of the things I tried to instill in all my employees is a sense of ownership. And so, uh, for example, for employees listening out there, uh, there's no such thing as, oh, that's his job or that's her job.

SPEAKER_03 25:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

Uh in my business life, there's no wasted trips. So if a waitress was going through somebody else's section and they saw something on the floor or an empty glass, pick it up. You're on your way back to the bar. Do your fellow coworker some help and pick up that thing. And if everybody does that, it all really works much better and you have a cleaner operation, everybody's supporting everybody. Um, for example, you know, somebody'd say, Oh, the restroom's a mess. I go, Well, you clean it up, right? Because you saw it, you should you know fix it. You live here too, right? You know, when you're when you're invested in in a business and you're spending many of your hours there, it's like your second home. So treat it like that.

SPEAKER_04 26:26

Of course.

SPEAKER_01 26:27

I'm sorry, I'm throwing out some uh um entrepreneurial tips, but uh these lessons, it's funny at Yasmin, because I run into uh old staff people all the time, and they often thank me. Uh some have cursed me, but often thank me because I taught them basic uh skills that they were able to carry through the rest of their careers. Uh in fact, uh four of the young ladies that worked for me ended up in law enforcement, and they were saying they were saying that the the ability to be firm with customers without losing it and without interrupting the show helped them along with all the other tools I taught them as employees. So, anyway, it it there's you know, waitressing can be a really tough job. Uh as you said, it's usually thankless, and uh you have abusive customers and you have to deal with that. And but it's important for the business owner to also back them up and kind of work together as a team. Uh Yasmin, I I don't know. This is so exciting to be on your show because if I could, I would hug all the waitresses out there and say, you know, good job. Um you know, you're taking care of yourself, taking care of your family, but you're also taking care of your business. And remember, they're the ones that pay you. You know, so it's important to have some loyalty and like skin in the game when it comes to the quality of the service and the and that you're bringing to your customers, right, Yasmin?

SPEAKER_00 28:01

Absolutely, absolutely. The thing is that if it's uh like you said, when it's when it's um a tight-knit group of of workers, of staff that have um, you know, it not only enhances the customer service, but it enhances the tips. Let's be honest.

SPEAKER_03 28:19

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:20

Because if people are if if I'm going through, you know, my dining section and I pass by someone else's section and their meal is done and I pick up their plate to help out my fellow server, then you know, her her um, you know, they're happier, maybe they tip her more, they feel like, oh, like uh the people are attentive here. So it really makes a big difference when everybody works together.

SPEAKER_01 28:45

Like it's it enhances the whole uh evening for everybody. Exactly. Uh for the employees, for the customers, and even the entertainers appreciated uh I mean it ha it happened rarely, but there were times when the comic would come off stage and say, Hey, you know, you're I can't talk over your waitress, and I've got a microphone. She's got a you know, they gotta hold it down.

SPEAKER_02 29:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:08

Um or you know, if you have a newbie and she and she's standing by the table, and it, you know, when the the comic's like trying to see the audience because she's standing there, you know, you you have to be aware of your surroundings, right? Read the room. And uh, but there was uh uh always uh I gotta give you guys ladies listening, ladies out there that are in the waitress business. If you get pregnant, work as long as you can because my girls scored big financially, and many of them worked all the way up till their water broke. I mean, they were holy, wow because one, it it kept them busy, kept the you know, kept and it's healthy. The doctor will tell you when you're pregnant, keep moving, keep doing everything.

SPEAKER_03 29:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:58

The boy, as the MC, I'd go up and go, Hey, there's Mary, uh, your waitress, take care of her. She's pregnant. Boom, the money was flowing in every night she worked. So for nine months, she would press that baby, you know, and and make bank. And I didn't care. And the audience loved it. They felt like they're, hey, wow, that's great. Yeah, and you know, congratulations flying all over, and you can get eight, nine months of that.

SPEAKER_04 30:26

So I love that.

SPEAKER_01 30:28

If you're in the waitress world and you get pregnant, don't quit. Yeah, keep working because people will uh find out and and uh want to help you.

SPEAKER_00 30:37

Oh, definitely. I think it's just everyone's natural inclination, um, whether or not that person is a server, to be kind and generous, open doors, you know, make things accommodate them because it is difficult being pregnant. So I can only imagine because everybody knows you're on foot like all day long, so not easy, not easy. But yes, my lady servers, feel feel free to to use what you got. If you're pregnant, do what you gotta do, ladies.

SPEAKER_01 31:09

Oh, you bring up another point. Uh, when you say use what you got, and I don't want to get indelicate on your show, Yasmin. We didn't talk about any barriers, but um, I didn't mind if the ladies um shared a little to enhance their tips. Um but I also drew a line that if somebody came in looking too slutty, I would say, hey, that's not this place. You know, you want to dress like that, there's a strip club up the street, or you know, go over to Bob's bar where they don't care. This, you know, it wasn't it was I wouldn't say it was a family atmosphere like you work in. It but and so a little cleavage and a little uh short outfit to a point was okay, but I did feel that you had to draw the line. And what's interesting is uh all women have a different level of um what would you call it? Uh yeah, how much they want to you know take advantage of who they are physically to maybe make more money or not.

SPEAKER_02 32:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:14

And I would say that the majority of the women that work for me were part of the family and and understood that it's more about the service and the friendliness and the and being on top of it than it was what they dress like. But at the same time, if if you have something to share within reason and it makes you money, I I think it's okay to utilize that. What do you think, Jasmine?

SPEAKER_00 32:38

Um, I think for me, like personally, I would um I'm more of a conservative person. So typically I wouldn't go down that avenue. But I think for other people, if you're comfortable doing that, then um, you know, quite honestly, money's hard to come by. Like, and life is expensive, and whatever. If it's gonna get you, if it's gonna get you an extra ten dollars here and there, why not?

SPEAKER_01 33:02

Why not? Well, again, and I wanted to bring it up because it is a topic that that uh every uh restaurant and every bar should or is dealing with. You know, if you're working at Hooters, there's a certain expectation. If you're working at Applebee's, it's a whole different exp, you know, expectation. Yeah, right? Whereas at a comedy club, it was somewhere in the middle. I didn't want it um uh too crazy, um, but at the same time, I understood that uh they're trying to make a living, and if you have attributes you you want to utilize who and what you are. For example, if somebody came in and their hair wasn't washed or good, or if their clothes weren't, you know, clean and crisp, you know. I mean, you have to be a professional.

SPEAKER_00 33:54

Hygiene is important, of course. Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 33:56

There you go. That's the way to put it. I would say something, or if if it was a delicate situation, I want to have Jill, who's now my wife, but back then was uh my manager, uh, she worked her way to the top. Uh was a bartender, as a matter of fact. Yeah, but um, I would have Jill, you know, talk to him. Or the now, I always had a head waitress, and you know, somebody in charge, you know, it's so funny, and this is so important. I don't know, Yasmin, if you do this in restaurants, but in the nightclub industry, and I own three of them, so I had to have I had to trust and give um uh balance to who was in charge. And so the waitresses had a head waitress, and the bartenders had a head bartender, and the kitchen had a kitchen manager, right?

SPEAKER_03 34:43

Right.

SPEAKER_01 34:43

So that that person was the first level of management before because I'm trying to deal with everything, I'm the the big picture person. Yeah, so when it came to schedules or or how somebody looked in hygiene or problems with the comics or the customers, it would start with uh mid-level management. So I think those are key people, and I always paid them better, you know, an extra 50 cents an hour, an extra dollar an hour. I mean, again, back in the 80s, that was a lot. And um oh, that reminds me. You know the other thing that's interesting, Yasmid, about working at a comedy club? What's that? The waitresses sometimes become part of the show. Oh, really?

SPEAKER_00 35:27

Well, that's embarrassing.

SPEAKER_01 35:31

Um, the comics, of course, every now and then would make reference to a waitress, and and and a lot of comics would say, Hey, make sure to tip your staff and take care of them because they're taking care of you. And you know, hey, let's give them some applause. You know, I mean, they got a lot of respect in the club, uh, not only from me and the other employees, but from the comics. However, there is the other side where there was is I was an MC, so I was not a stand-up comic, but I did MC all my shows seven nights uh or six or seven nights a week for 21 years. So I had a lot of stage time. Yeah, and part of my job as the MC is to talk about drink specials and uh food specials, and uh, and if the timing was right, I didn't do it every night, but it happened a lot. Uh, if somebody came up and uh was serving a drink, hey, make sure you tip your waitresses. Oh, what the hell, push them all the way over, you know, and the audience and you know would get a giggle out of that. Yeah. Uh the other one was uh now this in a in a if I said in the waitress, hey, make sure you take care of Mary, she's the head waitress, they go, Oh, you know, very nice, very nice. Yeah, well, in a comedy club, being the head waitress can have a whole different connotation. So if a certain waitress came up and was serving it, said, Hey, ladies and gentlemen, this is Mary, be sure to tip her well. She's the head waitress. That's all in how you say it. Oh, they go, they go, oh yeah, she earned the title.

SPEAKER_04 37:09

Uh yeah, right, right.

SPEAKER_01 37:12

But um bum. So there was that aspect of it, which I think, and I'm uh I only had well, this kind of funny side story. Um, my wife said to mention this to you. There was one waitress. I was on stage at one of my other clubs, and I'm doing my normal MC stuff, and the waitress came up, and I did the head waitress joke. Hey, ladies and gentlemen, this is Susan. Be sure to take extra good care of her. She's the head waitress. Yeah, you know, she threw down her tray and stomped out of the club.

SPEAKER_02 37:47

Uh-oh.

SPEAKER_01 37:47

She'd been working there for I don't know, uh, maybe three weeks. Not she was a newbie, but she had been there and she knew that, you know, as a waitress, you're it's possible that you'll be talked about by the comics or the MC. And it's always to get them tips. It's it's never rude. If it was ever rude, I'd fire their ass, right?

SPEAKER_03 38:07

Right.

SPEAKER_01 38:08

It was always just a way to uh, yeah, it's a little sexual innuendo, but it's meant to get them more tips. Right, right. Because the customers would say, Oh, he's picking on you. Here's an extra couple bucks, right? You know, yeah, or that was funny and give her money.

SPEAKER_02 38:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:24

Well, this waitress wanted nothing to do with the jokes, stomped out, walked out, quit right there, left her tray at the table.

SPEAKER_00 38:33

We were all like that much offense to it. Yeah, just left on the spot. Right.

SPEAKER_01 38:39

She was so incensed, she sued me for sexual harassment.

unknown 38:46

What?

SPEAKER_01 38:47

Yeah. And we got to the court, we went to court like you know, I don't know, three or four months later. We go to court, and she tells the story that you know that he was calling me the head waitress and making sexual in your you know, blah, blah. And and and I got up and I said, uh, you know, Your Honor, it's a comedy club. Yeah, comedy club. It's meant to get them tips. There's no personal offense. It wasn't, you know, like anything more than a generalization for the waitresses, and yeah, at that moment she was the focus, but it wasn't personal, you know, hey, here's Susie and here's her address, here's her phone number, and she's a slut. It wasn't like that. It was like a just a joke to make her money. And the judge said, What are you even doing here? It's a comedy club. Lady, what did you expect? As he should have.

SPEAKER_03 39:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 39:43

Because that happened. I mean, for me as an MC, as I said, it happened. I did it a lot to try to get the waitress's tips. But even the comics would occasionally work the waitresses into a routine or or talk to a waitress, you know, uh, you know, hey, how's that customer doing? Hey, is he treating you well, you know, and and right? And the girls had to be pretty quick and and play along.

SPEAKER_00 40:06

Of course, yeah. I mean, even like just the comedy club alone, you know, you're sort of like, especially if you're in the front row and you're a customer, like there's the potential to get, you know, thrown into the yeah, exactly, into a routine.

SPEAKER_01 40:22

So Yeah, you don't want to if you can't take a little conversation, don't sit in the front row of a comedy club. I mean, you're an idiot if you don't figure that out ahead of time. And we had customers that a comic might pick on, and sometimes comics go over the top. I mean, I can't say they have it in 21 years of seeing shows. There's comics that have taken things too far. But most of the time it's all in fun and it's all in comedy, and it's not too personal, it's meant to make the whole room laugh. Now, sure, it might be at your expense, yeah, you know, but uh you you just never know how an audience member is gonna take it. But a waitress needed to know, yeah, right? Again, it's read the room. If you're working a comedy club, have a thick skin and understand it's all part of the business and it makes you more money.

SPEAKER_00 41:18

Exactly. And I think just serving in itself, not even just at a comedy club, you do need a thick skin. Like you just you don't know what someone's gonna say, someone's gonna crack a joke with you, and I mean you can't get frustrated at every little thing because it will um it's not a it's not worth it, and B, you know, you're just you're dealing with the public, so sometimes you you don't know what to expect. So I think just serving in itself requires a thick skin. So I'm really surprised that she would just just leave like that, it's so unprofessional.

SPEAKER_01 41:54

Well, it happened with one person in one show on one night in 21 years of six nights a week, thousands of shows, yeah. And it was uh um, you know, some people are just a little sensitive, a little sensitive, yeah. But if you're sensitive, don't go to a comedy club, don't work there, don't visit that's that's very, very true.

SPEAKER_00 42:20

That's unbelievable. So has there been so any server you ask will have one horror story? They'll have just one. If you're like, what was the worst table? And you just know you're just like that's the one because they've traumatized me so much. Was there just one customer or group of customers in the time that you owned your clubs where the serving staff was like, that that was like just a nightmare. Like I can't, I I I I I'm just gonna go home and crack open a bottle of wine because that was awful.

SPEAKER_01 42:56

Well, um, it's funny you mentioned that because um, by the way, a side rule what at the club was you can't drink during while you're on shift. That's a common rule in every restaurant.

SPEAKER_02 43:09

Of course.

SPEAKER_01 43:09

However, we had one uh in particular that was an alcoholic that uh um we caught her a couple times. She would buy a wine and stash it and be sipping it uh on her shift. But uh ladies and gentlemen, if you're a waiter, uh no alcohol until you're done with your shift, and then who cares? But yeah, there's a great story that uh I've told a few times that uh I think um you know is about what you're talking about, and that was we're doing a Saturday night show. Um it was the early show, we were sold out, and we had a party of I think it was a big party. It was about 16 people, and they show up, and it turns out it's all young men uh right around. 21, um 20 to 23, with um one adult, uh adult meaning, you know, somebody in their forties or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 44:09

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 44:10

And we're like, you know, the people at the door didn't know any different. They came up, they paid their way in, you know, 14, 16 people at, you know, uh $10 a head, I think was the price at the time, so a decent amount of money. And we had set aside tables for them, not too close because we don't want the big groups too close, but we set them down. Well, the waitress goes over to take their first order, and she comes running back and she goes, Hey, these guys are drunk. They're this, you know, I can't I can't, I'm not comfortable serving them. And they had just sat down. You know, it was a good uh, I don't know, 15-20 minutes until showtime.

SPEAKER_02 44:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:53

And uh, so I went out and took a look at the situation, and it turned out, and I I found the one adult and I said, Hey, uh, it seems like these guys have already had too much to drink. Because, well, it's my son's 21st birthday, and you know, I'm I'm taking care of him. And the guy was like a football player, so it's all big guys that are like 21, 20, 21, 22. And I said, uh, I said, you know, this is a comedy show, and I have to think about my showroom held 200 people. And I said, Look, there's a lot of other people here, and you know, I have to make sure that uh uh they don't interrupt the show and it goes, oh, don't worry, I'll take care of them. Well, not you know, three minutes later, and we're not even into the show, and they're yelling at the waitresses, and they're they're hooping and hollering. And we're we weren't that kind of club. You might be able to do that at Bob's Bar or you know, Hooters or something, but it this is a showroom where people are paying to be entertained in a live showroom entertain uh format. So I it's so funny. I'm the bouncer, so I'm like I'm also smart. I'm not gonna kick out 16, you know, young drunk men by myself. Right. I didn't have any backup except maybe a bartender.

SPEAKER_02 46:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:13

And so I called the cops, and I rarely did that. In fact, I'd been in my bus, you know, I was there over 20. By the way, the club is still there. It's 45 years old. It's it's one of the first clubs in the country, it's still going. But I sold it after 21 years. But this is back in the mid-80s, and the police knew that I was a good business owner. So when I called and said, Hey, I've got a problem, yeah, they knew this was unusual. It wasn't like one or two people.

SPEAKER_03 46:43

Right.

SPEAKER_01 46:43

And I, of course, told them it was 16 drunk football players, you know.

SPEAKER_03 46:48

Come help me.

SPEAKER_01 46:49

And so not one, not two, but uh 12 officers showed up.

SPEAKER_03 46:56

What?

SPEAKER_01 46:58

Yeah. And one of them went in to the group, and especially the with the one adult with them, and said, Look, uh, this isn't gonna work. We're gonna give you, you know, we'll make sure you get a refund, but you're gonna have to leave. You know, you know, we're not and they thought it was just the one officer, right? Right. And they're like being all testosterone and you know, F you and blah blah blah. And he goes, you know, leave now or you'll be arrested. Right? Well, the other 12 or 13 cops lined up two by two all the way out the door.

SPEAKER_04 47:36

Are you serious?

SPEAKER_01 47:37

So when these young people came out, they go, Holy crap, they were paraded through a line of police officers out of the club. Isn't that crazy? Now there's a great so the staff, and first off, the audience is like, Yeah, that was so good, right? We had to delay the show, of course, about 15 minutes, and the waitresses are all going, yeah, high five, yeah, you know, we didn't have to deal with those drunk A-holes.

SPEAKER_03 48:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:07

And uh these young guys, and they were still drunk and stupid, and they're making comments as they're leaving, even through this parade of police. And the the funniest part of the story for me was that they the police walked them all the way out of my business out into the alley. I was off an alley into the alley, and uh and said, uh, you know, uh, this isn't acceptable, and you can't be doing this, and you know, be on your way. Well, most of the officers went back on duty wherever they're they were posted, but they a couple of them followed these guys. It turned out the father had rented a motor home and had all 16 of these football players in a motor home drinking. That's why they were so drunk. They'd been drinking since who knows when, right? So they get in the drunk and they knew the dad had been drinking with the kids. They let them get in this you uh this motor home. They drove about one block and busted them for DUI.

SPEAKER_00 49:18

Wow, that is crazy.

SPEAKER_01 49:22

Yeah, I lost some money, you know. I had to pay back the the you know $160 door, which is a lot to me. But I felt like, you know, and everybody thought we were the heroes because nobody wanted to deal with these guys. And uh, and they learn hopefully learned a valuable lesson. They never came back, but uh, at least not as a group. So, but that's you know, that's that kind of story where sometimes you have to preempt a problem.

SPEAKER_00 49:49

Yeah, no, of course. And I'm so glad that it turned out um that your staff and your business didn't have and the customers didn't have to deal with that because that would have been so disruptive to the show, it would have been a big headache. Um, and then that you know, the the the police officers of the community had your back like that. That's great. It's like the SWAT team came in and took that out. It's wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 50:14

It was, you know, it it and the and the officers, you know, respected how I ran my business, and they knew that if I was calling for help, that it was not a normal situation, which it wasn't, and uh uh I was so thankful for for their support. But uh yeah, that was kind of an interesting night and story. Um, Yasmin, did you have any questions about uh what's it like to employ waitresses? Or I don't know how much time we have. I saved it.

SPEAKER_00 50:41

Yeah, we're we're at the tail end of it, but if you um I would have I would love to hear about employing waitresses, what that was like over the years, and yeah, tell me your thoughts on that.

SPEAKER_01 50:53

First off, may I plug my podcast?

SPEAKER_00 50:56

Of course you can.

SPEAKER_01 50:57

If anybody out there likes comedy, I have a audio podcast, Stand Up Comedy, your host and MC. It's been out for six years and just hit uh um like 700,000 downloads. I'm very excited. I've been and all the best comics are interviewed and on there. If you like stand-up comedy, you love it. And then the new exciting thing, Yasmin, is I just did my first video podcast, started last March called the Tag Team Talent Podcast. It's a video podcast, which was unusual for me. You you're a pro at it, but it was new for me. I am excited to say, as of last weekend, I hit one million views.

SPEAKER_00 51:33

Hey, congratulations. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 51:36

Very excited about that. Yeah, but uh um is your audience um extra sensitive uh when it comes to sexual ideas?

SPEAKER_00 51:45

Um nope, you can go ahead and talk about that.

SPEAKER_01 51:47

I wouldn't I wouldn't offend anybody, I don't think. I have a really funny story if you guys are up for it.

SPEAKER_04 51:53

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 51:54

I told you we're like family, right? So that meant that on holidays we'd have big celebrations, and Christmas was one of those where we got done with our regular shows. It was after the show, and we threw a big Christmas party for all of our employees. And when we do that, we open the bar, you know, they're all over 21, they can drink, and and we're making sure people have rides. So if you get a little intoxicated, that's fine. It's you know, we're all young at that point. And one of the waitresses, you know, so I do things, I'm a producer, so I do things a little bit bigger than average people. So besides decorating in an open bar, I had brought in a Santa Claus. And of course, all the staff got Christmas bonuses.

SPEAKER_04 52:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 52:40

So instead of uh just handing them out, I had Santa give them their Christmas bonuses.

SPEAKER_00 52:46

So I love that.

SPEAKER_01 52:48

Santa had a seat, and one by one, the staff would go up, uh, men and women, and sit in his lap, and he would say, you know, ho ho ho, Merry Christmas, and here's your bonus, and you know, what do you want for Christmas, little boy, right? And it was funny, we're getting pictures, we're all a little tipsy, we're all having fun. And one of the waitresses goes up, sits in Santa's lap, and says, and Santa says, Well, ho, ho, ho, uh, Merry Christmas. What would you like for Christmas, little girl? And she goes, she whispers in Santa's ear, I like a big black cock.

unknown 53:33

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 53:34

And starts laughing, right? And Santa goes, ho ho ho, well, here's your bonus, right? I can't, I can't get you the rest, right? So she gets up and she's laughing, and she goes over to the other waitresses and she goes, I just told Santa, I want a big black cop for Christmas. And they all went, What? He goes don't you know who that is? She goes, No, Santa was my father. Oh no. And she was like, Oh, I'm so fired.

SPEAKER_03 54:14

Oh my gosh, that is so embarrassing.

SPEAKER_01 54:17

Oh, it was so funny. Now, the the great part of the story is my dad is the reason I have a good sense of humor. He is a very funny guy. He was a traveling salesman, he could tell jokes forever. Yeah, and he was all dressed up as Santa, nobody recognized him. And he thought it was like the funniest thing that ever happened. So he, of course, wasn't offended. But boy, this waitress was almost in tears because she thought, Merry Christmas! I'm fired.

SPEAKER_00 54:49

I'm fired, yeah. I just got my bonus, that's the last payment I'll be getting from there.

SPEAKER_01 54:55

It's it's just it's so it's such a great comedy club waitress story. Yeah. Because uh being a waitress is tough, it's thankless, but you can make some money. You have to read the room and know the customers, you have to know that the business has your back, but it's also family and fun. Yeah, and we were all having a great time, and that she took it a little too far, but it's a comedy club, and so everybody managed it well, and uh just one of the great waitress stories.

SPEAKER_00 55:28

I love that. I love that is that is the best way to close off the podcast. I feel so bad for her because she probably thought it was just this hilarious little joke and it in the rear end. Yeah. I love it, I love it.

SPEAKER_01 55:45

Yeah, well, yes, man, it's been such an honor and thank you so much because uh as a business owner, and I've owned several businesses, uh uh, but many of them are restaurants and nightclubs and a jazz club and all this stuff, and I employed many, many weight people, and I just think they're the backbone of any service business. And uh I it's my way of saying thank you uh for having me on and to all the people that do this very difficult job. Thank you for what you do. And just remember to the you know the customer comes first, but you matter, and if you do a good job and give good customer service, uh you'll win out.

SPEAKER_00 56:22

Yeah, great words of wisdom. Thank you so much for being on here with me, Scott. Um, I will post um the link to your website, link to your podcast in the description below. Listeners, have check it out, and as always, don't forget to tip your waitress. I'll see you guys in the next episode. Take care, guys.

SPEAKER_03 56:40

Bye.