Where to catch a night of comedy in Sonoma County

If you are in the market for a good laugh, look no further than Rohnert Park and Cotati. Rather quietly over the past year, these two bedroom communities have turned into comedy hot spots.

For the past few decades, stand-up comedians have had sporadic homes around the county, with small shows popping up for a few months in locations from Petaluma to Cloverdale. But nothing stuck.

“Finding a spot that will accommodate the comedy and promote a good show, not just for the money but for the art form, can be hard,” said Santa Rosa comedian Juan Carlos Arena.

Four venues in Rohnert Park and Cotati now host nine regular shows a month - Double Decker Lanes, Sally Tomatoes Restaurant, Redwood Cafe and Spancky’s Bar. Another four or five shows a month are scattered throughout the county in Sebastopol, Guerneville, Healdsburg and Santa Rosa, where Arena has found a home at El Palomar Restaurant.

There is no good reason not to do them, said Gerard Guidice, owner of Sally Tomatoes.

“We aspire to be a celebration destination here, and comedy shows support the bigger picture, which includes promoting the (Sonoma Mountain) Village.”

Sally Tomatoes and the SOMO Event Center host everything from concerts to comedy and special occasion events.

Arena, known professionally as Juan Carlos, has done stand-up at the Improv in San Jose as well as Punch Line, Purple Onion and Cobb’s Comedy Club in San Francisco. He also has a burgeoning movie career, performing in the 2013 foodie movie “Trattoria” and starring in “The Mendoza Line,” a 2014 movie about a Mexican immigrant who pursues a spot on a minor league baseball team.

About five years ago, Arena started hosting his own show in Sonoma County, eventually finding a permanent home at El Palomar in Santa Rosa. He takes partial credit for sparking the resurgence of local comedy venues.

“We started with open mic nights and then started doing paid shows with headliners from the Punch Line and Improv coming up from the Bay Area,” he said. “It really started the opportunity for local comedians and created a scene where there wasn’t one before.”

Comedian Brian Thomas began producing and promoting a regular stand-up comedy show at Double Decker Lanes about three years ago. The next year he helped talent booker Casey Williams start the regular show at Sally Tomatoes and recently helped start a show at the r3 Hotel in Guerneville.

“I just started producing shows because if I’m producing the show they have to let me on stage,” Williams joked. “It’s great with the variety of shows being offered. They all draw different crowds.”

“The last few shows have been tremendous, with 60 to 90 people attending,” said Guidice, who also manages the SOMO Event Center. “We have had to drop more tables and use a bigger stage.”

The SOMO Event Center, which rents Sally Tomatoes’ banquet facility for its shows, also has had an impact on the local comedy scene. In 2014, Williams began bringing in national comedians who attract fans willing to pay $20-$35 ticket prices. Williams booked Comedy Central star Carlos Mencia and nationally known touring comedian Doug Stanhope last year, and has started 2015 with acts include actor David Allan Grier and New York comedian Todd Barry.

Large venues in Rohnert Park also have begun to host regular comedy acts. In 2014, the Green Music Center booked Gabriel Iglesias, Anthony Jeselnik, Bill Maher and Chelsea Handler, while the Graton Resort & Casino brought in blue-collar comedy legend Bill Engvall.

In addition to building a nexus of stand-up comedy in Sonoma County, the effort is paying off for a core group of 10 to 12 local performers who are serious about comedy and love to make people laugh. People like Arena, Williams and Thomas who are polishing their skills by performing with Bay Area headliners, and in the process are gaining higher profiles.

That cohesive local comedy community also can be credited with boosting Rohnert Park’s profile, Williams said.

“We are all really careful to not step on each other when we start a new show to not over saturate. We also work together to promote each other and help cross-promote venues.”

If it’s possible to reach a saturation point, sources agree they haven’t yet reached it because each venue draws a different group of customers.

“There are some groups that hit Double Decker and Sally Tomatoes regularly, versus the Redwood Cafe crowd was completely new for me which was great because my jokes were fresh,” Williams said.

“You would think SF being bigger; you would have a bigger scene,” said Arena. “One of my (Santa Rosa) shows might have 60 or 80 people, versus a showcase show in SF with up and coming comics that might draw less than 20 people.

“Unless you have a TV or film credit, you can’t get up to the Punch Line on a Friday or Saturday night, but here we let up and coming comics open shows for a headliner, which allows them exposure and the chance to learn from a more experienced comedian.”