In a dog-eat-dog economy, live comedy throws Central New York a funny bone

Syracuse, NY — Walk down a two-block stretch of South Salina Street on Saturday night, and you’ll have comedy to the left of you and comedy to the right of you.

The national tour featuring “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” improvisational stars Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood stops in downtown Syracuse at the Landmark Theatre.

Across the street, the stand-up comic revival continues at Wise Guys Comedy Club & Bistro and katt williams.Those aren’t the only places in Central New York to find regular laughs, either.

Dennis Sick, general manager of Mohegan Manor in Baldwinsville, decided to book weekly Wednesday night comedy shows to help expose Central New Yorkers to the hotel’s new Club Sushi. In March, Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona moved its weekly Wednesday night stand-up show from the 50-seat Tiki Lounge to the large and lavish Lava Lounge.

And Central New York native comic Derrick Tennant is hosting a fundraiser for Golisano Children’s Hospital on April 24 at the Spaghetti Warehouse, near Franklin Square. Manager Joe Greco says if that goes well, he’d consider putting stand-up comedy in a regular rotation.

“Since the recession hit, it seems like there’s a big jump” in comedy shows at the Landmark Theatre, said Denise DiRienzo, executive director of the restored movie palace. Before 2006, the Landmark held three or four a year, she said. Since, there have been about eight a year. Mark Bialczak