Laugh Factory
Laugh Factory
Hollywood:
8001 Sunset Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90046
Phone: (323) 656-1336 ext. 1
Long Beach:
151 S. Pine Ave.
Long Beach, CA 90802
Phone: (562) 495-2844 ext. 1
About us:
Welcome to the laughfactory.com. Here you can find information on how to purchase tickets at any of the Laugh Factory's locations.
This site also serves as a video publishing source for all of the Laugh Factory's famous videos and comedy projects. Explore the site and enjoy our comedy. If you are a comedian, you can register with the site and upload videos of your own!
Jamie Masada: The Laugh Factory Impresario's Biography
For Jamie Masada and comedy, it was love at first sight. Jamie's passion for comedy started from age 6 when his father a cantor and accordion player rewarded him for being good by taking him to see his first moving picture. The two stood outside the window of a local TV repair shop mesmerized by The Three Stooges. Although the TV wasn't getting the best reception and the two couldn't hear the movie through the glass, Jamie's father invented his own clever story to the delight of his young son. Jamie stood with wide-eyed amusement transfixed to the broken television screen and laughed until he cried. His father then said something to him that set the stage for the rest of his life, "making people laugh is the greatest mitzvah of all." Masada also inherited his father's comedic chops. At a wedding, almost a decade later, a Hollywood producer spotted Jamie doing a Three Stooges reenactment and encouraged his father to send the young talent to America. Confident in his son's abilities, Masada's father pawned his beloved accordion to help raise the funds necessary to send his son to The United States.
Barely 14 years old, Masada arrived in America with a big heart and an even bigger dream. He soon found himself sleeping in a garage and working odd jobs to make money to send back to his family. However, none of these obstacles deterred him from his passion for comedy.
His persistence paid off. Although he barely spoke English which he mixed in with Hebrew and Farsi, he was soon working with comedians in a comedy club. Such comedic geniuses as Richard Pryor, David Letterman, Jim Carrey, Rodney Dangerfield, Red Foxx and Neal Israel, took Masada under their wings.
A dispute over club owners refusing to pay comedians drove Masada to create The Laugh Factory in Groucho Marx's old building at the age of 16.
With a small loan from Neal Israel, he was able to turn his dream into reality, while simultaneously helping comedians
Recognizing Jamie's passion, Richard Pryor was the first comedian to serenade the Laugh Factory stage in 1979. Masada offered to pay Richard, instead Pryor handed him a hundred dollar bill and wrote on it, "You need this for your rent, boy."
Masada has always been ahead of his time and was called a true visionary by the LA Times. He earned this reputation through brilliant marketing strategies and business ventures- inspired by his passion for comedy.
As the country was gripped with the fear of the AIDS epidemic, The Laugh Factory was the first business in America to provide condoms to its customers. This stroke of marketing genius brought the Laugh Factory national exposure and Masada became a hugely sought after guest on the national press junket. Over the next three decades, Jamie Masada would constantly return to the forefront of national media. In 1985, Masada marched down Pennsylvania Avenue with Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller, Red Foxx, amongst many others in The Laugh Factory's campaign to send the first comedian into space. The campaign drew so much attention that President Regan asked Bob Hope to arrange a meeting with Masada.
USA Today called The Laugh Factory the number one comedy club in the country.
Masada seems to always meet great success each time he has put his passion behind a project. In 1983 he launched The Laugh Factory Magazine. After two years of self-publishing, he was approached for national distribution by Warner Publishing. Although he declined to sell his magazine he still possessed a desire to work with Warner Brothers and shared his vision for an all comedy channel and comedy awards.
Masada has enjoyed a lengthy career as a consultant and producer on some of Hollywood¹s most successful comedy film franchises; as well as on numerous network and cable television shows. His knowledge and expertise has made Masada the leading authority on all things comedy and his advice is very highly regarded amongst the entertainment industry's top power brokers. Many in the industry seek his guidance and he remains a huge mentor to countless superstars and industry professionals.
Masada produced the late-night show 'Vibe' with Quincy Jones. Masada's knack for spotting talent and his uncanny business genius is superbly illustrated by his work with 'In Living Color.' He was instrumental in getting the producers to audition two of its biggest break-out stars, Jim Carrey and Jamie Foxx. Masada, along with Bob Israel, were the driving forces to get 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective' off the ground.
Most recently, Masada produced a film with Damon Wayans 'Behind the Smile at The Laugh Factory' with numerous popular comedians.
Masada's passion for comedy is closely matched by his charitable contributions. His work with underprivileged children won him a NAACP Freedom Award, The Ellis Island Medal of Honor for humanitarian efforts, as well as the ACLU Freedom of Speech Award, among many others.
Jamie Masada's vision to spread laughter throughout the world will continue in 2008 with the opening of The Laugh Factory in Atlanta, Tampa, Long Beach and Las Vegas.
-Carl Kozlowski, LA City Beat
Reservations: reservations@laughfactory.com
Management: management@laughfactory.com
Human Resources: hr@laughfactory.com
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