Scranton Comedy Club reopens in Dunmore with NYC comic Wellie Jackson on Nov. 28
Before the coronavirus pandemic, the Scranton Comedy Club was on a roll, opening in a newly remodeled location with successful monthly shows until the statewide shutdown.
Now, after months of delays due to COVID-19, the club is coming back with a limited occupancy event at the Holiday Inn Scranton East in Dunmore on Saturday, Nov. 28.
New York comedian Wellie Jackson, who has toured with Tracy Morgan and can be seen on the hit Netflix series “Orange Is the New Black,” will headline this stand-up show featuring Walker Hays and Alex Quow, with club owner Kevin Lepka serving as the host.
“At the last show in February, we had 320 people in attendance. Be sure to get your tickets soon, as this show is expected to sell out,” Lepka said.
Doors at the Holiday Inn Scranton East (200 Tigue St., Dunmore) open at 7 p.m., and the show starts at 8 p.m. Dinner and drinks will be available; as per Gov. Tom Wolf’s orders, attendees must purchase a meal to consume alcoholic beverages. CDC guidelines will be followed, and the event will be capped at 20 percent capacity.
Tickets, which are $15 in advance or $20 at the door, are on sale now via Eventbrite. There is currently a special running for two tickets for $20. For more information, call 570-357-2693 or visit the Facebook event page.
Anything worth having demands hard work and sacrifice. Just ask New York City’s superstar-in-the-making Wellie Jackson. Being a stand-up comedian might have been the last thing on his mind growing up, but the former college basketball standout turned to comedy after a season-ending injury.
Jackson found comedy while attending college. Encouraged by friends and family, he turned to a friend who was an established national comedian to help him get his first show on the New York comedy circuit. After that, he was booked at another NYC comedy club, which is where he learned his style, telling his life story through comedy in a distinct way.
Despite only being in comedy for a short time, he has made appearances on “The Wendy Williams Show,” MTV’s “Totally Clueless,” SiriusXM radio, and various other media outlets, and he has traveled the country with both Tracy Morgan and Tiffany Haddish.
Jackson has toured with “30 Rock” star Tracy Morgan since 2011 and was a part of his comeback tour, Picking Up the Pieces, with over 65 dates throughout the United States and Canada, which included New York’s prestigious Carnegie Hall, Chicago’s Civic Opera House, and The Novo in Los Angeles. He also wrote for Morgan’s comedy special “Staying Alive,” currently on Netflix, as well as his TBS comedy series “The Last O.G.,” which is now the highest-rated comedy series on the network.
In 2017, Jackson opened for Tiffany Haddish on her She Ready Tour, and he headlined the Apollo Theater in May of 2018. He co-starred in “Orange Is the New Black” in its seventh and final season on Netflix in 2019 and currently hosts the Wellie’s World Podcast.
Walker Hays is a comedian, actress, and writer. Based in New York City and hailing from Baltimore, she now prefers to live as a gypsy and not be in any one city for more than 72 hours. She can be seen at festivals and in clubs around the country, from D.C. to Chicago to Los Angeles, and is part of the Underwear Comedy Party Tour and the Refried Comedy Tour. She has performed at the Improv, Laugh Factory, Gotham, and can be seen weekly at home favorites Stand Up NY and the New York Comedy Club.
When not doing stand-up, Hays can be found modeling and onscreen. She’s had roles on series for Fox, MTV, NBC, and Discovery, as well as a few pilots and indie films. She stars in the cult favorite web series “Milgram and the Fastwalkers,” a noir soap opera about aliens that’s anything but comedic and often requires her to look very unphotogenic. Traveling, sports (both playing and yelling vigorously at unknowing athletes on TV), and the quest for the perfect martini are a few of her other favorite things to enjoy.
Hard work, dedication, and a willingness to persevere – that is the motto Alex Quow lives by when it comes to his life. Coming from a poor town in New Jersey, stand-up comedy may have seemed like a long shot at first. Quow has come to find there’s humor in every aspect of life. After entering and winning a competition while in college, a secret passion was found.
Since then, Quow has performed at locations such as Comix Mohegan Sun and took part in Stand Up NBC’s nationwide comedy search. His comedy discusses his personal life, and his unique perspective displays the importance of laughter in everyday life. He currently lives in Bethlehem and is a co-host on the Wellie’s World Podcast.
Scranton-based comedian, actor, and producer Kevin Lepka has many years of experience as a stand-up comedian, host, and sketch comedy/improv performer in all types of venues up and down the East Coast, sharing stages with Gilbert Gottfried, Artie Lange, Pete Davidson, Andrew Schulz, and more. He founded Laugh Out Lepkas Comedy to bring comedians like Gilbert Gottfried, Artie Lange, Rich Vos, the Reverend Bob Levy, Jessimae Peluso, and even the WWE’s Honky Tonk Man to the area in addition to his Scranton Comedy Club shows.
Over the years, the club has hosted shows in downtown Scranton locations like the Ritz Theater, Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel, and the second floor of Tequila (now the AV Restaurant & Lounge) as well as the Ramada Inn in Clarks Summit. It debuted at the Holiday Inn Scranton East on Jan. 18.
Monthly shows at the current location are headlined by nationally touring comedians who play at clubs, casinos, resorts, and colleges across the country and have appeared on HBO, Comedy Central, Showtime, Netflix, “Last Comic Standing,” “America’s Got Talent,” SiriusXM, Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS, MTV, VH1, BET, and more. Local and up-and-coming comedians are featured as well.
The Scranton Comedy Club also offers a no-cost way for nonprofit groups to raise money for their organizations through ticket sales. Those who are interested can email Lepka at laughoutlepkascomedy@gmail.com.
