NYC comedian Solo Jones headlines stand-up show at Scranton Comedy Club in Dunmore on June 18
Indoor entertainment is back, so the Scranton Comedy Club is selling season passes along with individual tickets to its next monthly stand-up show at the Holiday Inn Scranton East in Dunmore.
The first show of the summer will be held this Friday, June 18 with New York City headliner Solo Jones, who has opened for Jamie Foxx, Steve Harvey, and Tommy Davidson and appeared in the Denzel Washington film “Training Day.” FunnyMan KennyKen, Lehigh Valley comic Andy Malafarina, and Kingston native Aaron Decker will open the evening.
Doors at the Holiday Inn Scranton East (200 Tigue St., Dunmore) open at 7 p.m., and the event starts at 8 p.m. All state and CDC guidelines will be followed, and seating will comply with indoor restrictions. Dinner and drinks will be available.
Tickets, which are $15 in advance or $20 at the door, are on sale now via Eventbrite. For a limited time, advance tickets are two for $20, and there is a special group rate of 11 tickets for $100. Season passes are also available, covering six shows for $50. For more information, call 570-357-2693 or visit scrantoncomedyclub.com.
“Comedy is really starting to take off! The Scranton Comedy Club has been successfully reopened for a few months now, with tickets rolling in for the June 18th show. I’m booking three other venues, and I just got off the phone with yet another venue that wants to do multiple shows. All the blood sweat and tears is paying off!” Scranton Comedy Club owner Kevin Lepka said.
“I must be doing something right here. Can’t wait to see where things go from here.”
Even with COVID-19 regulations on indoor events, over 100 people came out to the April show with Bob Levy, and May’s event with Cory Fernandez drew over 150 comedy fans. Before the pandemic, the club opened in the newly remodeled Holiday Inn and hosted several successful monthly shows until the statewide shutdown.
It was able to reopen briefly for a sold-out socially distanced event on Nov. 28 before all indoor entertainment was shut down again in December. The club then reopened in 2021 with Keith Purnell on March 27.
From the streets to the stage, Gaylon “Solo” Jones has let humor be his guide. He is on a one-man mission to bring his comedy to the world, headlining throughout the United States, including many New York City comedy clubs and national franchises like The Comedy Zone and The Improv.
Hailing from Jacksonville and named “Florida’s funniest comedian” several years in a row, this fast-talker has cracked jokes on BET, HBO, Comedy Central, Amazon Prime, Hulu, MTV, and the Comcast/Xfinity show “Funny Not Famous.” Dubbed “Mr. Richard Pryor 2000,” he has been the opening act for Jamie Foxx, Steve Harvey, and Tommy Davidson and even appeared in the Academy Award-winning film “Training Day” starring Denzel Washington.
Jones just recently finished taping his own comedy special that is set to air on Hulu and Amazon this August.
FunnyMan KennyKen has performed at the Javits Center and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City as well as the Broadway Comedy Club and New York Comedy Club. He also told jokes at the Essence Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2018 and 2019 alongside musical artists like Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, Erykah Badu, Snoop Dogg, Queen Latifah, Nas, Timbaland, and more.
Allentown area native Andy Malafarina has performed with Nick Di Paolo, Luis J. Gomez, and Raymond the Amish Comic and appeared at Musikfest, the SteelStacks in Bethlehem, and venues all around the Lehigh Valley. He has been featured on the Gas Digital Network, Compound Media, and Workrate Entertainment as a wrestling commentator, and he currently co-hosts the “Panties in the Mouth” podcast with Nate Marshall.
Aaron Decker performs regularly in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, appearing at the Greenwich Village Comedy Club, Broadway Comedy Club, and The Comic Strip.
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 in January of 2020.
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.
