he disco era closed, and comedy clubs replaced the discos that had been popular just before that time. The excitement that was generated caused many to change their steakhouses, bowling alleys, and music clubs into comedy clubs. It also caused many people who wanted to be entertainers to leave their day jobs and to enter a life of comedy on the road. The number of venues dedicated to comedy clearly could not last forever, and there had been other types of entertainment that had enjoyed great success for a time and then had hit hard times. The very number meant that many were featuring comedians who were not that good, and only the best clubs with the best talent could survive the downturn that was bound to come (Crisafulli 7).
Mitzi Shore is the owner of the Comedy Store, a club she received in 1973 as part of a divorce settlement from her husband, comedian Sammy Shore, who had opened the club eighteen months before in a small room at the side of a building on the Sunset Strip. He had worked
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