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Loony Bin Comedy Club keeps Wichita laughing


Last Update: 11/04 10:39 am
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WICHITA, Kansas – If you’re looking for some laughs, Wichita has the perfect place. The Loony Bin Comedy Club will entertain 40,000 to 60,000 customers each year by bringing comedy talent to its stage.

There are four Loony Bin clubs in the region and careful thought went into opening Wichita. They needed about a half million metro population, syndicated radio coverage that promotes certain comics and a destination location not around other evening entertainment.

“When you to go out to the Loony Bin, we want it to be a night in itself,” said Mark Payne, general manager of Loony Bin Comedy Club. “We want to be the ones who provide the hour-and-half of difference.”

Big name acts and stars will work mid-week in Wichita generally between gigs at larger venues like K.C. or Dallas.

“I can provide a show in Wichita, the exact same show that you'd have to pay $55 or $65 a ticket in K.C. for $25,” Payne said.

The Loony Bin has been open 10 years. It's a successful business. They didn't just hang out a sign, hire a comic and start selling tickets. What they did is some careful demographic work to ensure that the concept would work in a city like Wichita. What keeps them successful is audience feedback. It's the audience that determines what comics are going to come up and grace the stage and which ones might not ever come back.

“Wichita really wants to see creative, funny comedians and that's what we strive to bring -- people that can do it with talent, without using the language and the shock humor,” Payne said.

Attendance at the Loony Bin is greatly affected by weather, city events and employment. Even television can determine whether a family will go out to see a show. Payne has tracked all of that from the day the Loony Bin opened, so that they can plan.

“And we take that, those factors and we figure those in for the upcoming year as to whom to book, when, where and for how much,” Payne said.

The owners are always looking for a new city to open another venue. Texas, Nebraska and Louisiana are in their sites. Like Wichita, other cities too need a laugh – even it it’s just a 90-minute escape.

“If they didn't want us here, we wouldn't have made it to six months and now we're on 10 years,” Payne said.

And that’s no laughing matter.

The Loony Bin is open Wednesday through Sunday. For ticket information, call 618-HAHA.
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