July 10, 2013 Staff Report
The Laughing Devil Comedy Club is up for sale and is likely to be sold in weeks.
Steve Hofstetter, a co-owner with Jacob Morvay at the 47-38 Vernon Blvd. venue, said that he would try to find a buyer that would maintain it as a comedy club. However, he said there is a possibility that the venue will become a bar or restaurant.
“I was very upset when I realized we had to sell,” Hofstetter. “We had been going back and forth about selling it for the past two months.”
The two men opened the Laughing Devil in 2011.
Superstorm Sandy hurt business during the club’s peak season. Furthermore, Hofstetter recently moved to Los Angeles for a TV opportunity, while Morvay has a newborn at home.
The men became too busy. “We decided that something had to give—and that we would rather sell it than run it half-…ed,” he said.
The club, which has a full-service bar, regularly drew professional touring comics. It is the only full-time comedy club in any of the outer boroughs.
