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WHEELING -- Jokers will be dealt in pairs on a regular basis at Wheeling Island Hotel Casino Racetrack starting this weekend with the introduction of the Comedy Club at Wheeling Island.
The new venue inside the casino showroom will double down every Friday night with two great nationally touring comedians performing their side-splitting acts. Wheeling Island Hotel Casino Racetrack has teamed up with Hysterical Management, headed by veteran Ohio Valley-based comedy booking agent Tony Iannarelli, to bring some of the area's top acts to the new comedy club stage every weekend.
"I've been booking comedy acts in the area for 35 years, and I don't ever remember a venue in the valley having comedy shows every week," Iannarelli said.
"We're going all out," said David Morris, regional director of marketing at Wheeling Island. "We want to offer the whole comedy club experience."
Beginning tonight, Friday, May 5, the Comedy Club will welcome comedian Kevin Downey Jr. - former quarterfinalist on the NBC show "America's Got Talent," along with the stand-up stylings of comedian Eric Potts.
The double shot of laughs delivered by a diverse array of comedians will continue on Friday nights through the month of May with the hilarious Jody Kerns and Chad Tate on May 12, Bil Benden and Tim Wolfe on May 19, and Rob Ward and Anthony Mayo on May 26.
"We wanted to offer something new to the area and establish something that will draw people," Morris said. "It's a very low cost option for entertainment at $10 a ticket. It's a great price for some knee-slapping comedy."
Iannarelli added, "That's our motto - 'more funny for your money!'"
The crew at Wheeling Island intends to incorporate a true comedy club atmosphere in the showroom for the weekly Comedy Club shows.
"We'll have a cash bar in the back," Morris said. "The main comedy shows are going to have tables lined toward the stage rectangularly. There's going to be a section in the front that is going to be our VIP section."
Morris said Wheeling Island Hotel Casino Racetrack is ramping up its slate of entertainment this year for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic slowed things down in 2019. A jackpot of entertainment will be featured in the coming months, and the new Comedy Club at Wheeling Island is the latest big step forward for the gaming and entertainment destination venue.
"There are some blackout dates that we're not going to have it - those will be announced as we go, but we're going to do it pretty consistently," Morris said of the weekly Comedy Club shows. "It will be every Friday. Doors open at 7 p.m., and 8 p.m. is show time."
There will also be some marquee comedy events during special engagements on select dates at Wheeling Island, as well. These special shows will feature bigger names on the nationally touring comedy circuit. For these events, there will be special ticket prices and stadium seating arrangements.
The first special engagement is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 24.
"We got Tammy Pescatelli -- she's a bigger national act," Iannarelli said. "She's been on 'The Tonight Show' like four times."
Tickets for Pescatelli -- also known as the "Verbal Assassin" -- are available for purchase on eventbrite.com.
In addition to the slew of white-knuckle chuckles on tap at Wheeling Island, there are also a bevvy of concerts and even a magic show appearing in the showroom in the coming months. The live music performances feature many nationally touring acts, including some of the best rock tribute bands in the nation such as No Fences - the Garth Brooks tribute on May 13, Nightrain -- Guns N' Roses tribute experience on June 10, and The Four Hoursemen - Metallica tribute band on July 29.
For a full slate of upcoming entertainment offerings, visit www.wheelingisland.com.