Wednesday, February 28, 2007

This Weekend's Comedy Update at Zig's

A lot going on here at the Comedy Zone at Zig's. A great weekend ahead with Bryan Cork headlining the shows at 8 PM on Friday and Saturday. Last weekend's shows were awesome. Reservations make all the difference to a great flow to the evening. Our box office is open Wednesday thru Saturday from noon until six to help us insure excellent service for you beginning with a great table to enjoy dinner and the show from. The great crowds make such a difference with the show. When the room is full, the jokes are funnier. How is that possible? Is laughter contagious? Can you taste laughter? The room gets an electric feel to it sometimes, it is eerie. Could it be the collective energy from all of us in the room? It is a great feeling to have it occur and know we have a hand in producing a wonderful experience for all of you.
We are debuting a new intro to the show this weekend. Our production staff never ceases to amaze. We are looking for some great things coming from them in the next few months. A couple of projects are being edited as this is being written. Cory and Ted are doing an outstanding job running the production side of the business. Please say hello to them they love the attention.
We are looking forward to a wonderful weekend. Several reservation's are already in, so give Heather a call at the box office (703) 823-2777 option 2 and make your reservation for this weekend. It is looking like another laugh filled weekend at the Comedy Zone at Zig's of Alexandria,VA.
Stay tuned for breaking Zig's news in the coming weeks.
We appreciate your support of live comedy and hope to see you soon,
Tom and the Staff of Zig's

Monday, February 19, 2007

Diving in Someone's Backyard to the Comedy Zone

Two days..Five dives in Sunny, freezing cold, Florida this weekend. There is a whole culture unseen by most people existing all around us. Actually there are more than one sub-culture, but the one I am talking about is the Dive Community. There are literally thousands of people every weekend who trek to these sinkholes in the area around Gainesville to go scuba diving. Wanda and I drove down here (12 hours) after working on Saturday and went diving on Sunday in a place called Blue Grotto.
Leave the highway, then the gravel road, then drive some more and we drove up to this house and in their backyard was not an in ground pool but a Springs going to depths in excess of one hundred feet. The most popular dive sights are in people's backyard, although some are State Parks and therefore are much less expensive and much less developed commercially.
Blue Grotto has platforms underwater for training purposes and picnic tables and rest rooms, a dive shop to refill air and purchase supplies. One of the students with us was from Gainesville and had no clue about the diving although he grew up here. The caves in the area are world renowned. The diving was incredible and the businesses built around them fascinating to us. The owner of the property at Blue Grotto said it was his favorite dive sight so he decided to buy it and run it. Dream come true?......Not...Kind of like owning a restaurant. Some things are better in the dream stage than reality.
Back to reality, one of my personal favorite comics is here this weekend. Mike Speanburg comes to Zig's on Friday and Saturday at 8 PM. Reservations are strongly suggested in order to insure you a good seat. He is awesome and will leave your side hurting from the laughter.
We are experimenting with a new pianist this Friday before the show and the Old Dominion Jazz Trio is here again on Saturday prior to the Comedy Zone. Please come out early and enjoy the live music along with your dinner before the show.
Our string of full houses on Saturday continued last weekend as Grandma Lee, who put on a great show filled the place. We expect two full houses this weekend so call early in the week for your tickets.
The Box Office is open from Noon until 6 PM Wednesday thru Saturday to answer all your questions about the Comedy Zone. Say hello to Heather who usually answers the phones.
We try very hard to insure you have an enjoyable time with us, so please let us know any special requests or needs that can make you time with us better. We love feedback that helps us improve, it is a lot less expensive then a consultant.

We hope to see you soon!

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Valentine's day ruined by Weather- Grandma Lee to the Rescue

Valentine's day in the freezing rain and sleet. Not very romantic. This coming weekend we have Grandma Lee visiting us. Grandma is in town to record some NBC show after making the final round of Last Comic Standing. While she is in town she will always visit her family. So she squeezed out Friday and Saturday nights at the Comedy Zone to say hello to all her friends. If you have not seen this 80 year grandmother (maybe great, she's not sure) perform, be prepared for not what you'd expect. Rapid Fire jokes and commentary on the world from her perspective. Truly a night of Laughter ahead for you. Friday night we will have the jazz opening up at 6 PM and playing until the start of the Comedy Zone at 8 PM. So this weekend make plans for dinner with jazz and Grandma Lee.
The Zig's Box office is open from Noon until 6 PM Wednesday thru Saturdays to answer all your questions. Reservations are suggested and are made through the box office.
Last weekend Paul Hooper rocked Zig's. Two sold out shows...Yes..If you did not have a reservation, your seating was very limited. A first for us and hopefully not the last. Please if you are reading this, make a reservation if you want to see the show. It really allows us to excel at what we do.
Just released on DVD....The Departed. First movie in a while we have been excited about coming out. Last weekend the movie was in the theatre and this week it is out on DVD. We are talking three days from the theatre to the DVD stores. Some kind of record we are sure.

Well the snow is going to bring out a certain kind of crowd so off we go to play in the snow.
See you soon.
Hope to see you real soon at Zig's

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Paul Hooper, my Favorite and Advance Sales

Two sold out shows this weekend. Hopefully it is a sign we are doing something right. Mike Venneman was awesome. It seems week after week the Comedy Zone has consistently sending us excellent talent. And the trend will continue this weekend with Paul Hooper from the Jagermiester Comedy Tour set to headline. Paul is one of my personal favorites. If you like sarcasm, you will love Paul. He is a smart-ass extraordinare. Paul is here Friday and Saturday at 8 PM with the Comedy Zone.
With the soldout shows it is imperative to make a reservation to insure your table is waiting for you. That allows us to give the great service you have come to expect from us. With this in mind we have implemented a change in our reservation policies. Reservations will now require advance purchase of the tickets through our box office. All of you on this newsletter have supported us from the beginning and have seen the changes occur over time. The next obstacle we have to overcome is reservations that do not show up or call to cancel. That is why we have started the Zig's Box Office.
Heather mans (or is it womans) the Box Office from Noon until 6 PM every Wednesday thru Saturday to make it easy for you. One added benefit with our new software is we will be able to guarantee a specific table for you. So if you have a favorite table at Zig's learn the number and request it with your reservation. Clyde, your table is number 33 in non-smoking and 75 when you are in smoking, and we will have your Rusty Nail waiting for you. We aim to fool most of the people most of the time and hope this adds an air of professionalism to our operation. Your continued comments and support are needed to make this a success, so we may continue to bring you quality entertainment. We are currently trying to work out a deal with a National Act which the newsletter subscribers will have first crack at tickets when the show is announced.
Jazz again on Friday night. Starts at 6:15 PM, so come in early for dinner and Jazz and then enjoy Paul Hooper on stage with the Comedy Zone. The ambiance with the music is wonderful and we appreciate everyone's comments and that is why we are bringing you more and more music before the show. We really do read the report cards every week. You might see a new emcee this weekend, we are trying a few personalities out and see if it works out for this weekend. Your feedback is needed here too. We are starved for feedback. As is most successful businesses, since we can not get enough of it.
As usual we appreciate your continued support in our quest to add some laughter to the world.
Thanks for reading this far,
Tom and the staff of Zig's