Roger Feeny says he’ll move his Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase, currently underneath Seva (itself moving to Westgate), in December or January.
The new space will be in the basement of the Fourth Ave. mini-mall that also houses Bandito’s and Salon Vertigo, and formerly was the home of Eastern Accents. “They’re going to excavate the floor, because the ceiling is a little low for us,” Feeny says, making an amphitheater out of the former living quarters of Dale Newman, the building’s last owner. Newman, a colorful scofflaw, shared the space with his parrot, Fred, who also apparently found another home. “There was nothing living in there–or dead, for that matter,” reports Feeny.
Feeny says Newman “wasn’t quite what you’d call a hoarder, but he had like five sewing machines, and a bunch of stereos. They took five truckloads of stuff out of there.”
Joe Barbat bought the foreclosed building last spring and has big plans for it–he’s seeking city permission to add three stories over the rear and to construct a new facade. But Feeny says none of the daytime construction should interfere with the nighttime comedy club.
