Comedy is serious business in Saugus

SAUGUS – What do you get when you cross a Leaning Tower with a Chinese temple?If you?re anywhere near Saugus, you get some of the best proving grounds for stand-up comics in the Boston area in Giggles Comedy Club and Kowloon Komedy on Route 1.If you get any working comic talking about how they came up, the conversation inevitably turns to Saugus. Just ask veteran comic Lenny Clarke, whose brother, Mike Clarke, started Giggles 25 years ago.?It?s probably one of the best clubs in the country, bar none,” he said. “The audience is a lot of repeat customers. So it really forces you to come up with new material. They?ve come to expect a great show so if you?re going to phone it in, you?re going to hear about it.”Lenny Clarke was at the center of what some might call the heyday of Boston comedy in the 1980s with comics like Denis Leary and Steven Wright. Since then he?s appeared in movies like “Rounders” and “Me, Myself and Irene” and played Uncle Teddy in seven seasons of the FX TV series “Rescue Me” with Leary.But despite his success, it?s Giggles that the comedian still calls home.?If you don?t do stand-up and you take any time off, you lose a step,” said Clarke. “You really do. I love to act and I love being in TV and movies, but in the down time, you can?t just say, ?Oh well I?ll do stand-up.? That?s not how it works. You see a lot of comedians take off for a year or two years and they just don?t have it. If you want to do stand-up and you want to be good, you have to continuously work at it. Being able to go to Giggles, it helps Mike, but it helps me too.”Keeping ?em laughingMike Clarke first teamed up with late Prince Pizzeria owner Arthur Castraberti 25 years ago. Over that time countless comedy clubs have come and gone. But what keeps Giggles going strong, said Mike Clarke, is the family atmosphere and its location outside Boston.?Prince has been there for over 50 years,” he said. “It?s a good night out. It?s free parking. We don?t have two-drink minimums. For the most part it?s $20 a ticket other than a special event and we take pride in keeping it cost effective. We want people to come back. It?s in a great location. We have 150,000 cars a day going by Route 1. There?s plenty of people on the North Shore that don?t want to go into Boston.”Giggles will be celebrating its 25th anniversary on Sept. 13 and 14 and comic Wendy Liebman, one of the first acts Mike Clarke booked there, will be returning for a show with Matt D. and Tony V.But Giggles isn?t alone on Route 1. Just a mile or so south on the northbound side, Kowloon Komedy has also been a mainstay.Comic Will Noonan did his first open mic in New York in 2007. Since then, the Boston native has moved back to his hometown and is a regular at Kowloon.Noonan said he?s played a few shows at Giggles, but called himself a “Kowloon guy.”?Everyone gets along at both, it?s not like a rivalry or anything ?,” said Noonan. “Giggles is more like the older guys from the 80s and 90s. They all play everywhere, but that?s like their clubhouse. At Kowloon you?re going to see some of the same acts, but it?s a little younger. Kowloon is like one of my favorite places to play. It?s the club that other comedians that don?t play there always ask me, ?How do I get in at Kowloon?? It?s a very tough place to get booked at. It?s pretty unique.”Noonan said the crowds on Route 1 in Saugus are different from crowds in Boston or even on the South Shore.?It?s like a big city and small town mixed together,” said Noonan. “It?s definitely the crowd at Kowloon is down to play around with you and interact. I love it. It?s a great place to do comedy. The only downside is they?re eating.”Keeping it freshEven though Giggles is home to a core of veteran stand-ups, Mike Clarke said he always tries to bring on new talent as well, which he said keeps things fresh for the audience. But not just any newcomer can get on the stage, he said.?We keep the talent level high,” he said. “Giggles is an A club. You have to be g