A driver plowed through the front door of IO West on June 26th. Here is the official word from the IO via Myspace and the official video tribute:

On June 26th at about 4 p.m. an SUV crashed through the front window of our beloved iO West Theater. The SUV took out the entire front door, window and a good chunk of the bar. The only good news is that no one was injured.

However the extensive damage to the exterior and interior of the building has forced the Mainstage and Bar to be

CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

Our phone service also got knocked out, so please check back at our web site and here on myspace for online updatesTHERE WILL BE NO SHOWS IN ANY OF THE IOWEST THEATERS UNTIL AT LEAST JULY 7TH MAYBE LATER KEEP CHECKING THE WEB SITE FOR UPDATES.

Classes will still go on as scheduled.

Thanks for your patience while we repair the theatre.

We hit up IO West tonight to check out Rebecca Michael’s Master’s of Comedy Show. IO is hallowed ground for improv comedy but they opened it up tonight for some very good, very inexpensive stand-up comedy. It was my very first time at IO West and I really dug it. Full bar out front to grab a drink. Very courteous staff (read…they let me put out Live Comedy L.A. flyers). Cool theater inside…not cramped. Even a nice screen to show videos if necessary. Good stuff. And the crowd was solid for a first time show…I was very happy. Here was the line-up:

Ro Delle Grazie
Mal Hall
Jennifer Murphy
Stuart Paap
Clinton Pickens
Lauri Roggenkamp
Brian Scolaro

All the comedians were excellent. Ro Delle Grazie held things down as the host while Rebecca was up in S.F. Ro makes me laugh with that NY accent. She did a baby joke to close her set…and just her saying “crwwwaaal”…made the joke. Jennifer Murphy just finished the L.A. Marathon…God bless her…and still brought so laughs for the crowd. Clinton Pickens was solid and Stuart Paap laid down some funny material also. Brian Scolaro is incredible…he does a caveman joke that is killer…and a 5 minute bit on noises that had me laughing outloud. Plus…the “Sneezing Joke”. He probably gets tired of me telling him how good it is…but is folks…it’s really that good.

But the stand out of the night for me was Lauri Roggenkamp. Her timing was incredible…her poise was perfect…and she had everyone in the audience cracking up. Just a great performance from someone I have never seen before. I love that! Definitely going to be keeping an eye out for Lauri.

I’ll definitely be at this show again. Add it to your options for Sunday night comedy in Los Angeles…along with No Name Comics at Room 5.