The Laugh Garage Comedy Club, which three years ago opened the first comedy venue in western Sydney, has been forced to move, despite having attracted a regular local audience.
"I was totally shattered," said Darren Sanders, one of the three comedians who opened the club on the corner of Church and Phillip streets, Parramatta, in May 2005.
The Laugh Garage Comedy Club lost the lease last September.
"In December we learnt that The Comedy Store [from the Entertainment Quarter at Moore Park] intended to open a second club called The Comedy Store Parramatta on the site.
"We did all the leg work and it involved a lot of time and risk. We built up audience numbers of between 150 and 200 people on Friday and Saturday nights sometimes we had a full house of 300."
Mr Sanders said they would reopen just down the road at Riverside Theatres in Church Street on January 26.
The club will hold a comedy night there every Saturday evening from 9pm.
"It will be the same as before, licensed with cocktail tables and we will maintain our special meal-deals thanks to support from Parramatta restaurants," Sanders said.
Details: The Laugh Garage Comedy Club, 88831111, www.thelaughgarage.com.