New comedy series at The Wormhole

Beam us up

If you get caught in the Comedy Vortex at The Wormhole, be prepared to come out laughing.

The Comedy Vortex is a standup comedy series that will feature national headliners in a club setting, thanks to comedian Steve Hofstetter’s recent appearance at The Wormhole. Hofstetter enjoyed the show so much, he’s producing the once-a-month shows.

“It was a friendly crowd that definitely got it,” he said. “It was not the crowd that someone who doesn’t know much about Savannah would assume would be there.

“Savannah is always presented to outsiders as a historic, weeping willow, Spanish moss kind of place,” Hofstetter said. “People don’t realize that it has a wonderful art scene.”

It takes a population of at least 250,000 to support a full-time comedy club, and Savannah is too small for now, Hofstetter said. “We’re starting slow and ramping up,” he said.

But Atlanta has become a comedy mecca and is close enough to draw top comedians to Savannah, Hofstetter said. “It made no sense to me that there is not a real comedy circuit there,” he said.

Hofstetter realized he couldn’t fill the gap alone. “I have to write new material before I come back, but there are fantastic comics who could do it,” he said.

The lineup is possible through routing of comics traveling to gigs in clubs in Atlanta, Columbia, S.C., Charlotte, N.C. or Jacksonville, Fla. “These are comics you’d typically have to drive to Atlanta to see,” Hofstetter said.

Up next is Tom Simmons. “He’s a comic that is so prolific and such an amazing writer I’m almost embarrassed to perform in front of him,” Hofstetter said. “The only thing going on in my head is, ‘Is this good enough for Tom Simmons?’”

Simmons has played Savannah, and is looking forward to coming back. “I’ll talk about everything, about being a dad, the world, Japan, the Federal Reserve,” Simmons said. “I talk about things that annoy me, things I love. It changes and is rooted in whatever is going on at the time.”

Although born in New York, Simmons considers himself a Southerner. “I never really thought of myself as funny,” he said. “I didn’t decide to do this, I just like to make people laugh.

“When I was at Florida State, I got talked into doing an open mic, got some laughs and got addicted to it,” Simmons said. “I moved to Atlanta and started doing regular comedy clubs. I love it.”

When a big story happens, Simmons goes into action. “Somehow, I dive in and start picking out the jokes,” he said. “It’s more about writng down smartass comments and resaying them on stage. I talk back to the television set.”

If the series is successful, it could happen more of than once a month. College towns are always good draws, Hofstetter said.

The Wormhole is the perfect venue, he said. “Anyone afraid of setting foot in an indie rock venue is not the audience you want at a comedy show,” Hofstetter said. “We want a hipper, smarter crowd.”

Seeing comedy live makes a big difference, Hofstetter said. “It’s like going to a baseball game live or watching it on TV — it’s a completely different scene,” he said. “Things happen you can’t recreate on TV.”

IF YOU GO

What: An appearance by Comedy Central’s “Live at Gotham” comic Tom Simmons.

When: April 2 at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Where: The Wormhole, 2307 Bull St.

Cost: $15.

Info: www.wormholebar.com/first-saturday-comedy-show