The owner of the House of Laffs comedy lounge wasn’t joking when he recently announced his business officially closed after a nearly two-year run in Wilmington with big entertainers.
Owner U’Gundi Jacobs broke the news in a lengthy post on his personal Facebook page on Dec. 14.
“I have intentionally been quiet lately as I heal and navigate through the recent closing of Wilmington’s Premier Comedy Lounge & Event Center … House of Laffs,” Jacobs wrote.
The post came weeks after Jacobs was evicted from the Wilmington building at 206 N. Union St.
His landlords Frank Pagliaro, owner of the neighboring business FranksWine, and his wife, Colleen, told Delaware Online/The News Journal that they didn’t have any other choice but to take Jacobs to court. They said he owes $270,000 in back rent, plus other fees such as utilities, water and sewage, real estate tax and insurance, all of which were part of the contract.
The final show at the House of Laffs went out with a bang with headline comedian Tommy Davidson of “In Living Color” fame on Nov. 27.
Costly renovations and the pandemic doomed the comedy club
In April 2019, Jacob signed a sublease that took effect in May 2019. The contract was through 2039.
Jacobs, a seasoned veteran who began promoting comedy shows over 30 years ago, said he dug himself into a financial hole early on, and the pandemic took the situation from bad to ugly overnight.
The Wilmington native said his original plan was to renovate the building and open for business around the holiday season in 2019. But after signing the lease, Jacobs said, he had trouble getting materials and ran into other unexpected problems during the renovations.
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The landlords said they tried to help him cut down on his renovation expenses by not charging him rent for the first six months of his lease. Jacobs said he spent $400,000 to renovate the club.
The House of Laffs opened Super Bowl Sunday in February 2021. But the venue was operating under COVID-19 restrictions.
Jacobs said his biggest hurdle in running the House of Laffs was battling the pandemic. There were COVID-19 restrictions, plus he noticed many people still were cautious about returning to entertainment venues.
For a short time, his business was the premier comedy lounge in Wilmington.
He attracted big names like comedians Michael Blackson; brothers Joe and Guy Torry; Pierre Edwards; and Sommore, one of the Queens of Comedy.
In 2021, he hosted a packed house for the NBA draft party of Wilmington native Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland. The place went crazy when the Denver Nuggets drafted Bones with the 26th pick in the first round.
This past spring the House of Laffs was featured on an episode of NBC’s new “American Song Contest,” a singing competition that featured soul-rock singer Nitro Nitra, a fellow Wilmington native.
He said his business didn’t start to turn a corner until September of 2022. But by that time it was too late.
Meanwhile, Jacobs said he’s staying positive. He was recently networking in Texas about looking into the possibility of future ventures. But he didn’t have anything set in stone.
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Andre Lamar is the features/lifestyle reporter. If you have an interesting story idea, email Andre Lamar at alamar@gannett.com.
