Lacey native Nate Jackson brings comedy home to the Northwest with new Tacoma club
Tacoma soon will have a new comedy club where people can go for a night of laughs, courtesy of national comic Nate Jackson.
Jackson grew up in Lacey and will be bringing his connections to his home region.
The Grand Opening Weekend of Nate Jackson’s Super Funny Comedy Club will be five shows July 9-11. Tickets are available at www.superfunnycomedyclub.com.
The shows will have Jackson performing with his friends and fellow comics Kanisha Buss, Tanjareen, Clayton Thomas, BT Kingsley and K Dubb.
Jackson talked with The News Tribune recently about the opening and gave a tour of the club, located in the Annex Building at 8402 S. Hosmer St.
The venue is a big place. When posing for photos in front of the towering stage, Jackson remarked it is “like taking a picture of the moon.”
Jackson said he made the stage with the proper height in mind to shoot stand-up specials. The venue would typically seat upwards of 305, but that number likely would be at least halved in order to maximize social distancing.
It has a light show that feels more like a concert. The walls are covered in artistic representations of audio waves Jackson says are of his laughs. There will be food and 24 beers on tap, available to purchase during shows.
It doesn’t stop on the comedy floor. There also is a complete podcast studio, which will be available for rent.
Jackson called the club his “local opus” and a dream a long time in the making.
“I’m just a little chubby kid from Lacey, Washington that graduated from River Ridge High School and Eastern Washington University then found out what my dream was and have been chasing it tenaciously for 15 years,” Jackson said. “Doing so has afforded me opportunities on Nick Cannon’s Wild ’N Out, HBO Def Comedy Jam, BET Comic View, TruTV’s Laff Tracks, and most recently BET+ All the Way Black.”
Pandemic caused delays
The opportunity to open his own club had to be put on hold as Jackson found himself unable to operate in the pandemic.
“We didn’t have a choice but to make the most of the downtime,” Jackson said. “We were prepared to open for March 30. We got delayed. During that delay, we slowed down. We weren’t behind or anything, we were ahead of schedule.”
The uncertainty made it difficult to plan a campaign promoting the club and left many things in limbo.
“We’ve had to stop due to coronavirus at a couple different junctures, so it’s messed with the marketing of it,” Jackson said. “Like you start marketing and you stop. Then you start and then you stop.”
This situation was unfortunate because Jackson had been excited to connect with the Tacoma community.
“I feel like I’m building a miraculous building that is nothing but positive for the community, for the comics, for everybody,” Jackson said. “We’re doing that, and now it’s standing out in the open, and corona is taking shots at it.”
Now, the plan is to open for the next several months with precautions.
“We’re going to be doing everything that the CDC and the Washington state Department of Health recommends. Our entrance is separate from our exit so the crowd leaving doesn’t have to go back past a whole bunch of new people and then risk any new interactions,” Jackson said. “We’ll have hand sanitizer stations and encourage hand washing. We do contact tracing through our online ticket sales. We also do contact tracing through a clock-in, clock-out for all of our employees and then all comics that come.”
That means sacrifices might have to be made.
“There are a few hindrances. I’m big on comics being able to hang out. I’m big on comics being able to come and learn from who the biggest acts are,” Jackson said. “That’s difficult to do during coronavirus because there can’t be any free radicals running around the club. In general, I’m all for there being an area where the comics are learning and hanging and watching because that’s how you grow.”
Another challenge is that the venue is next door to a motel that is being used as a temporary care facility.
Jackson said he isn’t concerned about the proximity.
“In anticipation of that, because part of being a business owner is to be ahead of things, they’re going to restructure the way that the parking lot is set up so that you can actually go all the way around the entire thing,” Jackson said. “We are not connected to them in any way. There are no vents, no screws, no nails, no hallways, no stairways.”
Biggest comedy club in Northwest
Jackson said the wait and hassles have been worth it.
“Honestly this is the biggest club in Pacific Northwest history,” Jackson said. “As a nationally headlining act, you want to work the best clubs in the country. This is that. This is nice enough and big enough that we’re going to appeal to some comics that are used to doing theaters. They’ll be coming here.”
The club’s website describes the venue as “the only Black-owned comedy club in the Pacific Northwest.”
“I think it matters that examples like this exist in the Northwest,” Jackson said. “That there can be spaces of this magnitude and businesses of this size that are Black-owned.
“We are making history, whether I feel like it or not.”
Jackson hopes the club can be part of a positive trend that brings both diverse acts and ownership.
“The average person can’t name 10 Black-owned businesses,” Jackson said. “Probably can’t name five.”
The club and the vibe he is trying to establish are an endeavor he and his “Team Nate” have invested a lot in.
“This being where I’m from, this is the culmination of all the hard work I’ve put in with all the shows and promoting and everything from my namesake,” Jackson said. “This is my baby. And this isn’t just me. This is the work of so many people, general managers, assistant managers, contractors. It’s got to happen.”
One of those people is his general manager, Joey LaRocque, who also was the operations manager overseeing the build out. LaRocque has a long history helping open many successful businesses, though a comedy club is a first for them both, Jackson said.
Jackson is no stranger for making big things happen. He was part of bringing Kevin Hart to Tacoma in 2017 for his Comedy Central Show “Hart of the City.” Jackson served as an associate producer for the Tacoma episode.
“I brought Kevin Hart to town. I booked the show,” Jackson said. “I was just glad to put our region on.”
Jackson, in talking with The News Tribune at the time, said the event “put Tacoma on the map” and now thinks such framing is missing out on all the area has to offer.
“Really if you don’t think Tacoma is already on the map, that just is about your perspective or your level of exposure for comedy,” Jackson said. “Everybody I know around America who knows me is like: Tacoma.”
The event with Hart saw him talking with comedians from the area and then watching performances highlighting local talent at Keys on Main. One of the comics who performed was Kanisha Buss, who will be performing at the opening weekend of the new club.
Jackson sees the new venue as an opportunity for more events and television appearances.
“You think I’m not putting this on TV?” he said. “It’s inevitable, I’m already working on it.”
He sees the opening weekend as being a chance to make a splash.
“It’s already going to be sold out,” Jackson said.
What can audiences expect from Jackson and the shows generally?
“I just talk about life and experiences. Super quick-witted and fast-paced,” Jackson said. “It’s the grand opening, baby, we’ll do everything.”
This story was originally published June 25, 2020 at 12:10 PM.
