Jeremiah's to open downtown comedy club

Stop me if you've heard this one: Jeremiah's has recently added a comedy club that will bring nationally touring comics to town every weekend.

It's going to be called the Comedy Club at Jeremiah's, said owner Donn Ganim. It unofficially debuted last weekend with a dueling pianos comedy act and kicks off officially April 11 and 12.

Shows will be at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays in the restaurant section of Jeremiah's.

Ganim has a friend who works for Funny Bone -- a national comedy club chain -- who has agreed to book his acts. Acts are already booked until the end of May.

"We've been fired up about it down at Jeremiah's for a while," said Ganim.

The dueling piano performers will be there once a month and comedians -- men and women -- the other three weeks.

"Every big city has a bar that does this," Ganim said. "It can get a little racy at times, but we're don't let people under 21 in anyway."

Don't expect Eddie Murphy, Ganim warned, or other superfamous comedians.

"Some of the guys have been on Leno or Letterman," he said. "I haven't heard of them, but I know we're getting some really good comics. These are national acts that are touring the country. Now they'll be stopping in Cape Girardeau."

Some of the specialty acts will be hypnotists and ventriloquists, he said.

It will be Cape Girardeau's only comedy club, though other restaurants have tried and failed.

"I think with the connections we have, we should be able to pull it off," he said. "We're going to do it consistently, and we think word of mouth will be pretty good."

Before we wrap this up, let me try this joke on you:

A guys into a bar and asks the bartender if he wants to hear a dumb jock joke.

The bartender says, "The guy in the corner is a professional wrestler. The guy in the other corner is a prizefighter. This guy next to you is a professional hockey player. I played football for five years. Now, do you STILL want to tell your dumb jock joke?"

The guy says, "No. I don't want to have to explain it four times."

Is this thing on?

Down to China Town

China Town Buffet owner Quing Hnag Wu is hoping to open the new Chinese restaurant next month. The former Western Sizzlin' is taking more remodeling than he thought, he tells me.

But he's gotten most of it done and is putting the finishing touches on all the work. He's being a bit secretive about what he did. He wants it to be a surprise.

Appraising the situation

Donna Diebold Joplin has recently announced the opening of SEMO Appraisal in Cape Girardeau.

Diebold has been in the business for 18 years. Most of those were as co-owner of another appraisal service in Scott City. But then she got married and moved to Cape Girardeau, so she and her partner split the business and she moved to Cape Girardeau.

"My clientele really hasn't changed, mostly lenders and individuals," she said, noting that her customer base is from seven Southeast Missouri counties.

She just wanted people to know she was now working from Cape Girardeau.

Good luck to you.

Briefly

Mac's Tavern on the corner of Frederick and Independence has a new owner. Spencer Tollison of Jackson has taken over the business. Cheers.

Scott Moyers is the business editor for the Southeast Missourian. Send your comments, business news, information or questions to Biz Buzz, 301 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0699, e-mail smoyers@semissourian.com or call 335-6611, extension 137.