Comedy Club Owner Puts on an Act of Generosity

Spending Thanksgiving broke or alone is no joke.

Jamie Masada, a comedian turned nightclub impresario, remembers how it was.

“I was worse than hungry,� Masada said. “I had no family, nowhere to go. And I swore that if I made it, I would give some back.�

So on Thursday, as he has for the past 11 Thanksgivings, Masada opened the doors of his Laugh Factory comedy club on Sunset Boulevard and hosted a free turkey dinner and show for about 500 actors, comedians and others still trying to make it--or just keep up--in Hollywood.

“They’re all people who came to this town with big hopes and big hearts, but haven’t reached their goals yet,� Masada said. “And they can’t go home. So we’re their second family.�

And an eclectic one it is. Young and old, clad in everything from black leather and denim to mismatched polyester, the ranks of Hollywood’s up-and-coming and over the hill lined up for the turkey and fixings.

“I really just had no place to go,� said Scott Russell, 21, a would-be actor who is an intern for the daytime soap opera “The Young and the Restless.�

“I don’t have any family here,� added Scott Folger, 21, of London, who boasted of a recent bit part on the Saturday morning show “Saved by the Bell.� “And it beats staying at home.�

Besides, said others among the crowd of several hundred that snaked along Sunset Boulevard, it could be fun.

“I thought it would be a cool Hollywood way to spend Thanksgiving,� said Nicole Phillips, 21, a budding screen writer.

The Laugh Factory, while perhaps one of the more unique venues for a free turkey dinner, was among the dozens of area restaurants and missions that fed the hungry on Thanksgiving.

An estimated 8,000 homeless men, women and children were served turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas and pumpkin pie at the Midnight Mission, Union Rescue Mission and other shelters in downtown Los Angeles.

In Bell, the California Pizza Kitchen provided more than 100 pizzas for the homeless at a Salvation Army lunch. Los Angeles’ Meals-on-Wheels program, and Project Angel Food, which feeds homebound people with AIDS, also prepared special meals for the day.

The trendy Hard Rock Cafe cooked up turkey dinners, while the plight of the turkey was on the minds of about 100 people in upscale Pacific Palisades, where the environmental group EarthSave LA sponsored a vegetarian Thanksgiving feast with four live turkeys as guests of honor.

Some in the crowd at the Laugh Factory said they had been coming for the free food and show for years.

“My mom and dad died and left me the map (to the Laugh Factory) in their will,� joked Hal Shafer, 50, an actor--and apparent comic--as he sat down with paper plates loaded with turkey, stuffing, yams, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.

Jena Summer, 33, brought her two children. “It’s a nice homey atmosphere,� she said. Summer, like most others there, learned about the Laugh Factory’s offer through the Hollywood grapevine. “I was working as an extra on ‘Lethal Weapon III’ and found out from a friend,� Summer said.

After most had been served at the 4 p.m. dinner, Masada opened the first of two shows, which featured comics such as Lenny Clark and A.J. Jamal.

“Thanks for coming,� Masada said. “I look forward to having you all back again at Christmas.�