Tickle your funny bone

Ricky Del Rosario was the MC for comedy night held at the Heritage Public House in Santa Rosa. (Crista Jeremiason / The Press Democrat)

The economy is still sluggish and the presidential campaign never seems to end. In times like these, a person could really use a few good laughs.

In Sonoma County, you’ll have no trouble finding plenty of live comedy, but you will need a calendar and a map. While there is no one nightclub devoted exclusively to live comedy, at least a half-dozen venues scattered around the county host live comedy shows on a regular basis, mostly on a monthly or twice-monthly schedule.

Santa Rosa comedian Juan Carlos Arenas.

“You can go check out homegrown comics just about once a week now,” said busy Santa Rosa comedian Juan Carlos Arenas.  “You can hear about issues that relate to people here,” he added. “One of the local comics, Mike Olson, talks about the traffic slowdown at the Petaluma pumpkin patch on Highway 101 every year. Another one, Brian Thomas, talks about how he belongs to a minority in Sonoma County, because he’s a Republican.”

Arenas is one of a group of North Bay and Bay Area stand-up comics, calling themselves Monkey Fight Comedy, that presents regular shows at two venues: Christy’s on the Square and the Sweet River Bar and Grill, both in Santa Rosa.

Comics who have appeared at Monkey Fight shows over the past couple of years have branched out to perform elsewhere. Olson now serves as master of ceremonies at a monthly comedy show at Gaia’s Garden vegetarian restaurant in Santa Rosa. Helen Pachynski, another veteran of Monkey Fight shows, hosts a monthly open-mic comedy at Gaia’s Garden.

Not only do local comedy shows offer jokes with a local flavor, they’re convenient for local audiences, said Brandon Revels of Sebastopol, who presents and performs at monthly comedy shows at Jasper O’Farrell’s in Sebastopol.