After much controversy, Yuk Yuk's Comedy Club has finally found a home in downtown Victoria.
Owners and Fernwood residents David Wilcox and Yona Rodiboux-Depue will be opening the comedy club at 751 View St., formerly the DejaVous Nightclub, above Hermann's Jazz Club.
“We're very excited. It's been a long-time coming,” Wilcox said.
For the past two years, the couple has been trying to bring the club to Victoria.
They originally wanted to open on the ground floor of the Q apartment building (665 Douglas St.), formerly Samuel's Dining Lounge.
However, Victoria city council denied support for a primary liquor license, that would have allowed the comedy club to serve liquor from noon to 10:30 p.m., seven days a week, after several neighbours expressed concerns about potential increased traffic and noise in the evening.
According to Wilcox, the new location meets all the requirements of a Yuk Yuk's, including no pillars blocking the view of comedians and space for adequate seating. It also has a liquor license.
“It will give (residents) something new to do downtown. There's a lot of people in Victoria that don't get out as often because there's no steady source of entertainment day in and day out in Victoria,” Wilcox said. “Personally, I love to laugh.”
Yuk Yuk's has more than 160 professional comedians on its roster, many of whom could end up performing in Victoria.
They're hoping to have the grand opening on June 3.
There was a Yuk Yuk's in Victoria several years ago, but it shut down in 1987 after only one year in business.