Best of Detroit Comedy Clubs

April Fools' Day falls on a Thursday this year. Several metro Detroit comedy clubs will be open for business that evening, and welcome customers in the mood for holiday laughs.

"Being foolish is what we do every day, and so April Fools' is like a day off for us, because everybody else is with us on that day," says Pj Jacokes, producer for Go Comedy! Improv Theater in Ferndale. "April Fools' is pretty much a one-shot deal, without a whole lot of meat on it. It's not like Presidents Day, when you have 44 different targets."

Mark Ridley, owner of Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle in Royal Oak, says most April Fools' Day activities are pranks rather than jokes, better suited to a morning radio drive-time host than to a stand-up comic.

"Basically, I've treated April Fools' Day just like any other day in the 31 years I've been in business," Ridley says.

Teasing vs. Pranking

A stand-up comic might make playful fun of an audience member's hair or clothing or whatever, but that's not really in the April Fools' Day mode. That sort of byplay falls in the category of teasing, rather than pranking.

But one of Ridley's mainstays, comic Mike Green of Warren, says it never occurred to him that an occasional element of his gig has an April Fools' aspect.

"It's just a little trick I play, a practical joke," Green says.

When a customer heads for the restroom, Green cuts off his microphone and speaks quietly to the remainder of the audience. He explains that near the end of the show, he is going to tell a supposed joke, but "it's not gonna make any sense at all." Later, when the time arrives, this non-joke will cause immense quiet in the room. However, when he gets to a chosen keyword such as "monkey," everyone is supposed to burst into wild laughter while they keep an eye on the person who had been in the restroom.

Invariably, Green says, the person will join the laughter, although sometimes with a somewhat puzzled expression. He says this is simply a human instinct, a desire for belonging.

Green notes, "After the show, nine times out of 10 they will approach me and say, 'Yeah, yeah, my friends told me what you did. I can't believe I fell for it.' But people are good-natured, and they realize it's a comedy club."

For the sake of variety, Green sometimes gathers information on the customer in the restroom, such as the type of car he drives and the number of children he has. Later in the show, he pretends to be a psychic.

"They freak out like I'm really psychic," he says with a laugh.

Improv Gets Audience Involved

At Go Comedy! Improv Theater, Jacokes says customers have an opportunity for foolery (on April Fools' Day or any other day) because the format involves audience participation in an improv format.

"The thing that sets improv apart from stand-up, for me, is that it's a unique experience," Jacokes says. "You will never see the same thing twice. The audience dictates what happens, so they have some ownership in the show. If a stand-up wants to talk about airplane food or diseases, you don't have any say in it."

Whether improv or stand-up, here's the metro Detroit lineup for April 1, April Fools' Day:

Go Comedy! Improv Theater
8 p.m., Son of the Maltese Falcon; 9 p.m., Wicked Tales of Horror and Regret; 9:30 p.m., Professor Richard Myron's YouTube Bonanza; 10 p.m., Matt Naas and the Sing-Along Singers
261 E. Nine Mile Road in Ferndale
Admission: $10
248-327-0575
GoComedy.net

Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle
8 p.m., Mark Pitts with Larry XL
269 E. Fourth St. in Royal Oak
Admission: $10
248-542-9900
ComedyCastle.com

Joey's Comedy Club at Kicker's
8 p.m., Dan Greuter and Marques Bunn
36071 Plymouth Road in Livonia
Admission: $6
734-261-0555
KickersComplex.com/joeys

Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase
8 p.m., Chili Challis
314 E. Liberty St. in Ann Arbor
Admission: $7 before 6 p.m., $9 afterward
734-996-9080
AAComedy.com

Chaplin's Comedy Club
8:30 p.m., Steve Lott, Chris Heudus, D.K. Hamilton
34224 Groesbeck Highway in Clinton Township
Admission: $12
586-792-1902
ChaplinsComedyClub.com