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For over two years now LMAO Comedy (www.lmaotexas.com) has successfully produced top notch comedy shows in it’s club in downtown Paris, Texas. A small market by most standards, Paris has become sort of a new hub for seasoned stand up comics to perform.
Daryl Felsberg – Comic and owner of LMAO Comedy
“Our policy is to book the room with comics I work with on the road when I tour. That way I know that they are funny and they are good people too.” said Daryl Felsberg, comic and owner. “Some of the bigger acts come in as favors to me, and I appreciate that. However when they are done, they want to return, which says a lot for the quality of the comedy fans in Paris.”
Upcoming shows include:
2/22 – Aaron Aryanpur – won Funniest Comic in Texas 2012; contributor to both Maxim! and Life and Style magazines.
3/1-2 Alley Cat Dueling Piano Show
3/22-23 Bill Kirchenbauer from NBC’s Growing Pains as Coach Lubbock and star of his own sitcom on NBC, Just the 10 of Us; the movie Airplane
4/26-27 Dustin Diamond; played Screech from Saved by the Bell
5/11 Jimmy Pardo from Tosh.0, That 70’s Show, Comedy Central, Becker, and National Lampoon’s Funny Money
Several shows in the fall have been booked as well including:
Jimmy JJ Walker – from the 70’s sitcom Good Times
Kevin Brown – plays Dot Com on 30 Rock
Dave Coulier- Uncle Joey from NBC’s Full House
Michael Winslow -Police Academy movies; does 1000’s of sound effects
“We have many more up our sleeve…even some bigger shows. We are simply working our tour schedules and availability.” said Felsberg. “As those are booked we will announce them, and there are a few BIG surprises.
Tickets are available online at www.lmaotexas.com or by calling 903-785-LAFF or in person at Girls and Cake.
Paris has been commended for successful annual progress as a designated Main Street community. The Texas Historical Commission’s (THC) Texas Main Street Program (TMSP) made the announcement January 30, 2013 at the winter gathering of Texas Main Street managers.
Design by Dorothy Witt
Sixty-seven designated Main Street programs in Texas were recognized. These cities will be further recognized as Nationally Accredited by the National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, at the National Main Street conference in New Orleans in April 2013.
“It really is a notable accomplishment to be recognized in this way, especially for those programs that do it year after year,” said Debra Farst, TMSP state coordinator. “Incremental progress that leads to comprehensive success is at the core of the preservation-based Main Street model and that is exactly what these programs are showing. This process respects the unique nature of each Main Street community. Each program is recognized for their own local effort. They are truly real places telling real stories.”
Accredited programs show above average performance in ten categories on an annual report. Selection criteria focus on planning, partnerships, staffing, volunteer effort, preservation ethic, training and program assessment through reporting. The state office also works with programs throughout the year by providing various services based upon local needs.
“This award is not only for the Paris Main Street Program, but the people in Paris,” added Paris Main Street Coordinator, Cheri Bedford.
Time Flies, an American pub located in downtown Paris, received its ribbon-cutting ceremony as it officially became a member of the Chamber of Commerce this past Thursday.
The upscale bar, which was opened by business owners B.A. Sessums and Chris Stephens in 2011, features the largest tequila bar in North Texas as well as several high-end liquors like Johnnie Walker Blue Label scotch.
The two business men decided to open a bar after visiting The Ohio Club, Arkansas’ largest bar, during a duck tour in Hot Springs.
Sessums told the eParisExtra! that the name Times Flies originated from the dozen of clocks that he once housed in storage. Those clocks now line the walls of the bar downtown — all conveniently set to 5 p.m.
Aside from the extensive selection of wine and liquor, Time Flies also features an oyster and sushi bar, Panini grill, and serves several different types of salads and personal pizzas.
Time Flies, which is open 7 days per week, focuses on keeping a relaxed, smoke-free, environment with pool tables and an upstairs living room arraignment that will leave you socializing comfortably.
For more information, call 903-669-1899 or visit the Time Flies website at http://www.timefliesparis.com/.
Make the 2013 Valentine’s Day a special one and send your sweetheart a personalized ‘Wish List’ from nine different possible boutiques and shops in Downtown, Paris — while also entering yourself into a drawing at each of the stores you make a list at.
“This is our third year for the event. The first year was great, but the second time around was a huge hit, even though there was an ice storm,” stated PDA Event Committee Chair Melissa Gordon. ”We expect this year to be even bigger.”
PDA Event Committee Chair Melissa Gordon
Sponsored by the Paris Downtown Association and eParisTexas.com (eParisExtra.com), the event is designed to bring people into the participating downtown businesses, while also offering a fun shopping experience for Valentine’s Day.
Plus, we all know how much easier it is to shop with a list specifying what your sweetheart wants, from where.
The day for people to come in and create their ‘Wish List(s)’ will be Saturday, February 9th; 10am-5pm.
The following PDA merchants will be eligible ‘Wish List’ locations:
Here is something that makes this event even more FUN! Each store was asked by the PDA to have a ‘giveaway raffle’, whereas each ‘Wish List’ that is made at each store is also entrance for that person into the store’s drawing.
“The more ‘Wish Lists’ you make, the better your chances are to win,” Gordon stated.
(For example: You could go into SoHo, make a ‘Wish List’, and get entered into their drawing. Then you could go to Paris Baby, make a list, get entered into their drawing also. Move on over to Creative Candy Design, make a list there too, you get entered into their drawing. So on and so forth — Green Boutique, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Two Rivers, Spanglers, Collegiate Shoppe and Lillian Kelley’s.)
You could get entered into NINE drawings, making a much better chance to win nine different prizes.
Once you make your lists on Saturday, February 9, the Paris Downtown Association will compile the lists and eParisTexas.com will then send them out via email to your specified sweetheart. It’s then up to them to go and get the items on the ‘Wish List(s)’.
Many of the merchants will be offering snacks and refreshments all day to encourage shopping. Please come and make a list at as many places as possible. Put as many items on each list as you wish. All you sweethearts out there, get ready for some shopping.
Visit the Downtown, Paris Facebook Page by click here. Keep an eye on the Extra! for more information about the event as it draws nearer.
Be sure and ‘Like’ eParisTexas.com on Facebook by clicking here! Follow us on Twitter: @eParisExtra.
Merchants need to work together to promote the downtown area and encourage business downtown.
That was the message Leslie Wolfenden, a survey coordinator with the Texas Historical Commission, had for business owners as part of her presentation on effective visual merchandising Monday.
“You aren’t competing with each other,” she said. “You’re competing with the strip malls.”
The event, sponsored by the Paris Main Street Design Committee, was held in the community room at the Santa Fe Depot.
Merchants need to consider what the storefront says. Store owners have eight seconds to attract a potential customer, she said, which makes first impressions very important.
“Your job is to get the attention of the pedestrian on the street – or the car on the street,” Wolfenden said. “If they don’t walk in your store, they don’t buy anything.”
There should be no doubt about what a business sells when customers look at the storefront, she said. Cluttered storefronts, as well as reflective and tinted windows, tend to turn customers away.
It’s not just about the business owners, Wolfenden pointed out. Empty storefronts can leave a false impression that there’s nothing to see downtown. She recommended the community work together to place displays in empty windows.
The presentation also included discussion about signage, displays, lighting, grouping merchandise, props, backdrops, creating a sense of movement, creativity in displays and how to arrange store interiors.
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