FRONT AND CENTER: John Marks, one of the four partners at Comedy Tennessee, tests his equipment before the club's recent opening. -- Photograph By Andrew Ashby

Comedian John Marks has never called in sick while working in comedy clubs over the years, and hopes his new business venture will stay healthy as well.

"There's nothing like being in a sea of people who are laughing," he said. "Being around all that laughter, I think there is something about it that is very healing."

Marks and three business partners hoped to be laughing all the way to the bank as they opened a 270-seat comedy club last night at 6102 Macon Road. The 7,000-square-foot Comedy Tennessee, which includes a 40-seat restaurant called the Creole Café, is the end result of a year-and-a-half journey.

Divine comedy

Marks and partner Sammy Marten have been stand-up comedians for years, working in hundreds of clubs across the country. In December 2004, they started producing comedy shows under the name of Comedy Tennessee every Thursday night at the Holiday Inn at 5795 Poplar Ave.

After six months, the show moved to Neil's, a neighborhood bar at 1835 Madison Ave. While at Neil's, Marks and Marten met Dan and David Dierkes, two brothers who owned Davene Inc., an awards company.

The company sponsored Comedy Tennessee at Neil's because the Dierkes' families were involved in comedy. David's wife, Theresa, managed comedy clubs in Memphis throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Dan's 22-year-old son, Dominic, was a stand-up comedian who started in Memphis at the age of 15 before moving to New York.

The four talked about starting a full-time comedy club and formed Comedy Tennessee LLC in 2006 to do just that.

No more comedy of errors

The last full-time comedy club in Memphis was the Funny Bone on Beale Street, which closed in October 2005.

Marks and Marten hope to avoid a similar fate by using the experiences they picked up from years on the road as stand-up comics. Marks said he noticed how the more successful clubs used sponsorships.

"I thought that was a great way to run a comedy club," he said. "It provided an extra avenue of support and revenue."

Comedy Tennessee actively pursues sponsors by giving away tickets, featuring the companies in its advertising and placing company brochures at shows. The club's management also is looking into making coasters with sponsors' logos.

Marks and Marten also made sure the performance area was designed to be friendly to comedians. The seats were put close to the stage, and the club owners bought high-end lights and sound equipment for $4,000 so comedians could hear themselves.

"We had a comic friend who worked at the Funny Bone on Beale and he said on a Saturday night, as you were doing your show, you could hear three different bands play outside," Marks said. "As a comic, it's hard to work when that happens."

Good, clean fun

The club will host shows at 8:15 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. It also will feature 10:30 p.m. shows on Fridays and Saturdays. Smoking won't be allowed at the early Friday and Saturday shows, and the content will be toned down, Marks said.

"A lot of times, it seems like Memphians associate comedy clubs with smoking, drinking and vulgarity," Marks said. "That's not the case. It's not like that everywhere else in the country."

Marks said he hopes having a full-time comedy stage in Memphis will help develop new talent in a tough business. Years on the road taught Marks that being a comic is hard work.

"It's hard because it's very competitive," Marks said. "With the travel, it's also hard on relationships sometimes."

The full-time professional comics that tour do more than just perform.

"They're auditioning for commercials, sitcoms and movies," Marks said. "They're promoting themselves and selling CDs. They're working on their careers."

Local comics usually have full-time jobs and perform comedy when they can, Marks said. Comedy Tennessee can help get them stage time to hone their craft. One of the ways the club is doing this is through its "Funniest Person in Memphis" contest.

Michael Danziger won the first contest, which was held at Neil's May 25. Danziger, who leases and manages properties for Malkin Management and Investment Co. during the day, started performing stand-up comedy a year and a half ago.

"It was something that I had been talking about doing for a long time and people had been telling me I should," he said. "I sort of got lucky, timing-wise, that my start coincided with when Comedy Tennessee was getting going because they have provided a great stage and been very helpful to local comics."

Comedy, tragedy - drama

One of the challenges for Memphis comics is the lack of stages in the area. Aside from Comedy Tennessee, there are occasional comedy shows at Stop 345 at 345 Madison Ave. and at the Hi-Tone at 1913 Poplar Ave.

"If you really want to make it something more, you have to get out of Memphis some," Danziger said. "This is not a place to get discovered or make the jump to the big time, but it's a fun place and we have good crowds when the word gets out."

Danziger recently visited New York and performed at the Gotham Comedy Club, the Comedy Cellar, the Comedy Village and Standup New York. He said he thinks a full-time club would help develop Memphis' grassroots comedy scene.

"I think it can have a very big impact for comics to know there is a full-time stage that is going, where we can not only hone our craft, but meet touring comics and perform alongside headliners who play all across the country," Danziger said.

David Dierkes, one of Comedy Tennessee's investors, said the club will do more than help comics; it will help the city.

"I think it's something we need," Dierkes said. "It's a way to relax and put your cares aside for about an hour and a half. We want it to be successful enough financially to get off the ground and do well, but mostly we want to bring live comedy to Memphis."

Dierkes listed the comedy clubs that have come and gone in Memphis over the years. Starting with Sir Laughs A Lot on Highland Street in the mid-1970s, he remembers the Comedy House Café on American Way, The Laugh Factory on Mt. Moriah Road, as well as the Comedy Zone and the Loony Bin in Midtown's Overton Square. All these clubs closed down within five years of opening.

"I think some of them were mismanaged, while others had bad locations over time," Dierkes said. "Overton Square got kind of dicey in terms of being over there late at night. Right before they closed, there were some concerns as far as breaking into cars."

Dierkes said Comedy Tennessee hopes to stay open through focusing on sponsors and by nurturing young talent. However, he knows it will require work if he and his partners are going to be laughing all the way to the bank.

"There's a fun side to it, but there's also the business of it," Dierkes said. "It has to break even and pay for itself."