Let’s face it. “X” is an inherently funny letter. So it’s not surprising that when former Green Beret-turned-pin-setter-mechanic-turned-entrepreneur Frank Stevens decided to turn Spartan Lanes into a nightclub––and what would become Lansing’s premiere comedy club at that––he exchanged the “ec” in “connections” for an “x” and never looked back. Today, almost 25 years later, Connextions Comedy Club stands as a beacon of hope for Lansing’s north side, a shining example of how to succeed in tough times, as well as good, if you refuse to take yourself too seriously.

From his office––one that looks like a bomb just went off in it––Stevens began his tale, appropriately enough, at the beginning. “I’ve been here since 1979. I came here as a pinsetter mechanic for 30 days and I’m still here.” He laughed for several seconds. “Us mechanics, we’re not that bright.”

Au contraire. With our economy sagging, CCC has seen its business increase slightly in the past several months. More on that later, but for now, suffice it to say that it’s a good thing for Lansing that Stevens didn’t follow through on his original plan. “I was going to be a doctor,” he explained. In 1979, fresh from 28 months in the jungle serving his country in the military, “I was going to work my way through medical school as a paramedic.” Instead, the owners of Spartan Lanes cajoled him into coming to work for them for 30 days. Despite having to fix 100 pin-setter breakdowns on the first night and putting out two fires, next thing you know, they were offering me a partnership and management.”

In October of 1984, Stevens and his partners turned the bowling center into a comedy club. “Actually,” Stevens says, “we started doing comedy on a one night basis,” and business boomed. “When we started, we were sold out every Wednesday––400 seats. And we said, ‘Comedy. We’ve gotta’ do it.’ We made that fateful decision [to go full time]. And sure enough, we took those 400 people and spread them across four days.” Stevens laughed again, not a rare occurrence, and hardly surprising given his profession. “But we’ve got the momentum running… and comedy’s been good to me.”
Stevens said that comedy, especially in Lansing, is a niche business. It’s also one of the last live venues you can go to. It’s also a business that keeps its owner busy. “In 1992, I bought the Toledo comedy club. Now, you have to keep in mind, too, [that] I had a national booking agency for 11 years. I also delved into being a booking agent. I went to England and imported virtual reality units.”

At one point, he says, “I maintained an office in Detroit, an office in Grand Rapids, an office in Lansing and an office in Toledo in ’92. I was in the Lansing office two days a week and the other offices one day a week. In ’95, I bought out my partners and ever since then I’ve been solo.”

Stevens talked about one particularly close encounter with a comedian who went on to greatness. Back in the day, “My booking agency only handled colleges and universities. We had signed Drew Carey to tour the colleges. Right about that time Tim Allen was talking to Drew and got him a spot on [Home Improvement] and Drew said [to me], ‘Well, this is my break.’ And so we tore up his contract and the rest is history.”

Connxtions Comedy Club is open Wednesday through Saturday. Wednesday and Thursday shows begin at 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday evenings feature two shows, starting at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.. Shows generally last 90 minutes to two hours and include two to three comedians. Wednesday is open mic night. If you dare to perform, be one of the first three callers to the club by noon on the Monday prior and you’ll be inked for your five minutes of fame. Stevens says that while nearly all open-mic’ers get at least one laugh, only about half can call their stint successful.

Stevens believes that Connxtions Comedy Club is the number one place in the city for bachelorette parties, happy-go-lucky celebrations and gatherings of all sorts. “We’ll get [up to] 30, 40 people in a group. We do a scavenger hunt, a photo scavenger hunt. They have a ball. We do a tremendous amount of birthdays and special occasions. People come here when they’re celebrating; people come here when there’s something special. It’s just not your typical ‘go to a movie,’ it’s an event here.”

Like movies, Connxtions Comedy Club rates each of its shows, and they’re all rated R.

Despite relatively good times since opening their doors, Steven reports that in late 2007, “I sat down and said, the world has changed dramatically. I’ve made good decisions and been very successful. For anybody to take what we did, and to make that run, without any help––you know, that’s what entrepreneurship is all about. And again, it’s been very good to me. You have to really think how you do business.”

So, “We decided to hire a professional marketing firm, and we decided to rethink our entire business. We’re doing everything different. The way that we market, the way that we present ourselves out there, it’s different.”

And how’s it going? “It’s going quite well. It’s going better than expected and not as good as I’d like. I’m very happy with the results so far. As the economy continues to slide, we stopped sliding. Our business is going back up. We’ve made the turn back up.”

Stevens says that although a handful of comedians, such as Bill Cosby, have been able to hold on to the same market for their entire career, the majority of successful comedians have to adapt. “Just like I’m adapting,” he says. “Just like any other business has to adapt to their climate. If they don’t, they don’t last.”

Twenty years ago, The Tonight Show was the huge platform for launching comedians. Today, there’s Last Comic Standing, but there’s also Facebook and YouTube. “We’ve had three out of the four winners [from LCS] here––before they were winners,” Steven says. “And we’ve had them after they were winners. Do they draw different? No.” Asked why, Stevens said that reality TV is not “anywhere near what the experience of stand-up comedy is. It’s Hollywood.”

As a retired G.I., Stevens is well aware that that it can literally be a jungle over there for our brave men and women in the armed forces (although nowadays more like a desert), and puts his wallet where his appreciation is. “We do a special for all military,” he says, with what seemed like an ever-present smile on his face. “All active military never pay to get in here.”

When you’ve exhausted all the laughs you can get out of life, head on out to Connxtions Comedy Club where, as Stevens says, “The laughs are always on me.”