Keith Stubbs: Bringing Laughs to Utah.

• Author: Haraldsen, Torn
• Position: Interview

Keith Stubbs is arguably one of the busiest men in Utah's entertainment industry. The radio personality and standup comedian hosts two radio shows each weekday in Salt Lake City--from 6 to 10 a.m. on 101.5 The Eagle and from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on ESPN 700 for the Keith Stubbs Sports show. He also owns WiseGuys Comedy Clubs in both West Valley City and Ogden, with a third opening in downtown Salt Lake City later this year.

Why comedy?

I always loved comedy as a kid, and did some impressions from an early age in school. I loved Johnny Carson, Rich Little, Fred Travalena. In my high school in Charleston, S.C., I was voted "wittiest." I wanted to be voted "most likely to succeed," but no such luck. In 1991, I walked away from being a stock broker and started doing stand-up at clubs across the country. After a few years. I decided to get out of L.A. and came to Utah. I never had the intention of opening my own comedy club here, but that's what happened.

When and where did you open your first comedy club?

It was in 1996, a place called Laughs on Historic 25th Street in Ogden. I had planned to keep doing shows on the road, but one night while heading to Minnesota with another comic for a show, we rolled the car and I was nearly killed. That ended that. With my business background and knowing a little about the comedy business, I combined my knowledge with lots of credit card debt and opened the club. Laughs was successful, but I got married in 1999, sold the club and moved to Seattle (my wife's hometown) for a few...