Ezra Paco had no choice but to kick-start his comedy career from a less-than-ideal launch point: Zoom.
“It was really awkward,” Paco told the Sun. “The Zoom rooms were really weird because, just like with all things during the pandemic, you were at the mercy of what was going on in each person’s room.”
Kids sprinted through the frame, spouses sat in the background, and most people were only half listening.
Longtime laughs
Stop by Giavanni’s Pizza, 1108 E. Clark Ave., in Santa Maria for free open mic nights on Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. The next featured comedy show is on Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. Purchase tickets at my805tix.com. Follow @giavannis94, @unpaquitocomedy, and @ezrapaco on Instagram for more.
Paco has since graduated to producing and hosting comedy shows at local venues, including in his hometown of Santa Maria. It’s been about a year and a half of “Giafunni’s” events at Giavanni’s Pizza on Clark Avenue. There are free open-mic nights on Wednesdays and ticketed stand-up shows once a month that include a pizza and pasta buffet.
It’s been a long road, but the silver lining of the Zoom era for Paco was that if he persevered through those shows, he could perform anywhere.
“The best compliment I was paid was they said, ‘Hey. If you do comedy in Zoom and you can get a laugh, … it’s like doing double duty,’” Paco remembered. “One year of Zoom is like two years on the road because it was so hard to get laughs out of people.”
Eventually backyard shows were possible, and Paco found himself on a real stage. With a background in music, he wasn’t a stranger to being in front of a crowd. Paco practiced on the mic at San Luis Obispo’s Libertine, Grover Beach’s La Casita, and other venues in San Luis Obispo County.
Then the comedian began talking with Eric McDaniel and his wife, Brittany, who own Giavanni’s Pizza. The group decided to put in the work to move forward with comedy events at the restaurant, and soon enough, Giavanni’s was hosting regular open-mic nights with the blessing of the pizza shop owners.
“It only took like two months before we had a featured show, and they’ve been really, really supportive,” Paco said. “They supplied lighting, a sound system, a stage—he built the stage. It’s great. It’s got a great look.”
Paco said he appreciates the dedicated stage for stand-up because many venues “stick comedians in the corner,” if they make space at all. At Giavanni’s, comedy isn’t an afterthought, it’s a recurring highlight.
“This last show at the end of August was our biggest show. We had a sellout show,” Paco said.
For featured nights, Paco tries to get a mix of local talent and comics from the LA area. The producer is proud to have booked Saul Trujillo before he blew up. Trujillo is now a regular at West Hollywood’s The Comedy Store who’s also touring and taped a special for Amazon.
Locals like Jessica Tovar and Noah Santiago get opportunities for their material, too, which is a big reason why Paco started hosting Giafunni’s. He wants to get the community involved.
“For those who haven’t been to my show, I call it Ezra’s Rockin’ Comedy. It’s my production company,” Paco explained. “I used to play in bands, so I bring my guitar onstage, but I don’t do funny songs. I use it as a way to play comics up. … I play a little guitar riff, and we’ve been able to do a lot of fun things with that. That’s real memorable.”
At the end of each featured show, Paco flips the stage upside down and has the comedians sign the bottom of it. He likes to build camaraderie with the group and appreciates that Giavanni’s provides complimentary food for the comics, too.
One of the most special parts for Paco is that a live experience can never be replicated. Listeners will never hear the exact same jokes from the same comics on another night. The producer would like to see more venues host similar events to boost the local comedy scene.
“Once people start going to more shows, more places, then it just creates this energy,” Paco said. “If the high tide comes, all ships should rise.”
He’s thankful for others who have supported the Central Coast comedy world alongside him. One is Paco Zamora—aka UnPaquito onstage—who was involved with Giafunni’s since the early meetings.
“I brought UnPaquito along because we’re kind of like one and two. We worked together a lot,” Paco said.
Born and raised in San Luis Obispo, Zamora always had the comedic gene. He put on skits for family members and directed kids in neighborhood musicals. Those memories were precursors to studying improv at some of the country’s most well-known establishments, including The Groundlings School and The Second City.
“When you start talking to other comedians, people will give you ideas. You start to learn from them, and then you start to watch their sets, and you start to develop your own style and your own voice,” Zamora said. “Little by little, I just started doing stand-up.”
Back on the Central Coast, the comedian began producing a show called Laugh Therapy at the Maverick Saloon in Santa Ynez. Hosting Laugh Therapy helped him take his skills up a notch to where he felt comfortable driving to Southern California to perform.
At Giavanni’s, Zamora performs in featured shows and is known to host the occasional open mic. He’s scheduled for a set at the Sept. 26 ticketed show, too.
One of Zamora’s goals is to organize an LGBTQ-plus comedy night or “a big old gay comedy show” because that’s something he feels the Central Coast is lacking. When the producer lived in Chicago, he performed for one of the gay shows at Laugh Factory.
But the Central Coast comedy scene is moving ahead one step at a time.
“You have a great foundation for budding comedians to come and practice their craft here in this area,” Zamora said. “We have a very supportive community.”
Give Staff Writer Madison White a good laugh at mwhite@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in September 17 – September 24, 2026.
