Some kids want to be physicians when they grow up. But during his childhood, local comedian Sal España wanted to be one doctor in particular.
While growing up in San Pedro in the 1970s, España was a big fan of radio broadcaster Barry Hansen, aka Dr. Demento. As a teen, España often worked on spoof songs with his friends to submit to The Dr. Demento Radio Show for on-air consideration.
“We wrote song parodies, and he played them, which was really great when you’re 16, 13 years old,” said España, who co-manages a monthly, live comedy show—Laugh Therapy—in Santa Ynez nowadays, and leads his own comedy sets at a handful of Central Coast venues on a weekly basis.
España’s fandom for Dr. Demento isn’t the only trait he has in common with lampoon legend Weird Al Yankovic, who was also influenced by the zany radio DJ during his youth. Like Yankovic, España eventually found himself living in San Luis Obispo to attend Cal Poly.
While majoring in history, España combined his love for comedy and his college studies by writing comedy sketches about historical events. At one point, España found an opportunity with a local theater to perform some of his sketches. He later gravitated toward performing traditional stand-up, and hasn’t stopped over the past few decades.
“The local comic scene is really well connected,” España said. “It’s a nice cohesive group. There are a lot of great comics around here.”
In the summer of 2021, España and his collaborator and fellow comedian Paco Zamora set out to start a new monthly comedy showcase, something to reignite the local comedy scene after the absence of live stand-up during the pandemic.
“Before the lockdown, we literally averaged five shows a week between Paso and Lompoc, and all of that came to a crashing halt,” España recalled. “Some people started doing Zoom shows. I never did that because I’m kind of a Luddite.”
“We really have been slowly building the scene back, over the past year, year and a half,” added España, who works with Zamora to bring Laugh Therapy events to the Maverick Saloon in Santa Ynez once a month. “People need to get out and laugh and just look at the absurdity of life, especially after the last couple of years.”
Zamora came up with the name, Laugh Therapy, as a reference to the healing power of humor, España said. For each show, the duo enlists a handful of comedians to participate, ranging from visiting and local comics.
“We bring in comics from LA or San Francisco to headline the show, and then we always make sure we put an opening act who’s a local,” said España, who shares hosting duties with Zamora.
“Paco and I rotate. We alternate hosting. So I’ll do a set when he hosts, and he’ll do a set when I host,” said España, who described the host role as “the gatekeeper of the show.”
“It’s fun to warm up the crowd. I always try to keep it happy. I don’t go too dark when I’m hosting,” España said with a laugh. “I get to do the darker stuff when I’m not hosting.”
After managing the showcase for more than a year, España said he and Zamora are thankful for how well the program has been received by audiences so far, and not hearing from any hecklers—yet, at least.
“We’ve been really lucky that we haven’t had any major problems with that whatsoever,” España said. “Knock on wood.”
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood is knocking on wood too. Hecklers can send comments to cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Feb 9-16, 2023.
