Kaplan launches comeback with namesake comedy club

Friday, May 17, 2002 | 10:19 a.m.

Who: Gabe Kaplan.

When: 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m., through Saturday.

Where: Palace Station's Gabe Kaplan's Laugh Trax.

Tickets: $12.95.

Information: 367-2411.

Gabe Kaplan, creator and star of the popular '70s television series "Welcome Back Kotter," is returning to his stand-up comedy roots.

So, ahem, welcome back, Kaplan.

The 57-year-old entertainer-entrepreneur is appearing through Saturday at Palace Station in the former Laugh Trax comedy club, which was renamed Gabe Kaplan's Laugh Trax on Tuesday, and which could become the flagship of a string of comedy clubs around the country.

"I'm trying to get back into stand-up," Kaplan said during a telephone interview from a house he recently rented in Las Vegas. "Six months ago I tried out some new material at the Montreal Comedy Festival and it was very well received, so I decided to take another shot at it."

After the end of his sitcom, which aired on ABC from 1975 to 1979, Kaplan appeared in a few movies, on television and at comedy clubs, but his main focus was business investments. He invested in small companies with a lot of potential, which couldn't get backing from standard brokerage houses.

"I was involved in quite a few companies," Kaplan said. "Some were successful, some weren't."

He spent a lot of time researching the companies before investing in them, which took him out of the limelight for more than a decade.

"I sort of dropped out of show business," he said. "That's not to say I could have continued at the same level I was at. I cooled off, but I could have kept working a second or third guy on a sitcom. I could have done that. I could have been an opening act for someone. I had that choice.

"But I just decided there were other things that I wanted to do. I was interested in business and financial stuff. I didn't miss show business that much."

After "Kotter" went off the air, Kaplan also became a world-class poker player. He has played in the Horseshoe's World Series of Poker Tournament off and on for more than 25 years. He is in this year's tournament, which began April 9 and continues through May 24.

"I didn't play for a few years, then I played again last year," Kaplan said. "I didn't do that great."

Kaplan said he has put most of his business interests on hold for now, to see if there is still a place for him in comedy.

"I don't want to do a nostalgia act," he said. "People may think of me as that '70s nostalgia-type person. But I want to do the kind of comedy that is relevant to 2002."

He said he has developed a routine about the differences in generations.

"I do this bit where I'm the 57-year-old Gabe trying to be a roommate with myself at 25," Kaplan said.

While Kaplan may be focusing on comedy, his entrepreneurial mentality is still keen -- evident in his comedy club venture.

The popularity of comedy clubs has waned over the past decade. But Kaplan says they are poised for a comeback because television is no longer saturated with comedies featuring stand-up comics.

"My concept of comedy clubs, if this becomes a nationwide thing, is R-rated comedy at fair prices," he said. "I want somewhere to give comedians a chance to work, and not just have an audience that wants one type of material -- but material that is clever, more inventive and doesn't rely on risque comedy. A lot of comedians want to do a higher level of comedy, and it's hard to do that in some comedy clubs."

What is the business agreement between Kaplan and Palace Station?

"I have to bus tables and park the general manager's car," Kaplan said jokingly. "Actually, my arrangement is, they pay me for the weeks I work here and they pay me to use the concept of my name."

Jonathan Swain, vice president and general manager of Palace Station, said Kaplan approached Station Casinos with the idea.

"It's beneficial to Palace Station because it brings a little 'celebrity' to our property," Swain said.

While Laugh Trax will bear Kaplan's name, Swain says it will continue to be managed by Palace Station, and comedians will be booked by Station Casinos' entertainment department.

Kaplan says he will perform at his namesake club several times during the year.

"I opened this week, then I'll be back in September," he said. "But for the whole summer, I can come here and work out any night I want. I can be part of the club. That's the arrangement I have -- I can do as much or as little as I want."

Kaplan says the arrangement will allow him to gauge his audiences.

"I think I'm relevant and funny," he said. "I need to see what my appeal is. You need a place to work on your material. You never know if it's funny until you work in front of an audience."

Kaplan said when he first started in the business, the bottom line was to be funny.

"Now it's a little different," he said. "It has to mean a little more to me, personally. A lot of things are going on I care about, that I want to talk about. Stand-up is a perfect platform."

Being attached to a club in Las Vegas will help Kaplan fine-tune his material to appeal to a broad spectrum. Las Vegas audiences tend to be a cross-section of the nation, Kaplan said.

"This works out good for me," he said. "I have what is most important, a place to work out my material with audiences that are inclined to appreciate some of the references I make. At Palace Station, it's a mix as far as ages and generations. That's the kind of material I do."

Kaplan said he chose Palace Station because it has an attitude about comedy similar to his own -- adult, but not blue.

"In a lot of clubs, the material is very raunchy," he said. "That's great if people want to see that. But there also is room for a franchise of comedy clubs that are R-rated, not X-rated. There is room for both."

Not only does the club fit Kaplan's brand of humor, he said the admission price is right -- $12.95 plus tax.

"I wanted to make sure they didn't change the prices," Kaplan said. "I'm not trying to get a lot of money for myself as a performer. I'm looking to grow, the way I started in the '60s."

Kaplan was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. After graduating from high school he became a bellman at a resort in Lakewood, N.J., which featured stand-up comedians three times a week.

After a few months of watching the comics, Kaplan developed his own act. Comedy clubs were not yet popular, so he performed at small nightclubs, coffee houses and Playboy clubs.

In 1975 he created "Welcome Back Kotter," based on his own high school experiences. The cast included John Travolta (as Vinnie Barbarino), Ron Palillo (Arnold Horshack), Robert Hegyes (Juan Epstein) and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington).

"We still see each other, occasionally," Kaplan said. "A lot of people don't know me. To them I'm just an old guy going onstage.

"This is the beginning of my comeback."

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