The weekly ‘Laugh Shack’ finds a new home at the Skybox.

It started in a basement, but Maine comedian Tim Hofmann was searching for a new venue for what he calls his “Laugh Shack” comedy club. What began as a small group of friends and local comics in Hofmann’s home in Portland had quickly turned into a popular weekly showcase of local stand-up.

“It just got too big to have in my house anymore,” he said Tuesday, referring to his search for a new host for the burgeoning scene.

That’s when Hofmann found Skybox Bar & Grill, on Brown Street in Westbrook, a local bar that he said fit the mold of what Laugh Shack is – a “diamond in the rough.”

Since January, Laugh Shack comedy shows have been held every Wednesday night at Skybox, and has gained momentum in both audience support and support from bar owner Allen Moore.

Skybox Bar & Grill, which Moore has owned since 2008, has had a history with the city, owing to noise complaints and disturbances that prompted city officials to deny liquor and food licenses in 2009. Last year, Moore reaffirmed a partnership with Westbrook police to control noise and other complaints, and since, calls about the neighborhood bar have slowed.

Moore said he is looking at the comedy night as another way to improve the image of the Skybox.

Last week, leading up to another Wednesday-night bill featuring 10 local comics, Moore had acquired the old chairs and tables from the now-defunct Comedy Connection in Portland. The club closed in 2012 and was seen as a major blow to local comedy in Maine.

“It sealed the deal,” Moore said, about the furniture and atmosphere.

Hofmann, 36, said he originally modeled the dark, basement Laugh Shack after a few of his favorite comedy clubs in the country. He calls it an “authentic” club atmosphere.

“We built it as a prototype, based on the look of some really good comedy clubs,” he said. Specifically, he named the Seattle Comedy Underground, the Comedy Studio in Boston, and the Comedy Cellar in New York City.

When moving the club into an official location, Hofmann said, he wanted a space that would be supportive of his ideas.

“He’s got all the stuff that we need to have a good show,” Hofmann said about Moore.

“What Tim had going on, I really liked,” Moore said Monday. “He likes to run quick, funny shows with no dead air, and he does a fantastic job of it.”

Moore and Hofmann have tinkered with the setup from week to week, changing the size of the stage and adding spotlights. Moore has also been recording each show and uploading the footage to the “Laugh Shack 212” channel on YouTube.

According to a press release, Moore had been hoping to establish a comedy night, even attempting one a few years ago. But, he said, “We were missing the experience and the buzz that Laugh Shack was bringing to the table.”

But through the transition to Westbrook, Hofmann admitted a little momentum had been lost. He said prior to ending his basement run, there were 40 people packed into the space. For the first few Wednesdays at Skybox, about 20 showed up, he said, but added that momentum is being built again.

Moore said the locals are beginning to come out to the comedy night more regularly.

“With the move to Westbrook, we just have to retrain the crowd, cultivate a new audience, and get people to trust us to put on great shows again,” Hofmann said.

Since the move, Hofmann has also enlisted the help of fellow local comic Will Green, who is credited as co-producer of Laugh Shack. Moore says the pair couldn’t be better to work with, have a great vision and “work really hard for it.”

Hofmann estimates there are some 40 local comics rotating through the weekly lineups. But prior to the move to Westbrook, the Laugh Shack was already seeing comics make the trip from Boston, New York and Philadelphia to perform in Hofmann’s basement club, a trend that is continuing on Wednesdays at Skybox.

Doug Collins, a Portland comic who has frequented the Laugh Shack stage since its basement beginnings, said Monday that the comedy night has room to grow in its new location, but is off to a good start. He said while the basement shows had an underground feel, the Skybox night has a similar spirit.

Collins, who regularly performs at various open-mics and other events five nights a week, said the Comedy Connection closed just after he started as a comic. After its closure, he said, the local comedy crowd was scattered.

“People didn’t know where to look, and people ask me where to see comedy,” he said. “It seems like the audience is there, but they don’t know where to go.”

Conner McGrath, another Laugh Shack regular, said Monday that some local venues tend to look at comedy as “fill-in” entertainment, but he believes Skybox has made it a priority.

“That’s huge because Maine comedy hasn’t really had a home since the Comedy Connection closed a few years back,” he said.

Portland’s The Gold Room, on Warren Avenue near the Westbrook line, hosts established comedians regularly, but a home for up-and-coming comics had been lacking.

McGrath admitted some initial doubts given the history of Skybox.

“I was honestly very skeptical about the idea of a comedy show at the Skybox given its past reputation, but Al and Tim have really, really gone out of their way to build a terrific room,” he said. “It’s truly an oasis in the middle of the desert.”

Maine’s most well-known funnyman, Bob Marley, perfected his craft by routinely performing at local clubs like the Comedy Connection. Marley said he’s excited about the Laugh Shack.

“I’ve never done a show there with Tim but I think it’s a really cool idea,” he said Monday. “Greater Portland definitely needs a couple solid rooms where guys can work out. There’s a great comedy scene of young guys in Maine now, and I hope people will support it. Everybody needs a laugh, especially when it’s zero degrees and it’s almost April.”

Hofmann said there’s no right way to promote yourself in stand-up, and most local comics book themselves at open mics and other small events multiple times each week, for little to no money. Instead of marketing Laugh Shack on the merits of relative unknowns, he said, it’s the idea of a comedy club that he’s pushing.

“There’s no consistent club, so having that club atmosphere that shows people that it’s a comedy show, I think people have responded to that,” he said. “It’s something that’s really hard to find – the authentic club atmosphere. I still haven’t scraped the gum off the tables from the old Comedy Connection.”

Comedian ?Tim Hofmann? ?has shifted his weekly Laugh Shack comedy night to Skybox Bar & Grill in Westbrook.