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January 2025 | Volume 13 | Issue 4
Sun
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The StarDome Comedy Club family, including, from left, Dina Dow, Che Che Ayers, Bruce Ayers and Gina Zimmerman. The two daughters help their parents maintain the club with their marketing and accounting skills. Photo by Savannah Schmidt.
First family of comedy For the Ayers, the StarDome is a legacy of love, laughter By TIM STEPHENS
What to expect this year in Hoover By JON ANDERSON As we move into 2025, there are many things in motion in Hoover. For starters, the city election is set for Aug. 26. Also, after eight years of planning, construction is expected to start on the new Exit 9 interchange on Interstate 459. Hoover Met renovations are underway, and the development of Stadium
INSIDE
Trace Village continues. In Riverchase, work should get started on Riverwalk Village. Here’s a rundown on each of those projects.
Forty-one years ago, Bruce Ayers opened the doors to something the Birmingham area had never seen before: a comedy nightclub. Inspired by a visit to a club in Atlanta, he saw potential in bringing stand-up to his adopted hometown. “I went in there and I remember seeing all these couples sitting in there and a girl walked by with a tray of frozen drinks and a light went off in my head,” he recalled. That idea led to The Comedy Club, which opened in 1983 atop a Chinese restaurant in Homewood. It grew from humble beginnings, surviving tragedy, a devastating fire that burned the club to the ground in 1993, relocation to Hoover to create a world-class made-for-comedy venue, a name change to The StarDome, the global pandemic and rapid changes in the comedy industry. Along the way, it became one of the South’s great launching points for comedic talent — and a labor of love for his entire family. But first, Ayers had to teach locals the concept of paying to watch live stand-up comedy.
See LOOK AHEAD | page 26 Sponsors................................................4 City..........................................................6
Schoolhouse........................................ 10 Business................................................12
See COMEDY CLUB | page 24 Sports................................................... 14 Community.......................................... 18 facebook.com/hooversunnews
All-South Metro
Southern Voices
Spain Park’s Brock Bradley takes Player of the Year honors.
See the lineup for 2025 Southern Voices and find out everything you need to know to participate.
See pages 14-17
See page 18
Buy•Sell•Trade
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