Wiley’s comedy club to get new ownership

The owner of Wiley’s Comedy Niteclub has reached a preliminary agreement to sell Wiley’s to a group that also owns comedy clubs in Indianapolis and Louisville.

Rob Haney, who has owned Wiley’s for 14 years, said the time was right to sell the comedy club located at 101 Pine St. in Dayton’s Oregon District. He’ll turn 62 this year, and serves as a contributing writer for the “Bob and Tom” radio comedy show, where his role may expand, Haney said. Haney, a comic, also may go out on tour.

The new ownership group, which will take over Oct. 1 pending the sales agreement being finalized, includes comic Steve Hofstetter, who is a comic himself and who is working on a show called “Laughs” that will air on the Fox-owned stations starting Aug. 2.

Hofstetter told this newspaper Monday that he may do some filming of comics’ performances for the television show at his group’s new Dayton club. Hofstetter and his partners also own Morty’s Comedy Joint in Indianapolis and The Laughing Derby at Comedy Caravan in Louisville.

“Owning these three clubs will give us amazing booking power,” said Hofstetter, who has performed at Wiley’s. “We’re very excited about the possibilities there.”

Hofstetter said he intends to keep Wiley’s existing staff, give the room a fresh coat of paint and roll out a new menu. And he expects to add staff — perhaps as many as 15 new positions within the first year, Hofstetter said.

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