Gene Pompa

I’ve always thought of Gene Pompa as a great writer in addition to being a fine comedian. This is his first time visiting this year and he boasts a pretty impressive resume of credits. He’s been on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” CBS’ “The Late Late Show,” Comedy Central, HBO, “Que Locos” on Galavision, Showtime’s “Latino Laugh Festival,” “In Living Color” on FOX and SiTV! Pompa also starred in and produced two one-hour comedy specials at L.A. Live’s Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles (now known as The Novo). He also starred in two half-hour solo stand-up specials: “Pompalicious” for Comedy Central and a self-titled special for NuvoTV.

I first saw the comedian perform years ago when he was part of the show “Paul Rodriguez: Comedy Rehab.” Pompa has also been in a couple of big screen movies including my favorite, “Just Go With It,” in which he starred alongside Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler. Pompa was also in “Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star” with Nick Swardson, Christina Ricci and Don Johnson.

Pompa was born in East Los Angeles and raised in the working-class suburbs of Southern California. He’s been a Mexican-American for most of his life — beginning when he gave himself that title (there were a few years during the ‘70s when he was a “practicing Chicano”). As a product of the multi-ethnic suburbs of Los Angeles, Pompa was inspired to use universal themes in both his stand-up and writing. As funny as his act is, the performer is able to infuse some social commentary into it — and I can’t think of a better way to get a message across than using the guise of comedy to deliver your message.

Dax Jordan

Dax Jordan hails from the Portland, Oregon area, and he’s done more than his fair share of bit parts in movies and television. The actor/comedian also is a fine writer, and took third place in the Seattle International Comedy Competition, where he beat out winners from numerous other comedy festivals and contests around the country. Jordan’s been at it over for over 10 years now, so he’s pretty seasoned.

He has a good sense of timing (yes, I realize that’s a good attribute that every comedian should have, but a lot don’t) — Jordan is able to react quickly to almost any situation, which comes in handy if someone in the audience tries to upstage the performer. He’s a good one, this Dax Jordan.

The Improv at Harveys takes place Wednesdays through Sundays at 9 p.m. Learn more at http://www.harveystahoe.com.