Nightlife in Laguna Hills

At the Hollywood Improv, comics lure laughs from deep within bellies as they follow in the footsteps of standup legends such as Ellen DeGeneres, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, and Dave Chappelle, all of whom have graced the Improv club stages. The club's calendar schedules comedians as often as seven nights a week, alternating between big-name headliners and up-and-coming funsters who tickle funny bones with fresh material, abundant energy, and feathered reflex hammers.

What’s now known as The Comedy Store was once called Ciro's, a nightlife hotspot in the 1940s and '50s. Playing host to glitzy stars and shadowy mobsters, the club's history is shrouded in rumors of mafia assassinations and untimely deaths. However, the joint buried its seedy past by converting to a comedy club and helping launch the careers of such legends as Richard Pryor, Jim Carrey, George Carlin, David Letterman, and Dave Chappelle. The younger La Jolla location lets laugh-starved patrons bask in the same high-powered comedic atmosphere as its progenitor.

Bite into at Medjoul dates stuffed with gorgonzola or potato herb gnocchi with bay scallops at Bite. Chef Chris Walsh of Confidential Restaurant and Loft serves French and Italian-influenced finger-food in small, tapas-style dishes. Deviled eggs with salmon caviar and banana pepper sauce for $3.50 and swordfish skewers for $5 mean you can sample and share plenty of plates for $55.

Gaslamp Tavern sates fans’ appetites for bar fare and fun with 13 draft beers, a menu of pub-grub favorites, and 12 flat-screen plasma TVs broadcasting sporting events. Whet palates with a brew or specialty drink before stepping up to an appetizer of zesty nachos, a colossal conglomeration of tricolored chips, cheese, beans, and sour cream bonded together by guacamole and double-dog dares ($8.75). Burgervores delve into the tantalizing tastes of the South of the Border burger, with guacamole, jalapenos, and jack cheese ($9.50), while pizzaterians dine on barbecue chicken slices ($9.50). A weekend breakfast (Saturday and Sunday until 2 p.m.) features bacon-laden breakfast burritos ($7.75 each) and morning-ready cocktails such as a homemade-style bloody mary ($5–$7), served in a glass crafted from a deep-dish pizza.

A person's choice of drink says a lot about them, though admittedly not as much as the fact that they're drinking it from a handmade amphora carved from the crystal skull of a hippogriff. Today's grapey Groupon lets you ooze sophistication and effortless worldliness from every pore without requiring immediate medical attention. For $20, you'll get $40 worth of pours and plates at Versai The Wine Bar, a Euro-like hot spot in Yorba Linda that specializes in rare sips, small plates, and nightly re-creations of Hannibal crossing the Alps using shadowpuppets. Versai The Wine Bar is open from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Seeing nothing but kippers and meat pies when you look at the edible clouds in the sky is a sure-fire signal that your belly craves some British grub. Today's Groupon sends your appetite across the Atlantic for $25 worth of grub and libations at The Royal Falconer for $9. Journey to either of two locations, Riverside or Redlands, for genuine English fare, crisp brews, and the company of hearty pub goers.