Tom Hanks works on story of LA club

Tom Hanks’s production company is said to be developing a movie based around the early days of the Los Angeles Comedy Store.

Playtone Productions is working on a script based on the recent book I’m Dying Up Here, about the 1978 stand-off between club owner Mitzi Shore and the comedians that played there.

Comics went on strike over her policy of not paying the acts, and the incident led to the suicide of stand-up Steve Lubetkin.

The acts who worked the Comedy Store at the time include the likes of David Letterman, Jay Leno, Eddie Murphy, Tim Allen, Chevy Chase, Jim Belushi and Jim Carrey, and many of them are likely to be portrayed in any movie.

According to website Pajiba.com – which has a mole known as The Hollywood Cog – producers are now looking for writers to help adapt William Knoedelseder’s book for the screen.

The US Comedy Store is not linked to the UK club of the same name.

Published: 27 Jan 2010