Cultivating the local scene: Steven Michael Quezada teams up with Santa Ana Casino Hotel with new comedy club

Dec. 15—Steven Michael Quezada was 17 when he first took the stage and presented stand-up comedy.

Over the course of more than 40 years, Quezada is ready to give opportunities to local comics on a grand stage.

Quezada is the namesake of Quezada's Comedy Club and Cantina at Santa Ana Star Casino Hotel, which opened on Dec. 8.

"The only reason I decided to do this club is to get local comedians on stage," Quezada says. "When I started at 17, there weren't very many outlets for me to do comedy."

Quezada's Comedy Club and Cantina will host Harland Williams at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15, and Saturday, Dec. 16.

Quezada, 60, aims to have a national headliner each weekend and then have local comedians either emcee the event or have some stage time.

"I've tried so many comedy clubs," he says. "I had a comedy club in Santa Fe and I've hosted comedy nights in bars throughout the state. In Santa Fe, I had The Comedy Cave, which was in a hotel but it went under years ago."

Quezada came back to Albuquerque and he was doing comedy at Our Place II, which had a room in the back for comedy nights.

After events didn't work out at Our Place II, Quezada took a break from the local scene and was on "Breaking Bad" as DEA Agent Steven Gomez.

"I never looked at doing a club again," he says. "I would just stay on tour and then I would do acting as it allowed me to do so."

More recently, Quezada was approached by John Cirrincione, Santa Ana Star Casino Hotel CEO, about the possibility of opening a comedy club.

"John had followed me for years," Quezada says. "It was humbling because I've tried to do my best with everything I do. I grew up in the city and have done gang intervention programs. I became a county commissioner because I wanted to extend the work I've been doing all my life. Santa Ana felt more like a hometown casino. John asked me if I would partner with them."

Last week, Quezada held a comic showcase where he invited as many comedians to audition for the club.

"This was a dry run for what is to come," he says. "We had about 250 people in the audience for two shows and we did this rapid fire show. It was the coolest thing I've seen in comedy. We had 18 comedians who gave their all on stage. I'm so proud of them. I want to use many of these performers as openers. I've been out of the local comedy scene for awhile. When I tour, I'm about the comedy and the show. When I'm home, I'm a commissioner. I'm just happy to be able to do this and be able to give this opportunity to local comedians. I never had an outlet like this."

Quezada is also proud to have his name emblazoned on the comedy club.

"It's about representation," he says. "It's probably one of the few comedy clubs named after a Latino. When I was on 'Breaking Bad,' Gomie was the only character on the show that didn't break bad. George Lopez brought it to my attention years ago."