Question: How does Santa tipping the scales at 200 pounds get down from the rooftop without reindeer and a sleigh?
Answer: With the help of a crane from a Manteca dairy.
The jolly guy’s big day was two months ago, but he’s stayed perched on the top of the Deaf Puppy Comedy Club in downtown Manteca until Monday.
Club owner Chris Teicheira wanted to keep Santa waving toward the intersection of Yosemite Avenue and Main Street year round and adorn him with rabbit ears at Easter, an Uncle Sam’s hat on the Fourth of July and such.
But his financial advisors warned the $800 Home Depot Santa would fade faster than the Las Vegas Raiders after the end of the NFL preseason.
So without consulting Manteca’s resident Santa, Jeff Liotard, — who Teicheira jokingly notes can’t decide between the Santa and homeless look — he decided it was time for Santa to bid downtown adieu for another year before 100-degree days return.
And not wanting to ruin his reputation for minimizing work whenever he can, Teicheira and friends decided to bring Santa down in one piece instead of dismantling him.
After lowering St. Nick dangling from his boot like some “snipe” caught in a trap, Santa is now hanging around a barn with a bunch of cows in a dairy south of Manteca.
Besides providing an answer as to where Santa hangs out during summer vacation, Teicheira has minimized the annual Christmas decoration workload.
It should be worth noting that the Deaf Comedy Club has just passed the one-year anniversary of helping Manteca as well as the rest of the Northern San Joaquin Valley enjoy more than a few laughs.
The Deaf Puppy Comedy Club is marking the start of its second year by hosting Debra DiGiovanni, a rising comedy star this Friday and Saturday. She just appeared on the Jimmy Fallon Show.
The comedians passing through Manteca have been a lot of laughs.
And, as Teicheira noted, it can like attending a minor league baseball game to possibly take in a future Major Leaguer on their way up.
It is akin to the San Joaquin County Fair booking Milli Vanilli in 1989, a year before they hit the big time.
Or, when the county fair in 1992 had booked months in advance a young and little known country singer to appear just three weeks after he (Billy Ray Cyrus) hit the big time and Top 10 with his smash hit “Acky Breaky Heart.”
Teicheira said postings on social media used by comedians indicates appearing in Manteca is gaining in popularity.
The Deaf Puppy has hit its stride during the week as well.
There’s “Taco-Aoke” on Tuesday’s (karaoke and tacos), the free open mic night in Wednesdays starting at 7 p.m., and Trivia Night featuring individual or team play every Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m.
It’s proven popular with a lot of people including teachers and even a Modesto Junior College professor. The are new champions every night, team season standings, and nightly prizes.
The professional comedy shows are Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 7 and 9:30 p.m. each week.
The Deaf Puppy at 127 North Main Street is open as a bar and grill all day Tuesday through Sunday. The club is closed Mondays.
For more information, go to deafpuppyclub.com
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
