It’s no joke.
Entertainment impressario Irving Azoff is about to make his largest investment yet in the comedy business.
Azoff, through a joint venture with Madison Square Garden, is expected to announce Monday a 50 percent stake in Los Angeles-based Levity Entertainment Group, which owns or operates a nationwide chain of comedy venues and represents comedians such as Jeff Dunham and Jenny McCarthy, among other acts, several sources said.
Azoff, the former boss of Live Nation, has his fingers in many ventures — he represents The Eagles and Chelsea Handler and helped negotiate Phil Jackson’s deal with the Knicks.
Now he thinks comedy can join music and sports as gold-plated content.
The investment in Levity by the Azoff joint venture, called Azoff MSG Entertainment (AMSGE), will help finance expansion of a nationwide chain of clubs.
Many of the clubs, down the road, would carry the Levity brand, sources said.
In addition, there are plans to develop some club venues into restaurants where consumers could watch comedy while eating dinner, these sources added.
Levity also has a reality TV division responsible for shows including “Iron Chef” and “The Mentalist.”
Levity hopes to develop more comedy acts into brands through their live venue network and via TV shows and digital podcasts and promotions, a person familiar with the plans told The Post.
“Comedy is becoming a huge phenomenon,” one source familiar with the plans said. “Irving believes in live.”
Reps for both companies declined comment.
Five-year-old Levity is one of the biggest buyers of live comedy tours in the US.
AMSGE was created last September to expand MSG’s business lines into new areas outside sports and live music.
Azoff rolled his talent management company into the venture.
MSG acquired a 50 percent stake in the venture for $125 million and agreed to provide $50 million in revolving credit loans.
The Azoff venture has had a busy year already.
- In April it snapped up a 50 percent stake in Burns Entertainment, a Chicago-based firm that brokers celebrity endorsements.
- In March, the venture acquired a 50 percent stake in Pop2Life, an experiential marketing company.
- The company’s first acquisition was a 50 percent stake in Digital Brand Architects, which manages well-known bloggers.
Gary Bongiovanni, editor-in-chief of Pollstar, a firm that tracks live events, said a move into comedy seems well-timed.
“There are more comedy acts in recent years that have moved up to theater level,” Bongiovanni said. “It used to be rare for people to break out beyond the clubs.”
Jeff Dunham ranked No. 45 of all touring acts in 2013, raking in $23 million. Jerry Seinfeld was ranked No. 87 with ticket sales of $11 million.
Other comedians in the top 200 include Jim Gaffigan and Lewis Black.