The Joke Store opened upstairs from the Park Theatre on May 17, promising shows with some of the state’s best comedians. The comedians lined up to appear at the new venue, booking shows several weeks out.

One week later, the club appeared to have closed, and some of those comedians aren’t laughing.

“On Saturday, he closed the doors and posted on Facebook that he’s closing the doors until further notice and that’s about it. I’m either going to file in small claims court or I’m just going to get an attorney and send collection notices,” Joe Hebert, who performs under the name Rockin’ Joe Hebert, said about The Joke Store owner John Souza, who goes by Johnie Armani.

Hebert is one of several comedians who claim they have not been paid for appearances or scheduled appearances. Hebert appeared at the club on Friday, May 24, expecting to perform. When he booked the show, he says he explained to Armani that he requires payment upon arrival, regardless of the crowd or if a show needs to be cancelled. The show was set to begin at 8 p.m., but at 8:05 p.m., Hebert heard from an employee that there would be no show.

Hebert says he sought Armani out and asked for the payment.

“We had a verbal agreement for cash that night. This is the way I do business,” Hebert said. “He said, ‘There is no money.’”

Armani could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon, but he is firing back against the allegations. Although The Joke Store website, jokestoreri.com, has been stripped of most of its content, Armani’s company, Flipside Comedy, posted a message from the CEO on its site (Flipsideradio.Homestead.com).

Armani writes that he has put much of his own time and money into The Joke Store endeavor, but the first two weekends were a financial loss. He plans to reopen and to pay the comics as soon as possible.

“The story is that I am not paying comics, when in fact I told comics that I would pay them, but because I took such a big loss on the first couple weekends, that it would take a few weeks,” he wrote. “I simply could not generate the funds and I plan on rectifying the situation.”

For Hebert, the Friday show puts him out $200. He had been booked for three performances over the course of the weekend, so he expected to earn $600 total.

Hebert said this week that there are other comics who were not paid. According to The Joke Store’s Facebook page, there were five comedians scheduled to perform on May 19 and three other performers scheduled to complement headliner Hebert last weekend.

Nick Albanese was the headliner during opening weekend, and he too has not been paid. On opening night, he said there were roughly 30 people in the audience, and 10 were friends of Albanese’s. At Saturday’s early show, the crowd was similar, with Albanese bringing in 17 of the guests. The second show Saturday was cancelled.

Albanese does a lot of private parties, so he is used to performing for crowds of all sizes, but he says he certainly expected more from the debut weekend.

“I was surprised for an opening weekend of a club,” Albanese said.

Albanese’s fee for the weekend was $500, and he approached Armani for payment last Saturday. When Armani could not make the payment, Albanese said he told Armani he would “have to take your word for it,” and promised to follow up later that week. The two have since exchanged e-mails, and Albanese said he planned to pick up a check this past Saturday, but the club was closed and Armani was nowhere to be found.

“I understand how it is; people don’t come, you don’t make money, but I was being as fair as I could be,” Albanese said.

In the future, he plans to draft a contract before performing.

While comedy is a competitive industry, Hebert said comedians are supportive of one another in this type of situation.

“When something bad happens, we all come together. It could have easily been another guy or another girl,” he said. “I don’t know of a comic who would work for [Armani], from Connecticut to Boston.”

Hebert posted his concerns to his website, and also to the Park Theatre Facebook page. Michael Cerio, a spokesman for the theater, said this week that the owners are just as surprised as the comedians.

“Just as the comics were surprised and not notified in advance of the closing, the Park was equally surprised. They certainly had their staff ready to assist, as they had for last week’s opening,” Cerio said.

Cerio explained that The Joke Store has a lease agreement with the Stage Door Restaurant and Lounge, a tenant of the Park and a longtime partner in the business. The lease was set for weekends through September, at which time the two parties planned to revisit the agreement and determine whether or not it was successful. The Park was notified that shows were cancelled on Friday, the same day that Hebert was turned away.

“The fact that it ended so abruptly is definitely a surprise,” Cerio said. “As far as what caused the cancellation, that’s still unclear.”

In addition to having staff on hand to assist, Cerio said the Park and Stage Door lose revenue by not having that space available for private rentals.

“By having a lease agreement with The Joke Store, that kept that space from being available for other private functions and get-togethers,” Cerio said.

Albanese sympathizes with the Park owners, and after meeting with them Tuesday, is grateful that they are doing what they can to solve the problem.

“They had nothing to do with this. He made the Park Cinema look bad,” he said. “They’re on the side of the artists.”

Despite the concern of the comics and the Park owners, Armani says they have not seen the end of the comedy club.

“The Joke Store is not closed and we do expect to regroup and pick up the pieces and rectify this situation,” Armani wrote.