UES Comedy Club Owner In Legal Fight With Partner's Widow: Report

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A part-owner of Upper East Side comedy club has been engaged in a legal battle with his newfound business partner — the widow of a former Hollywood hotshot who served as the club's silent partner, according to reports.

Richard Tienken — a longtime part-owner of the Comic Strip Live on Second Avenue between East 81st and 82nd street — is suing business partner Tess Wachs who inherited half of the club when her husband died four years ago, the New York Daily News reported. Tienken claims that Wachs is attempting to interfere with the running of the club, whereas her husband simply acted as a financial baker of the business, according to the report.

Wachs assumed 50 percent of the comedy club when her husband, Hollywood lawyer and manager Robert Wachs, died in 2013, the Daily News reported. Since taking over her husband's share of the club the widow sued for access to the businesses systems, books and other records, according to the report.

The hands-on role Wachs has assumed with the club is in stark contrast to her late husband's, who would pocket profits from the club with limited involvement in day-to-day operations, the Daily News reported.

Read the full Daily News story here.

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