From left, James O'Donnell, Gary Owen, Trevor Wallace and Kocky's co-Owner Michael Smith. Kocky's photo

A pair of touring comedians from different generations lit up Downtown Fresno last night, drawing nightlife crowds and brisk business for local restaurants.

It’s not often you have such high-profile comedy shows playing two separate downtown theater venues in one night, but that was the case Thursday when Trevor Wallace brought “The Alpha Beta Male Tour” to Warnors Theatre and Gary Owen’s “No Hard Feelings” tour made a stop at the Saroyan Theatre.

Wallace, 33, is a stand-up, writer and actor with an online presence of more than 4 billion views across his social media channels and a collective following of over 20 million fans. He’s active on multiple platforms including Instagram (5 million followers) and TikTok (11.6 million followers).

Representing an earlier generation of stand-up comedy, Owen’s big break came in 1997 on Black Entertainment Television’s stand-up showcase Comic View, where he became the only white man to ever host the show. He has appeared in several films including “Daddy Day Care” and “Think Like a Man” and released multiple specials including “Black Famous” on Showtime.

After performing their separate shows, Owen and Wallace were spotted dining together at Kocky’s Bar & Grill just around the corner from Warnors Theatre.

Owner James O’Donnell said the bar started getting busy around 5 p.m., which is common when there are shows at Warnors Theatre. The comedians went there on the recommendation of a local, mistakenly hitting another downtown chicken restaurant before finding the bar at Kocky’s, O’Donnell said.

Wallace had a chicken salad and Owen had the Belushi Black and Blue Burger, served with a slightly melted blue cheese crumble.

Whether they are just hungry, adventurous or both — touring comedians have a long history of blessing local spots when they come through Fresno. For Bill Burr, it’s the nationally acclaimed MEGA Texas Barbeque for the Texas Twinkie — a bacon-wrapped jalapeno popper stuffed with cream cheese and brisket then smoked.

In February 2021, George Lopez dined with Gov. Gavin Newsom at Los Amigos Mexican Restaurant while in town to talk about Covid relief efforts.

World famous podcaster Joe Rogan crowed about Chef Paul Café on his show in 2019. For Hot Pocket connoisseur Jim Gaffigan, it was Castillo’s Mexican Food in 2014 after performing at The Big Fresno Fair.

People might have differing ideas of what a revitalized Downtown Fresno looks like, making it hard to determine if efforts such as the $22.4 million restoration of Fulton Street ten years are worth it. But when touring comedians — from different generations, different venues, different fan bases — choose to stick around after their shows to explore local restaurants rather than retreating to their hotels or leaving town immediately, that’s one tangible measure of a downtown worth hanging out in.