The Scene: The grand opening Wednesday night...

The Scene: The grand opening Wednesday night of the Santa Monica Improvisation, a Westside version of the comedy club, on the former site of the 321 Discotheque near the beach. The night also was a salute to comedians who had gotten their starts with the Improv, and the inauguration of its “Wall of Fame.”

The Buzz: “Grand opening? Hasn’t this place been here awhile?” several guests asked. The answer: Well, yes, the Improv has presented shows here regularly since February, but Wednesday night was the opening of the complete club, including a second-floor Tex-Mex cafe and a third-floor discotheque.

Who Was There: Lots of statuesque AMW’s (actress-model-whatevers). Also: club owners Budd Friedman and Mark Lonow; actors Estelle Getty, Robert Wuhl, Teri Garr and Richard Lewis; talk-show host Byron Allen; and comedians galore, including Fred Willard, Tom Dreesen, Jack Carter, and a dozen or two more, who all received certificates for the aforementioned “Wall of Fame.”

Dress Code: Shiny suits or leather jackets for men. For women, it was big hair, big teeth and big bosoms.

Fashion Statements: Club owner Friedman’s trademark monocle, as well as his large, ugly rhinestone lapel pin (the subject of many jokes by the comedians). One man also wore a T-shirt now popular on Melrose Avenue: “Die Yuppie Scum.”

Chow: Chicken on a stick, fried catfish, scallops, chips and guacamole, cactus quesadillas and enough free margaritas and Heinekin to make any joke sound good.

Pastimes: Getting your portrait drawn by a caricaturist; listening to Grace Jones and Aretha Franklin in the dance area; and trying to score a date. Or an agent.

Overheard: One man surveying the landscape of nose-drops and tummy tucks around him, gasped, “Good Lord, this is like an art opening for plastic surgeons.”

Quoted: Comedian Bill Maher, receiving his Wall of Fame award from Friedman and Lonow: “There’s only one club owner I hold in more respect than these guys . . . Jack Ruby.”

Triumphs: Santa Monica has plenty of parking but few nightclubs designed for large crowds. The Improv can hold several hundred people comfortably without making it seem like guests are partying in a hangar.

Glitches: Jay Leno and Roseanne Barr, scheduled to receive special awards, in-person, with Lewis, hadn’t shown by 11 p.m.--by which time the award ceremony was long over.