PORTSMOUTH — Tom Stewart, one of four comics who had a capacity crowd cackling all night at the Common Fence Point Community Hall, noted that he used to be a local traffic reporter.

“Luckily I had this lucrative comedy career to fall back on — doing a Saturday night in Common Fence Point,” he said amidst snickers. “I’m doing a comedy show under the Sakonnet River Bridge.”

It may not have been The Comedy Cellar, but you’d never know that from all the laughter that reverberated inside the hall, which benefited from the comedy night fund-raiser hosted by the Common Fence Point Improvement Association. 

The nonprofit group, fueled by a recent $187,000 matching grant it received from the R.I. State Council for the Arts (RISCA), wants to turn the old neighborhood community center into a modern arts center serving the wider area. Saturday’s event, which also included a raffle, was just one of many fund-raisers being held to make that happen.

Coventry’s Ace Aceto, who’s been a comic for 28 years, served as the evening’s host. Besides Mr. Stewart, who lives in Cranston, he also welcomed to the stage the two co-headliners: Rockin’ Joe Hebert of Pawtucket and Stephanie Peters, “The Comedy Diva,” from Cambridge, Mass.

They riffed on everything from hiding from the Jehovah's Witnesses to shoplifting at Shaw’s Supermarket. There were also plenty of jokes about Zumba, which is a popular exercise class at the hall.

Mr. Hebert said he was happy to be performing at Common Fence Point because he was looking for investors in a new gym he was opening called “No Sweat.”

“I’m glad I’m in Portsmouth because you people have a lot of f------ money,” Mr. Hebert said.

He also shared his own workout regimen:

“I’m 53 and I recently started running … to the bathroom six or seven times a night.”