Monty Mitchell recently won the Funniest Person Contest at Harvey’s South Street Comedy Club in Jackson, TN. The Jackson Sun interviewed Monty about his comedy career and we’ve totally violated copyright laws by cutting and pasting the entire thing right here:

From left: Mark Anundson, Monty Mitchell and Kevin Green are seen at Harvey's South Street Comedy Club. Mitchell won the club's Funniest Person Contest.

Monty Mitchell knew from the first time he made other children chuckle at the lunch table, he was addicted to hearing laughter.

The now 36-year-old’s comedic stylings won him the Funniest Person Contest at Harvey’s South Street Comedy Club, 559 Wiley Parker Road in Jackson.

Mitchell won the honor over 100 amateur and semi-professional comedians during a six-week period. Besides the title, Mitchell also won cash, a promotional package and stage-time on the New Year’s Eve show, as well as two more appearances in 2010.

The lifelong Cookeville resident travels weekly to Nashville and hits other spots to continue to build his stage presence.

“I got a paddling in schools so many times for acting out,” Mitchell said last week about his childhood. “I’d do anything I could to make people laugh. I just now was able to find a way to get on stage and figure out how all that works.”

On Jan. 28 and 29, Mitchell will host shows headlined by Cledus T. Judd at Harvey’s South Street Comedy Club.

Mitchell spoke with The Jackson Sun about his side job.

Question: You’re an insurance salesman and do comedy on the side. Do you find the two contradict each other, or does it provide you with some of your humor?

Answer: I kind of take on a different personality on stage, or maybe I’m a different person at work. Maybe it’s truly me on stage; I don’t know. I don’t mingle the two at all. Most people don’t know that I do this.

Q: How would you describe your comedic style?

A: I’m not sure. I’ve been told that it’s kind of conversational-type comedy. Mostly it’s true stories that happened to me. I’m not a one-liner kind of guy, so they’re kind of long stories, but they’re about 50 percent true. You start out with the truth and make it absurd at the end.

Q: How do you push yourself and challenge yourself creatively?

A: I write five new minutes every week, and it seems most of the five minutes, nine out of 10 times ends up being junk; I take it to the open mic and test it out, and it ends up going in the back of the comedy folder. But it keeps the creative juices flowing. I find that works best for me.

You can’t substitute stage time. There’s nothing else. You’ve got to get on stage, and there you develop what you call your voice. It really does develop slowly, and you find yourself.

Q: What comedians have or do inspire you the most?

A: Growing up, Eddie Murphy was my favorite. I listened to “Delirious” until I broke the cassette tape.

Now I like Louis C.K., Jim McDonald. These guys are continually writing, always updating their stuff. They’re really involved in it 100 percent, they’re always looking for new ways … I find that amazing.

On the Net:

southstreetcomedy.com

- Stanley Dunlap, 425-9668

Keith Alberstadt was on WTVF’s Talk of the Town this morning. The Nashville native talked about his comedy career that’s taken him from local stages all the way to the Late Show with David Letterman. If you missed it, here’s the video.

See Keith this weekend with James Gregory at Zanies!

Today The Tennessean’s Dave Paulson wrote about Friday’s sold out Flight Of The Conchords show at The Ryman, mentioning Spinal Tap, The Doyle and Debbie Show, Doug Stanhope & The Mattoid (who are at the Exit/In Friday night) and a few Nashville-based funny musicians as well. Read the whole article over at The Tennessean.

It’s an okay write-up, but only okay. Dave could have looked deeper than Nashville’s “funny musicians” to find his local angle. For example..

Lahna Turner is a very funny lady who now calls both Nashville and Los Angeles home. She is a fantastic stand-up comic with a sick sense of humor and a knack for writing killer funny songs. She has appeared on NBC, Comedy Central and VH1 and has toured the world.

Occasionally, Lahna produces “The Music City Comedy Show” at Zanies Comedy Showplace – a night of funny people who have music in their comedy acts. In the past, the lineups have included Rik Roberts, Steve Goodie, Wynn Reichert, Sean Parrott, Bucky Habanero, and Shantel Adams.

Rik Roberts is a Nashville-based comic who performs hilarious “super-clean” comedy delivered with a little Southern flavor. His act is largely rapid-fire, family friendly stand-up comedy plus some original comedy songs and a little bit of improvisation. Rik has performed at clubs and colleges across the nation, works many corporate events, and also teaches stand-up comedy classes. Rik regularly hosts showcases of his graduating students and headlines at Zanies.

Dr. Demento has called Nashville’s Steve Goodie, “One of our most talented 21st-century parodists.” Steve has also appeared on many other radio programs around the nation, including The Howard Stern Show, and The Bob And Tom Show. Every Sunday at 8pm, Steve hosts the show at The Bluebird Cafe, emceeing this renowned evening of songs, keeping it moving along with his nutty witticisms.. and he performs his hilarious songs around Nashville and on the road regularly.

Wynn Reichert uses a tongue-in-cheek delivery to belt out tunes like, “I Need To Get Laid,” and audience favorite, “Sometimes I Wish I was Black.” Wynn is originally from California, lives in Nashville and tours internationally.

Sean Parrott has been bringing his charismatic stage presence and a unique point of view to comedy clubs and bars all over the Southeast since 2006. Brought up on Bugs Bunny and Monty Python, Sean is an observational absurdist with a keen eye for finding the humor in everyday life. He was recently a Finalist in the Reader’s Digest Nashville’s Funniest Comic Competition and did voice over work for an animated film, “Back to Life, ” that was featured on the Independent Film Chanel. Sean is also half of musical comedy duo, “The Dead Dead” which has been featured on the hilarious “Mangy Dog Whoop Dee Doo” (visit The Dead Dead online at MySpace & FunnyOrDie). Sean performs regularly at Zanies, is actively involved in the DIY comedy shows around town, and will be featured at the upcoming Mangy Dog LIVE show April 18th at 10pm at the Improv Nashville Comedy Theater.

Speaking of the Mangy Dog Whoop Dee Doo, this Nashville-based podcast consistently features funny songs and parodies and whatnot produced by local professional funny people Jesse Perry, Mark Anundson, the previously mentioned Sean Parrott, Damian Anaya, Brad Edwards and more..

Mark Anundson is especially prolific. Not only is he the “Fungenieer” for the Mangy Dog Whoop Dee Doo, but he also hosts WRVU’s wildly popular “Get Up, Stand Up” radio show every Tuesday morning from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. on 91.1 FM & archived online in the horrible RealPlayer format. He also produces hilarious songs for his own funny podcast, Happy For Apathy and has released a cd of his musical fun. He recently headlined the Sunday Stand-up Showcase Showdown And Stuff at the Improv Nashville Comedy Theater, improvising several funny songs on the spot using only his keyboard and his very funny brain.

This isn’t nearly a comprehensive list of ALL the musical comedy acts in Nashville.. but it’s a start. Keep an eye on the NashvilleStandUp calendar for upcoming shows featuring these very funny people.

New York Magazine has dubbed NashvilleStandUp alumni, now New Yorker Carla Rhodes as one of the “Ten New Comedians That Funny People Find Funny.” They asked the city’s comedy tastemakers – club bookers, improv teachers, already-famous comedians, borderline-creepy groupies – to tell them about their favorite up-and-comers. Then they invited the ten nominees to the Gotham Comedy Club to perform a show.. for each other. Later, they assembled the stand-ups for a postmortem at New York’s offices.

Carla says, “This is very exciting! It’s even more exciting that I’m wearing a $3.00 thrift store dress from Kentucky in the photograph. It matches Cecil’s rosy rosacea cheeks, yes?”

Don’t forget to check out “Positively 5th Street,” a new video series documenting Carla’s life with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

Visit CarlaRhodes.net for all of your Carla Rhodes needs.

We meant to mention this earlier, but last week Comedy Central’s “Insider” blog named N’Sup one of “The 100 Best Comedy Twitters.” N’Sup is proud to be contributing something Comedy Central has called, “essential to anyone who wants to be kept abreast of his or her favorite comedian’s bowel movements.”

Do you Twitter? All the cool kids are doing it. Follow NashvilleStandUp at: http://www.Twitter.com/nsup