Father’s Day Showcase: Brian “B-Cov” Covington, Monty Mitchell, Ben Sawyer, Micah Dean, Chad Riden at Spiffy Squirrel stand-up comedy show at The East Room 6/19/2016.
SPiFFY SQUiRREL is an independent, underground professional weekly alt comedy show featuring touring comedians from all corners of the earth, plus outstanding local regulars who are worth paying attention to. Sundays at 6:30pm at The East Room. Produced and hosted by Nashville’s Chad Riden.
Nashville StandUp Announces Comedians Scheduled To Perform On World Record Breaking #BrokenRecordShow
Beginning at 5am on Sunday, May 15th, 2016, Nashville StandUp will attempt to top it’s own GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for “LONGEST STAND-UP COMEDY SHOW – MULTIPLE COMEDIANS” at The East Room in Nashville, TN.. by five minutes.
Nashville StandUp’s first “Broken Record Comedy Show” ran non-stop at The East Room in Nashville, Tennessee, beginning Sunday, April 12, 2015 at 12:04pm with DJ Buckley and ending Monday April 20 at 4:20am with Chad Riden, setting the new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title at 184 hours, 16 minutes. The show featured about 100 comedians, including surprise celebrity guest sets from Hannibal Buress, Eric Andre, Rory Scovel, Nate Bargatze, Luis J. Gomez, Keith Alberstadt, Jon Reep, Ahmed Ahmed and Killer Beaz.
The previous 80-hour record had been held by the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, CA, for a show which ran December 6-9, 2010. By more than doubling the previous record, #BrokenRecordShow’s non-stop stand up comedy marathon put Nashville into the record books of comedy history. A GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title Adjudicator was on site to certify the attempt as an official world record on Wednesday April 15th at 8pm.. but the show continued until Monday, April 20th, at 4:20am. Hundreds of people attended the event and even more watched online. The successful attempt was covered by local and international media outlets, mentioned in countless social media posts and has already become a thing of legend.
#BrokenRecordShow vol. 2’s non-stop 8+ day schedule will feature showcases, feature-length, and headliner-length sets, and will include surprise drop-ins from comedians of various levels of fame and fortune AND infamy and misfortune. GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ rules say: “All performers must be of a proficient standard. We define this as the comedians having at least 20 professional (paid) credits in a comedy club, theatre or bar and at least one year’s experience since their first paid gig. Evidence to prove this must be presented to the independent witnesses prior to the event and the witnesses must attest to this in their written statements.”
The comedians currently scheduled to perform May 15-23 at The East Room as part of #BrokenRecordShow vol. 2 are: Ian Abramson, Ahmed Ahmed, Sarah Albritton, Nick Alexander, Chuck Anderson, Sammy Anzer, Emma Arnold, Mo Arora, Jeffrey Baldinger, Nate Bargatze, Brian Bates, Lila Mae Bear, Mark Bentley, Mary Jay Berger, Keith Bergman, Dj Buckley, Jamie Carbone, Josh Carter, Jesse Case, Cliff Cash, Andre Churchwell, Katrina Coleman, Ashley Corby, Wes Corwin, Joe Coughlin, Brian Covington, Jonathan Craig, Chris Crofton, Patrick Cunningham, Bryce Damuth, Billy Wayne Davis, Joe Derosa, Patrick Devine, David Dial, Dwayne Duke, Scott Eason, Brad Edwards, Ku Egenti, Benny Elbows, Max Fine, Gary Fletcher, Fray Forde, Megan Gailey, John Gibson, Kyle Gillis, Doug Gillon, Andrew Ginsburg, Carter Glascock, Derek Graff, Ross Hamilton, Michael Hampton, Jordan Hargis, Rob Haynes, Jake Head, Brad Hinderliter, Hannah Hogan, Stewart Huff, Brandon Ijames, Josh Inocalla, Jordan Jensen, Katherine Jessup, Myq Kaplan, Joe Kelley, Ryan King, Ben Kronberg, Josh Lewis, Danny Limor, Kristen Lundberg, Todd Masterson, Josh Mclane, Monty Mitchell, Narado Moore, Leslie Nash, Tim Northern, Tommy Oler, Sean Parrott, Alex Poloskey, Zach Pugh, Curtis Rambo, Jc Ratliff, Jon Reep, Mark Reilly, Chris Rex, Topher Riddle, Chad Riden, Hunter Roberts, Rik Roberts, Dave Ross, Dick Satori, Brad Sativa, Ben Sawyer, Brent Schmidt, Rory Scovel, Kate Sedgwick, Jim Seward, Bo Shuster, Tom Simmons, Dusty Slay, Jen O’neil Smith, Kate Spellman, Eric Steele, Owen Straw, Daniel Swinney, Geoff Tate, Matthew Tate, Sara Tiana, Kent Tucker, Josh Wagner, Patrick Wallace, Aaron Weber, Dan Whitehurst, Danny Whitson, Joel Wilson, Mike Winfield, Will Wininger, Josh Wolf, Pete Wolynec, Dave Yates and many surprise celebrity drop-ins, which will be announced on Nashville StandUp & #BrokenRecordShow’s social media accounts.
The brainchild of Nashville-based comic DJ Buckley, this record-breaking show is being co-produced by Nashville-based comedian Chad Riden, The East Room’s Ben Jones and comedian Mary Jay Berger.
“This show is the best thing I’ve ever done, and if it never stopped I’d be fine with it,” says D.J. Buckley. “Last year, I got to see a lot of funny comics and great people come together to work on something none of us could have accomplished by ourselves, and I think this year will be even better since we actually know what we’re doing this time.”
“It’s the greatest dumbest thing we’ve ever done twice,” Chad Riden smirks. “If you asked me that old guidance counselor question, ‘if you could do anything in the world, what would you rather be doing right now?’ the answer would always be ‘a stand-up comedy show.’ We figured out a way to be able to do comedy all day, every day and it was a dream come true. I’ve missed the first show ever since we ended it and I’m really excited to be doing it again. Maybe this time we just won’t ever stop. Nobody can ever beat our record if our show never ends.”
“Breaking our own record this year is an attempt to further show the legitimacy of the comics in Nashville,” says The East Room’s Ben Jones. “To break the record by a mere 5 minutes is to compete with the absurdity of last year’s successful attempt to more than double the previous record.”
Tickets are on sale now. One Day Passes are available for $10, All Access Passes, allowing comedy fans to come and go throughout the entire show all week long are available for $60. VIP Passes allowing fans access to reserved seating and include an official show t-shirt and letterpress show print are also available for $100.
Nashville StandUp is a 509(a)(2) Public Charity with a mission to cultivate and promote middle Tennessee’s growing stand up comedy scene by supporting the Nashville-based comedians that help make the Music City a great place to see live comedy.
Perfect Timing is a monthly comedy game show that takes place on the last Wednesday of the month at Zanies Comedy Club in Nashville. The show is anchored by host Ben Sawyer (@SawyerComedy), with co-hosting/music by Sean Parrott (@SeanParrott) and Gary Fletcher (@GaryisYou) of the Grey Grays. Combining elements of classic game shows with comedic and local content, the show pits three teams of two against each other to win prizes and glory in front of a live audience. Unlike most game shows, however, PT makes the audience members part of the show by offering them the chance to vote on round winners and answer questions on stage!
For February, we have comics Brian Covington & Monty Mitchell going up against two of Nashville’s mightiest fitness outfits- Krank Nashville and Crave: The Fitness Factory!
Doors Open at 6:30; show starts at 7:30. Advanced tickets can be purchased at zanies.com or by calling Zanies’ Box Office at 615-269-0221. Tickets are $10.
More Information go to SawyerComedy.com/PerfectTiming. To keep up with us, follow Perfect timing on Twitter (@PTGameShow), or contact us at PerfectTimingShow@gmail.com.
EDITOR’S NOTE:Last month, Perfect Timing: A Live Comedy Game Show at Zanies Nashville was a blast. The comics (Joshua Wagner & Dusty Slay) were hilarious and Ben Sawyer did a great job hosting the thing, as always. The Grey Grays were fantastic — Sean Parrott & Gary Fletcher absolutely made the show, as far as I’m concerned. Their comments just killed me. SO FUN. Next one is tomorrow w/ Brian B Cov Covington & Monty Mitchell vs. some meat-heads from a gym somewhere. Don’t miss it.
The Nashville Scene recently wrote-up Nashville’s red-hot African American comedy shows with plenty of quotes from Renard Hirsch, Brian “B-Cov” Covington and Kevin “Renegade” Green. These shows are always fun and usually sold out, so if you go get there early. Here’s what the Scene wrote:
There’s plenty of funny business happening in Music City, and some of it has nothing to do with the dubious budgetary practices of local officials or buffoon ideologues. Nashville’s black community has a comedy scene that’s now exploding alongside its more prominent and publicized theatrical and musical ones.
Such locales as The Corner Bar on Elliston Place, Café Bella and Nashville Center Stage are home base for many popular events. These include Money Marc and Sleezy’s Wild Funny Wednesdays (8:30 p.m. weekly), Renard and B-Cov’s Urban Soul Comedy Hour (8:30 p.m. each Thursday) and Just Jokes (bi-monthly shows). It’s a safe bet the jokes and routines unveiled at these places are spicier, voiced differently and emerge from a cultural base and perspective that’s not heavily represented on late-night network television or Saturday Night Live.
Renard Hirsch“Nashville is growing and there are a lot of new clubs and bars opening up and looking for ways to bring customers to their venue,” says Renard Hirsch, who sees expanding local opportunities for black comics. “Many of them are looking for ways to bring customers to their venue and comedy is always an option, ‘cuz who doesn’t want to laugh?”
Hirsch, Brian B Cov Covington and Atlanta-based Nashville native Kevin “Renegade” Green are among the most well-known and popular comics making regular appearances at various Music City sites. They understand and appreciate the demands placed on comics in general and the inevitable issues faced by African-Americans operating in the genre regarding content, direction and sensibility.
Kevin 'Renegade' Green“You don’t want to be labeled as just a ‘black’ comic,” Hirsch says, “because you don’t want to put limits on what you can do. I do mainstream, urban, clean, Blue Collar, Christian, whatever. The crowds are all different and that is part of what keeps comedy interesting and challenging, trying to find that pure joke that transcends race and makes everybody in the room laugh.”
“Most of my show is political and social topics because those are the topics that’s relevant to everyone,” says Green. “That and family. I try and stay abreast with what’s going on in society. Knowing your audience is the biggest thing to me. I have to understand who I’m trying to make laugh.”
Brian 'B-Cov' Covington“I’ve always said my life is a sitcom,” Covington says. “I’ve had a white stepfather since I was 13, my grandmother was half black and half Mexican, my mother is one of the funniest people I know, and I was married with a family by age 21. Once you throw in my in-laws, it’s like the perfect storm of comedy. Along with the fact I was the chubby kid in school that made good grades, so my ability to entertain and make people laugh was more a defense mechanism than a talent!”
They are also 21st century comics. Green got his start doing open mic nights around Nashville in 2001, and four years later he was appearing with many others, including Covington and Hirsch. Hirsch found stand-up to be his forte while majoring in speech and theater at TSU in 2001, and Covington began in late summer that same year.
In addition, they’ve come of professional age in an era when the content and linguistic freedom afforded Richard Pryor, Paul Mooney and Eddie Murphy — not to mention such predecessors as Redd Foxx, Nipsey Russell and Slappy White — is under siege from advocacy groups zealously trying to protect the African-American image from what they deem overused stereotypes, vulgar personas and one-dimensional portrayals. Still, they maintain they are unconcerned with political correctness.
“When I go onstage I don’t go with the intent to say something that is going to scare the pants off the audience,” Hirsch says. “I’m not knocking comics who do, it just isn’t my style. My goal is to make people laugh at some everyday topics, enjoy life and forget the stresses of the day.”
Covington, for his part, says he doesn’t worry about political correctness because he likes the challenge of getting a laugh with inoffensive material. Still, he says, a comic must walk a fine line.
“You want to have that edge that people expect of comedians, but you also don’t want your crowd to feel uncomfortable,” he says. “The best comedians can say what people are thinking but don’t know to get it out the right way. I think people enjoy and respect you when you’re honest. B.S. does have an odor!”
“I’m a comedian,” Green says. “I tell jokes. I don’t say anything to be mean-spirited or disrespectful. Club owners worry about political correctness more than comedians. Now saying that, I don’t talk as brash when I’m doing a mainstream show as when I’m doing an urban show.”
Their ability to simultaneously be universal and specific also reflects their array of influences. Covington cites G-rated types like Bill Cosby, Sinbad and Flip Wilson, and has equal praise for Billy Crystal, Robert Townsend and Damon Wayans. Green’s just as quick to rave about George Carlin as Bernie Mac and Dave Chappelle, while voicing special praise for a colleague, local performer T.C. Cope. Hirsch’s long list of favorites includes both Chris Rock and Zack Galifianakis. Thus their material has scope, topicality and variety, and can easily be shaped to work in any particular place and reach any audience.
While giving praise to promoters and behind the scenes types like AG Granderson (the guiding light that’s helped make both Jazz and Jokes and his newest venture Just Jokes prime factors in the city’s comic world) and John Wright (a central figure behind the Urban Soul Comedy Hour), Hirsch, Covington and Green feel things are just getting started for black comedians in Nashville.
“I feel like this is a ‘perfect storm’ situation because when we started the Wednesday-night dates lots of new talented people came out, and now we have a bigger comedy community than ever,” Hirsch says. “I think black comedy is taking off because we get out and hustle to get people in seats.
“Contrary to what a lot of folks in Nashville think we [black folk] will get out and support.” Covington says. “Now we’ve got a new wave of comedians that look up to us, like we got a TV show or something, just because we’ve been doing it longer. So we don’t look at them like competition; it’s just more funny people around that can help the movement here. We all promote and support each other because one person isn’t going to get this city on the map as far as comedy goes.”
But their focus is even broader than that suggests. “It should be noted that our stages are open to every ethnicity,” Renard Hirsch says. “Black, brown, white, green, it doesn’t matter. Funny is funny.”
(Renard Hirsch and Brian B-Cov Covington’s Soul Comedy Hour stars 8 p.m. Thursday at Café Bella, 209 8th Ave. South. Admission is $5. Check Kevin Green’s facebook page for updates on his Nashville appearances.)
