Comedy In Athens

Laughter Is The Best Medicine, Or Maybe Beer

originally published October 3, 2001

grecian5.jpg Photo by Geoff Carr

Laughter in Athens is often reserved for the ridiculous moments when a band, dismayed at the lack of attention from the audience, launches into an interpretive rendition of "Achy Breaky Heart" to enliven the atmosphere. Truth is, if you're heading downtown to chuckle, you might as well pound a beer or seven and hope for a chance overheard ridiculous pick-up line to amuse yourself. Comedy has failed to manifest in this musical savvy corner of the Southeast. Barring the success of the crude muckrakers The Damn! Show and the handful of big name comedians that UGA and the Classic Center manage to rope in, comedy has easily maintained its red-headed stepchild relationship with Athens. Yet comedians of various media and ilk are beginning a fresh assault of whipped-cream-in-the-face proportions. Let's begin this merry-go-round tour of the faces of comedy in Athens. You may hum "It's a Small World" if it makes you feel better.

Grecian-5: We are not a freak show

As gloriously advertised on television, Grecian-5 might be the best anti-gray hair agent on the market. Many Bob Barker dopplegangers have commented on its usefulness to alleviate the official hair color of the elderly, yet this local improv troupe has concocted a controversial new method to cure the effects of aging: laughter.

Ready to kick into high gear after a summer hiatus, Grecian-5 owes its origin to a chance encounter of wacky proportions; it happened this past winter. Micah Sherman (henceforth referred to as "The Lamp" after unfortunately losing his lifelong nickname of "The Sherminator" to the American Pie saga) and Steven Capps were bussers like any other bussers. However, the two shared a secret, a secret so tremendous it would eventually lead them to leave their coveted and high profile jobs at the Grill: they shared a trait the insiders like to refer to as "being funny." Armed with the necessary ingredient instilled in all of the great successful comedians (except Gallagher), they gathered with several friends of similar comedic persuasion and set out to prostitute themselves and their name to a laughter-prone public (their current incarnation includes performers Matt Driggers, Brent Buckelew and TJ Hammer). It worked, and they landed an early debut performance at the Boar's Head.

There are many things that can be said of the Boar's Head. Sadly, existing as a haven for comedy is not one of them (if it's not beer or breasts, it is oft ignored in said lair), as Grecian-5 discovered during a discouraging attempt to impress the audience with their quick wits and interactive comedy. They describe their show as a longer, more extensive and marketable version of the popular "Whose Line is it Anyway?" (with an added touch of the inspirational Wesley Willis). They have since found audiences (with pulses) in Chapel Hill, Nashville and South Carolina who appreciate their performances of short and long improv games, sketches and spontaneous hilarity oddly resembling, as TJ describes it, "an improvised foreign film."

"We're like the indie rock of pizza. 369-8037. We'll be happy to take your order," pontificates The Lamp. "When people think of comedy in Athens, they think of The Damn! Show, but we're not them. We put a lot in live performance and skill and techniques. Stuff like that. That's all I want to say."

After prodding, he continues, "What a lot of people don't know is really not exciting, so I'm not going to tell you about it."

Steven Capps adds, "There's other people trying to do their own thing. We're trying to give a boost from the back; maybe a good game pat. Hell, even a great game pat."

sillymonkey.jpg Photo by Cindy Jerrell

The Silly Spider Monkey Fiasco: Does it still mean something to say it's better than "SNL"?

Don't equate UGA with discount comedy: the Silly Spider Monkey Fiasco might have to drop a barrel on your ass. You won't find these cats lost in a cigarette haze with a dangling microphone and lone spotlight as their only two friends; their sketch comedy ventures dazzle the screens of UGA Housing 12. They've got the wisecrack credentials to deliver the goods, lacking only custom-built designer sunglasses and fly back-up dancers alert to chant "Hey, Ho" in zero to one flat.

Created in the fall of 1998 by UGA freshmen/savage lady hunters Trevor Williams and Travis Holcombe (who has since retired from the troupe), the Fiasco has grown from early crude experimentation with digital cameras (think scripted "America's Funniest Home Videos" B-list material, with the occasional second place clip. What do you expect? They were freshmen after all) to a full-blown assault of ha-ha hi-jinx. For best results, equate live action "Muppet Babies" spoofing MTV non-music related line-up. Last season's "Crouching Gladstone, Hidden What Guy" stands as a firm testament to their broadening scope - ask the Association for Higher Education Cable Television Administrators. They presented the Fiasco with a national award for outstanding achievement in an entertainment program (resumé fodder galore).

The current cast includes founder Trevor Williams (fearless leader and all-round gold medalist in buffoonery and realistic Siamese-twin portrayal), Stephen Hendricks (Dancing bandit Hot Steps Willy and any other character existing in a state beyond Caucasian), Neal Holman (recognizable as the grizzly-chested Brad Pitt stand-in in their Fight Club spoof "Book Club"), Andrew Jelicka (One armed weather mime and the pride of Dunwoody), Ed Mundy (computer guru and author of "Silly Spider Monkey: Behind the Fiasco") and Shelly Stover (continuously typecast in any sinister role not involving testicles). Mired in success and a healthy dose of testosterone, the group's recent auditions for female cast members have had a large turnout. Season Four will bear fruit in November, when "Our Dream Show," focusing on weird elements in dream, thoughts and the subconscious, premieres. For those in need of a fix and adamantly opposed to heroin, there is some talk of past seasons making their way back into Channel 15's Thursday scheduling rotation some time in October.

Comedians: The Lesser Utilized White Meat

Stand-up comedy is essentially the O.G. of the funny bone - one person and its imagination versus an assembled crowd of strangers eager to judge. Being that comedy and beer are the ultimate buddy-buddy sitcom, it's a small wonder Athens has been able to sustain a regular stand-up comedy venue.

That is, until DT's re-opened, and Classic City Comedy moved in like gangsters at a gun shop. Now boasting a bi-monthly rendezvous, Classic City Comedy offers gleaming comedic spillover from Atlanta, as well as a friendly hand of introduction to those willing to submit themselves to the sheer uncertainty of "Open Mic." They have since held a performance at the Burntstone Brewhouse and hope to invigorate Athens with monthly top-notch comedy events. Marshall Chiles, host and advocate of Classic City Comedy, saves the routine for the stage and breaks it down: "I think this town really needs comedy. Comedy has always been the cousin of music. There's a demand for it. The Damn! Show sells out every time they play. If you like comedy, come to the shows. It'll be like the Punchline, only in Athens. I'll guarantee it'll grow."

UGA is also doing something to liven the comedy world (besides enrolling freshmen). Shindigs at Tasty World on the first Monday of every month offer the opportunity for UGA students and alumni to foist their comic manifestations on an eager, young and mostly student crowd during the UGA Comedy Club. It can only be likened to the resin ball of comedy: a pleasant surprise with the potential of making you feel somewhat dirty. Lacking professional guidance, the evening program careens from clever jokes and scenarios to Def-Con 5 levels of silence and blank stares. More unpredictable than a contact high, the good comics often contain enough spunk to overlook the few miscreant stragglers that always pollute such a free-for-all event. Members of the Silly Spider Monkey Fiasco (see above) and Yukko the Clown, of The Damn! Show (see below - Hell, just continuously read and re-read this article in case you have trouble maintaining the thread of continuity) have used the UGA Comedy Club as an outlet for individual stand-up to some avail.

The Damn! Show: You've Read About Them Elsewhere

...so there's no reason to mention them again, save that their crude humor sketches and numerous "final shows" are the biggest comedy draw in Athens.

And then...

There's a lot of comedy around town this week (check Out There!) for complete listings. Don't even try to say you don't need a reason to laugh.