The Beards of Comedy will be returning to Athens Tuesday, November 29th to perform at the Caledonia Lounge. Show is at 9:00, and it’s $10 (21+)/$12 (18+). You can also purchase their album on iTunes

Spend time with…Shalewa Sharpe

It’s always a pleasure to go to a comedy show because of the headliner and then be blown away by one of the openers. Last Thursday I was delighted to see Atlanta-based comedian, Shalewa Sharpe, for the first time. Throughout her set, my friend and I kept looking at each other with looks that clearly read “Who IS this hilarious woman?” and “Why have we not seen her before??” I really hope she does some more shows in Athens soon. Check out her  Rooftop Comedy page - she has a few other great clips there. You can also follow her on Twitter

This past Thursday night I attended the Hacks show at the Caledonia Lounge featuring headliner Tig Notaro. I’ve seen her a few times now, and she always surpasses even my greatest expectations for an awesome show. Thursday was no exception.

I love all of her prepared material, but the magic in seeing her live comes from her crowd work & improvised interactions with her surroundings. This came to us Thursday in the form of a running joke regarding the speakers that were hanging from the ceiling on either side of the stage. She kept claiming she would end the show by cutting the chains & letting the speakers fall on anyone unfortunate enough to be sitting beneath them. The real payoff came at the end when, rather than “cut” the chains, she took a screwdriver found on stage during the show and pretended to (VERY SLOWLY) unscrew the speakers from their tethers - much less dramatic, but way more hilarious.

The last moments of the show (post speaker bit) were even more inventive. I don’t know if Tig has been doing this at other shows, but she ended on an interesting note. She kept the show going in a string of false stops that lasted a good 15-20 minutes. She told us about the items she had for sale on a table toward the back, and then she shuffled off stage toward the table. However…she would NOT let us applaud. She would NOT let host Luke Fields thank her or say anything that indicated the show was over. She just said, “wouldn’t it be great if this is how I ended the show,” thus leading us to believe the show was NOT over.

Then, she stood at her merchandise table TELLING us to get up and leave, but since she wouldn’t let us applaud no one would get up. We just sat transfixed - waiting to see what would happen next. After a few awkward minutes, one man finally walked up to the table and asked for a t-shirt while the whole room turned to watch the exchange. Tig even managed to make the selling a t-shirt hilarious.

Luke did finally end the show (much to Tig’s consternation). I think we all would have gladly stayed another few hours just to see what she would do next.

…….and to top it all off, I can now have Tig at all my parties.

Get your tickets to see “Comedy Befitting of a Gentleman & a Scholar” featuring Paul Gallois this coming Wednesday at Melting Point. This will also be host Drew Dickerson’s final show in Athens before he leaves us to attend Brown University.  Come show your support for him & the other talented comedians who are performing!

(Source: youtube.com)

Don’t miss Tig Notaro next week at the Caledonia Lounge!  She’s a personal favorite, and always delivers an amazing show.  If you’d like a taste of her comedic voice, give a listen to this classic (if divisive) episode of the Maximum Fun podcast,  Jordan, Jesse Go!  It’s also a personal favorite.

AthLaughs is a site dedicated to providing news & information to the comedy fans of Athens, GA.  In recent years, the comedy scene in Athens has been growing by leaps and bounds as multiple showcases for local talent have been cropping up, and more recognizable names in comedy have been traveling to our town to take advantage of the unique atmosphere that Athens offers as an alternative to the typical comedy club. Check back here for news about upcoming shows, podcasts/videos/etc. featuring comedians who perform in Athens & hopefully more!