Chattanooga has long been known for comedy. If you’ve been looking for a laugh, chances are you can find it fairly easy, from classic venues such as The Comedy Catch, to regular comedy nights at JJ’s Bohemia, Mayo’s, Ziggy’s, and a wide variety of pop-up shows in and around town.
So what would bring a New York City comedian to town and make him stay? Not only stay, but bring along many of his Big Apple comedy friends to set up a regular, twice-a-month comedy gig at a downtown hotel?
The answer is COVID-19.
“Obviously, New York isn't the only city where comedy exists, but the city’s abundance of stages makes it a mecca for stand-up, as comics need to get up as often as possible to hone material and skills,” comedian Jeff Greenspan explains. “But the pandemic laid waste to many of the service industry jobs which usually keep comics (and other artists) afloat. So, it’s been dark. But that’s when comedy is most needed, right?”
After 80 days of quarantining alone in a pretty small Brooklyn apartment, Jeff Greenspan joined fellow New York City comic Steve Maloy, and headed down to Tennessee to become “Comedians in Residence” for a couple of months at Humanaut, a creative production company here in Chattanooga.
During their stay, they lived in Chattanooga’s Bode Hotel. That’s where they met Omar, the manager. He was game for hosting a socially-distanced comedy show in their lobby for a night. It went so well, they did it a few more times.
Afterwards, Jeff returned to NYC and saw what the comedy scene was like. All the venues were closed, so you could only do shows in parks or rooftops. While that’s okay in the summer, it didn’t seem sustainable. Jeff was faced with a dilemma: since he had sacrificed so much time and income pursuing stand up over advertising, he wanted to try to salvage what he could.
So he called Omar and asked if he could run a bi-weekly show in Chattanooga if he moved back into the hotel for a few months. Omar was into it, so Jeff moved into an apartment upstairs (along with an extra room for my NYC comedy pals who come down to do the show). And that’s how the Carpetbagger’s Comedy Hour was born.
Jeff got into stand-up relatively late in life, four years ago when he had just turned 46. At the time, he had the outward appearances of a successful life. He had worked his way up the ad industry ladder from intern at an agency to the Chief Creative Officer of a major media company.
“I’d gotten to the opportunity to work pretty closely with Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook, and had developed a lucrative freelance career,” Jeff recalls. “And I had done it with very little help. I mean except for being white and having a penis, I had very little help. These achievements should have made me happy, but I felt empty.”
Perhaps it was a chemical imbalance, a midlife crisis, the frustration of a career spent promoting extreme capitalism, or all of the above, but he says he fell into a deep depression.
“I wasn’t sad; it was just that for months I didn’t feel much of anything at all. I was becoming lost and despondent,” he explains.
Besides seeking professional help, he took a bunch of classes in things to push himself out of his comfort zone. He thought they might shake his brain into a different gear. He took Spanish, Jiu Jitsu, and a standup comedy class.
“My windpipe was crushed in Jiu Jitsu. I can’t even ask you where the library is in Spanish. But I’ve been on stage or writing almost every day since that stand-up class,” Jeff says. “Until Covid that is. It’s odd, I made my entire living telling lies in advertising. Now I’m trying to tell the truth with comedy, and I was barely making a dime”
The pandemic made Jeff take a more critical look at his material. He felt that if he was going out during a health crisis and adjusting his entire life to keep pursuing the craft, what he was talking about on stage ought to mean something. It also made him more appreciative of having a community.
“I’ve leaned heavily on my comedy friends, not just for emotional support, but to keep this experiment of a show going.” Jeff says. “I’m so grateful to all the comics who have made the trip down here to take part in the show. And I’m also grateful to the community I’ve found in the audiences that have been showing up. When we’re all so isolated, it’s been very fulfilling to connect with people like this.”
The Carpetbagger’s Comedy Hour is usually the first and third Friday of every month at 9 p.m. They observe social distancing – the room holds 200, but they cap the audience at 40 – so it’s best to reserve online as they’ve been selling out regularly.
Each show is usually five to seven comedians, featuring a new mix of comics from the Southeast area alongside Jeff’s NYC comedy pals who’ve appeared on Netflix, Conan, Comedy Central, NPR, Adult Swim, BuzzFeed, and other places people go to when they want to laugh.
There is a fantastic bar that opens at 8:30 p.m. if you want to grab a drink before things start. It’s only $8, and that includes a beer. And lately they’ve been teaming with Civil Axe Chattanooga to have each paid ticket also serve as a raffle for a free hour of axe throwing.
“The goal is to keep this an affordable yet quality night out while allowing comics to keep their gears churning during this messed up time,” Jeff explains. “I just signed on to stay here six more months, so I hope people keep enjoying it!”
For more information, check BodeComedy.com for schedule and tickets.
Profile photo by Blake Brooks. Couch photo by Rick Wenner.
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