State Farm Arena this weekend hosted its first big non-sports shows since the pandemic began featuring Mike Epps and several other stand-up comics.
The four shows on May 7 and May 8 were held at greatly reduced capacity, with 3,000 people per show, but it was yet another sign that Atlantans are increasingly willing to go out and be entertained amid strangers.
The Atlanta Hawks are bumping capacity to 45% at State Farm for the postseason while the Atlanta Braves hit full capacity at Truist Park May 7, and the Atlanta United will be doing so at Mercedes Benz Stadium starting May 15.
Comedy clubs and theaters are taking varying degrees of caution.
Buckhead’s The Punchline comedy club, which normally seats 200, is holding at just 30% capacity. Midtown comedy club The Laughing Skull Lounge, which reopened at reduced capacity in February and seats just 80, is going to allow a full crowd to its “Best of Atlanta Comedy” shows by early June with masks optional. It’s currently allowing half capacity.
The Whole World Improv Theatre has been using the outdoor space at Ponce City Market the past few months but recently started doing shows indoors in its Midtown space. Emily Reily Russell, Whole World’s director, said they ripped out their 120 chairs and replaced them temporarily with eight mahogany tables with chairs to seat just 32. “It’s always been an intimate theater, but now it’s even more so,” she said. “We’re doing one show a week, but we’re going to add more shows as we get more comfortable.”
Credit: WHOLE WOLR
Credit: WHOLE WOLR
The Atlanta Comedy Theater in Norcross, which targets an African American audience, has been open since last summer and many big-name Black comics, such as Marlon Wayans and Dave Chappelle, have passed through who normally would play much larger spaces. But their options have been limited.
Gary Abdo, the theater owner, said comics have been very accommodating to ensure he can make some money even with fewer people in the audience. “I had never worked with Eddie Griffin before,” Abdo said. “He’s been here three times in the past year.”
Abdo is hoping to reach normal capacity of 250 in a month or two. “We want to ease into it,” he said.
Credit: Dad's Garage
Credit: Dad's Garage
Dad’s Garage in the Old Fourth Ward hosted its first improv shows with a live audience May 8 but did so in its parking lot, dubbing it “Improv in the Park(ing Lot).” The non-profit group built a special stage and fit about 50 cars. People could hear the actors via the same FM transmission that the Plaza Theatre has been using for its drive-ins in the same space the past year.
Matt Terrell, communications director, said Dad’s Garage doesn’t plan to open up its indoor space for live shows until December but if it’s deemed safe, they may reopened the doors earlier. “People see improv as risky and that we have this seat-of-your-pants culture here,” he said. “But we are being careful so we can do things on stage that’s wild and crazy.”
Rolecall Theater at Ponce City Market had the unfortunate timing of opening on February, 2020. It managed to survive only because Ponce had an outdoor amphitheater space it hadn’t been using. Now, the theater does shows both indoors and outdoors and will continue to do so in the future.
Credit: Robb Cohen for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Robb Cohen for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Karlous Miller, an Atlanta comic who broke it big on Nick Cannon’s sketch comedy and improv show “Wild ‘N Out,” has been doing arena shows with Epps and other comics the past few weeks with no issues. After nine months without going on stage, he is thrilled to be back.
“I was just going crazy,” Miller said. “I was working seven or eight years constantly on the road. Then nothing!”
He said although the audiences are spread out, the energy has been crazy at every show. “You feel the excitement,” Miller said. “It’s almost childlike. They are vaccinated and masked and ready to have a good time. On a scale of 1 to 10, it’s like a 20! I’m glad to be part of the first wave of getting people to go out again.”
Nonetheless, the State Farm show is a relative anomaly at this stage of the pandemic recovery when it comes to national tours.
There are not many scheduled theater comedy shows in the next few months. Most comedy dates on the calendar at the Fox Theatre, Center Stage and Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre are rescheduled dates that had originally been set before the pandemic hit.
Those rescheduled shows include Bill Maher at Fox Nov. 6, George Lopez at Cobb Nov. 20 and Gabriel Iglesias Dec. 2 at State Farm Arena. One veteran stand-up comic Bill Burr had originally scheduled dates at three different venues last year wrapped around the Masters golf tournament but are now set for mid-October at Cobb, the Fox and the Roxy on consecutive dates.
“We’ve had some acts we thought would make it in October, but they changed their minds,” said Tom Rowland, director of marketing for Cobb Energy. “It’s kind of hit or miss. It really depends on the artist and who is willing to tour. We’re in constant contact with the promoters that are routing this sort of stuff.”
And relatively few people who had purchased tickets to shows before the pandemic have requested refunds, he said. Most are opting to stick it out and attend the rescheduled show.
At least stand-up comics can fly in and do one-off dates and change dates without too much hassle, Rowland said. Musical acts, with trailers full of equipment, have a more complicated calculus when it comes to touring to ensure they can make money.
Rowland said the first new comedy show he has scheduled is humorist Jeanne Robertson for Oct. 16, with tickets having gone on sale May 7. “I’m curious to see how it goes,” he said before tickets went on sale. “People have six months to buy a ticket. We’ll have to wait and see.”
Credit: ROLECLAL
Credit: ROLECLAL
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