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HomeArts/LeisureComedy on the Cumberland supports the Clarksville-Montgomery County Humane Society

Comedy on the Cumberland supports the Clarksville-Montgomery County Humane Society

The October 12th Comedy on the Cumberland PosterClarksville, TN – Tuesday night in Clarksville at the Roxy Regional Theater was the place to be. Four hilarious comedians rocked the house with laughter as the Humane Society of Clarksville-Montgomery County benefited from a gala night.

Sponsors F&M Bank, Wyatt-Johnson, and Wendy’s brought Keith Alberstadt, Dan Whitehurst, X-man and Brother Preacher (Greg Lee) to the stage to the applause and laughter of a full house.

A special addition was the unexpected “Points of Light” sung by the cast from the Roxy Regional Theatre’s latest production, “Dracula the Musical,” a not-to-be missed musical; perfect for the Halloween season.

Keith Alberstadt, Brother Preacher, X-Man, Dan Whitehurst, and Hank Bonecutter
Keith Alberstadt, Brother Preacher, X-Man, Dan Whitehurst, and Hank Bonecutter

Hank Bonecutter, host for the evening and creator of Comedy on the Cumberland, is the owner and general manager of WJZM. He is also host of Clarksville’s longest running morning show, “The Bone Show,” and is a stand-up comedian himself. A graduate of Rik’s “School of Laughs” and frequent performer at Zanies Comedy Showplace, Bonecutter gave each comedian an amusing introduction.

WJZM joined with Clarksville Online, Discover Clarksville, Best Buys with Art Conn, CDE Lightband, and Ad One Advertising as media sponsors for the event.

X-MAN (Xavier Reginald King)
X-MAN (Xavier Reginald King)

After a digital presentation describing the Humane Society’s work (and tearful members of the audience as they viewed cats and dogs needing homes to the lyrics of “In the arms of the angels”), X-MAN (Xavier Reginald King) took the stage. He won his first comedy contest in 1983 and has never looked back. His comedy had an underlying theme of harmony among people of all backgrounds as he made fun of himself, racial differences and stereotypes to which some people fall victim.

X-MAN opened with “Hello, white people!” as he looked into a predominantly white audience. He then told about his encounter with his first audience who happened to be all black.

“I told my first joke—no laughter! I told my second joke—still no laughter. By the end of the third joke, someone threw a chicken leg at me and they weren’t even serving food. Then I found out that it was my son who threw it!” he began.

Now a resident of Nashville, X-MAN lampooned stereotypical ideas of Mexicans with the thought that it took 30,000 Egyptians 20 years to build one pyramid, but he was sure that it would take only 17 days for six Mexican laborers to do the same.

He said that when he first moved to Nashville from Ohio, he was a little nervous about possible racism. He reported that he did have one incident when he found a note, “Negro, go back to Africa” written on his newly-painted bathroom wall. Again, it was his son who was the culprit!

X-MAN said his mother is Cherokee and his father is so black that the oil light comes on when he gets into a car.

He closed by warning parents to make sure their sons, especially, took necessary precautions in their teenage years to avoid not only diseases but child support.

Dan Whitehurst
Dan Whitehurst

X-MAN’s well-deserved applause was followed by the gig of Dan Whitehurst, who won the title, “World’s Funniest Cop” at the ASLET World Police Championships in Orlando, Florida.

Whitehurst said he had recently been in New York City where he was made fun of for his Southern accent. The Pakistani in the convenience store where Whitehurst was trying to buy a Moon Pie kept asking him to say something Southern.

He also said he had a Rottweiler who had had a tumor removed from his leg. Whitehurst said he was forced to take the dog’s pain medicine after he received the $700 vet bill; Dan insisted he needed something to take the edge off.

Formerly an armed robbery detective on the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department, Whitehurst said he had had to learn never to laugh in court but it was almost impossible in some instances. One man who was in front of the judge for domestic violence said, “She knew there wasn’t no liquor in the house when she paid the light bill!”

Another individual who had a hole in his temple told Whitehurst that his “old lady” had hit him in the temple with a “Smoothie.” Whitehurst was confused, thinking the man meant a fruit drink. “No, no!” the man insisted. “It’s the one you smooth out your clothes with (an iron).”

After back surgery, Whitehurst left the police force in May, 2005, to devote his life to travel as a full time comedian. Having appeared with Jay Leno and many other famous comedians, Whitehurst is witty and laid-back in his approach to the lighter side of life. You can see more of him on  at the Nashville Comedy web site — and you’ll be laughing all the way.

Brother Preacher (Gary Lee)
Brother Preacher (Gary Lee)

Third on the program was Brother Preacher (Gary Lee). For five years he was host and contributing producer to the PBS show, “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” He has also appeared on Nickelodeon, ESPN, NBC (“Inside Stuff”) and SHOWTIME. A guest on “The Drew Carey Show,” “Newsradio,” “Mad about You,” and appearing in movies Interviewing God, Chaos Theory, Eye of the Dolphin and its sequel, Way of the Dolphin, this guy is unusual to say the least.

For the first ten or fifteen minutes he was on stage, I didn’t understand a thing he was talking about. His bullet-delivered sentences seemed to have no relation one to another. I began to wonder if I had walked into a time warp or someone was fast-forwarding this man’s delivery to us.

Hank Bonecutter had announced that Brother Preacher had been a pulpit minister in 31 churches and had insisted that “no one should trust anyone who hasn’t been fired at least five times.” I could see why this could have been a recurring theme in his life because probably no one in the congregation ever knew what the man was talking about.

Brother Preacher said he had recently been preaching in the Kit Kat Gentlemen’s Club where they had free popcorn and he had passed out. He also said it was difficult to preach in a car wash.

His mantra was “If you look good, people will overlook that you’re no good.” He said he had never understood why Adam and Eve were naked when they were gardening.

Brother Preacher was focused on wanting Christians to be able to float like Jesus so he sang a song with children’s hand motions. It featured lines like “Noah built a big wooden boat…Judas hung ‘til he was dead by the throat…Don’t you wish that we could float and go to heaven in a big puff of smoke?”

To say that Brother Preacher was “weird” is an understatement.

At this point, the DRACULA singers took the stage and gave us an amazing performance. I can’t wait to see the musical itself.

The Cast of Dracula the Musical
The Cast of Dracula the Musical
Keith Alberstadt
Keith Alberstadt

Then came the highlight of the evening, the comedian Keith Alberstadt, a native of Nashville. It’s easy to understand why he’s been on David Letterman’s “Late Show” and is a contributing writer for “Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update” and Jimmy Fallon’s “Late Show.” This guy is rivetingly funny.

His descriptions of encounters with telemarketers who can’t pronounce his name went like this. “One guy called up and didn’t see my name until the last second so he said, ‘Can I please speak to—JESUS!’” Keith’s reply was, “I don’t know when He’s coming back.”

He claimed since his mother had four active children, her morning “coffee cup” was always laced with salt around the edge and she was apt to rattle off every child’s name before she reached the offending urchin.

Alberstadt asserted that he once created a fake ID, but was told by the bartender that they didn’t serve people from “Ablabama”; however, the one state he found it accepted was in “Alabama.”

He said his finding his shoes in the refrigerator four different times led him to believe that he had a ghost in the house. He set up a camera that revealed a ghost “that looked a lot like me as I returned from a night of heavy drinking.”

Keith said he was once driving through Alaska and called his father, a retired geology professor, to tell him how beautiful the scenery was. His father asked, “Are you calling on your cell phone?” The smart alec reply that immediately came to his lips was, “No, it’s a pay phone I picked up earlier. I’ll have to hang up now because I’m running out of cord!”

You can see more of Keith Alberstadt at his web site, and can expect to see him as a headliner for many years to come. He is genuinely funny.

Keith Alberstadt with the young man he joked around with during his performance.
Keith Alberstadt with the young man he joked around with during his performance.

Alberstadt’s banter with an audience member, a 15-year-old high school student who plays soccer, was clever and impromptu. At the end of his routine, Keith tossed “It’s Pronounced ‘Jenkins’” his brand new CD that came out Tuesday plus his older CD, “One Night Stand,” to the youngster. Unfortunately, one of the CD’s hit the kid’s father in the head (no damage).

As we left the theater, my husband Bill went up to Keith and said, “Do you recall the man you hit in the head?” Replying that he did, Keith laughed aloud as Bill told him, “I’m the guy’s attorney. You’ll receive the papers suing you for the whiplash tomorrow!”

Comedy on the Cumberland is planning its next event on December 15th; it will feature Henry Cho, and will benefit the Civitans’ book project for third graders and Christmas hats, gloves and coats for Headstart kids. Be there and expect a great night of fun!

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Video

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snfXjXKp-DE[/youtube]

Sue Freeman Culverhouse
Sue Freeman Culverhousehttp://culverhouseart.com/
Author of Tennessee Literary Luminaries: From Cormac McCarthy to Robert Penn Warren (The History Press, 2013) Sue Freeman Culverhouse has been a freelance writer for the past 36 years. Beginning in 1976, she published magazines articles in Americana, Historic Preservation, American Horticulturist, Flower and Garden, The Albemarle Magazine, and many others. Sue is the winner of two Virginia Press Awards in writing. She moved to Springfield, Tennessee in 2003 with her sculptor husband, Bill a retired attorney. Sue has one daughter,  Susan Leigh Miller who teaches poetry and creative writing at Rutgers University. Sue teaches music and writing at Watauga Elementary School in Ridgetop, Tennessee to approximately 500 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. She also publishes a literary magazine each year; all work in the magazine is written and illustrated by the students. Sue writes "Uncommon Sense," a column in the Robertson County Times, which also appears on Clarksville Online. She is the author of "Seven keys to a sucessful life", which is  available on amazon.com and pubishamerica.com; this is a self-help book for all ages.
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