Some front page love for The Carpetbagger’s Comedy Night

A bi-weekly show where NYC comics joined Southeast faves.

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During the pandemic’s lockdown, I left NYC to become a “Comedian in Residence” for two months at Humanaut, a creative production company in Chattanooga. While there, I stayed at The Bode Hotel.

One night, the hotel let me run a socially-distanced comedy show in their lobby. We only had a karaoke machine for a sound system and a smattering of hotel guests for an audience, but it went well enough to try it again.

The show eventually got a legit sound system (and months of sold-out audiences), so I moved full-time to Tennessee to host and produce The Carpetbagger’s Comedy Night, a bi-weekly showcase where my NYC comedy pals joined Southeast faves.

When the hotel was sold, the show moved to The Granfalloon, where it regularly drew standing-room-only audiences until it closed on its 3rd anniversary. Hear more about the show on NPR.

Jeff Greenspan is a native New York comic now living in Chattanooga.

Before moving south, Jeff wrote for filmmaker Michael Moore and performed regularly at Gotham and StandUp NY. He’s appeared on Netflix and at the Limestone, and Red Clay comedy festivals.

For three years, Jeff produced and hosted Chattanooga’s Carpetbagger’s Comedy Night, a bi-weekly showcase of NYC comics and Southeast faves. The show regularly drew sold-out crowds until it closed on its 3rd anniversary in October 2023. He now co-runs Chattanooga’s Don’t Tell Comedy shows.

Jeff’s also been behind many comedic (and questionably legal) art and activism projects shared by millions online and covered widely by the press.

SCHEDULED PERFORMANCES

When you come up with an idea for Dickel Whisky, they sometimes ask you to be in the commercial.

A collaboration with the animation team at Space Zambonie.

Thanks to the talented Das Frank, one of my punchlines now comes in small, medium, and large.

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In 2017, two comedian friends and I were invited to perform at NYC's French Comedy Festival. Little did we know, a french documentary crew would be on hand. They asked for our perspectives as new comics and we made it into the film! Here’s a clip featuring Bill Burr. You can watch the whole film on Netflix.

The B.C. Years (Before Covid)

March 11, 2020: COVID-19 had started to spread, and for whatever reason, this audience came out, Not a great atmosphere for laughs, but posting since it was one of the last NYC shows before the shutdown.

After this performance, I was offered a residency at NYC's Broadway Comedy Club and a slot on the Manhattan Comedy Festival.

Second Stand Up Comedy show

In 2009, while reviewing copywriter portfolios at R/GA, I was surprised to find myself in one of them. Almost a decade prior, I auditioned for a commercial and was asked to improvise as a computer salesman who knew zero about computers. These spec ads were made from those audition tapes. Nine years later, they’re in front of me in some writer’s portfolio. WTF? He said he included them, despite the poor production value, because he liked the performances. Hmmm.