If only I could have been a fly
on the wall 21 months ago when Brian “B Daht” McLaughin, Darren
“Mr. NCAT” Brand, and Jeremy “Burpie” Alsop all came together to
form what is now referred to the Freestyle Funny Comedy
Show.
If only I could have been a fly on the wall 21 months ago when Brian “B Daht” McLaughin, Darren “Mr. NCAT” Brand, and Jeremy “Burpie” Alsop all came together to form what is now referred to the Freestyle Funny Comedy Show. If you haven’t heard of the #FFCS, you are missing out on perhaps one of the most unique comedy show experiences that Greensboro has to offer.
The cast, which later added Mr. Anthony Bean and Demar “Osama Bin Drankin” Rankin, performs every third Sunday at the Comedy Zone located here in Greensboro, N.C.
With a unique blend of stand up comedy and improv skits, the show will leave you laughing from beginning to end. “We add In Living Color, Wildin Out, etc. to keep people interactive and entertained,” said McLaughin.
Recently I had the honor to sit down with these men and discuss their humble beginnings. When asking the group what inspired them to come together and do comedy, the answer was simply “success.”
In addition to that, as it was stated by McLaughin, the WSSU alum and also the hilarious 102 JAMZ morning show personality we all know as B Daht, “We realized nobody else was doing this. A lot of people do stand up. It’s cool doing stand up, but the people want to see more than just you sitting up there talking for 10 or 15 minutes.”
B Daht brought the group together nearly two years ago after a comedy roast for his birthday. Since then, the three A&T alumni and two WSSU alum have consistently packed the house of the Comedy Zone, and have also traveled to New York, have deals lined up in Atlanta and Washington DC, and have even managed to do a couple of college tours (which have managed to make stops by AggieLand).
When asking A&T alums Darren Brand and Demar Rankin what brought this unique cast together, both men assured me that it was “Devine intervention brought us together.” Rankin, who is the host of this year’s homecoming comedy show, assured me that “if the group keeps working hard, the 5 of us will go straight to the top.”
The group plans to continue to grow and ultimately would like to go on to have a television show some day. “We want to be mentioned with the Pryor’s, Murphy’s, and Chappelle’s.” said Anothony Bean, the host of the Comedy Zone. “And not mentioned as just individually, but as a collective unit. So not only will you have to match our talent and hard work as individuals, but you will also have to match us as a group. Which makes it twice as hard to top us.”
The #FFCS will be performing this Sunday at the Comedy Zone. And after a successful GHOE, I am sure these men will deliver the funny just like they have done for the past 21 months. For more information on the #FFCS, you can visit www.iambdaht.com, www.darrenbrand.com, or www.burpiestreetcomedy.com.
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- Trumaine McCaskill, Opinion Editor