The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Ty Cooper Joined Greer Achenbach Live On “The Downtown Spotlight!”

Episode Date: November 7, 2024

Ty Cooper, Owner of Lifeview Marketing & Visuals, LLC, joined Greer Achenbach live on The “The Downtown Spotlight!” The Downtown Spotlight airs live Thursday from 2:30 pm – 3:15 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The Downtown Spotlight on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

Good afternoon. Welcome to the downtown spotlight. I'm Greer Achenbach, executive Director of Friends of Charlottesville Downtown. We have an incredible show lined up for you today. First, we're talking with our friend Ty Cooper about the annual United Nations of Comedy Tour next week, November 16th at the Paramount. And then during the second half of our show, we will be joined by Major Mark Van Meter from the Salvation Army to talk about Charlottesville's response to homelessness. Homeless services and interventions have been a hot button issue in Charlottesville, and Major Mark is here to talk to us about the plans the Salvation Army has to expand their high barrier shelter and create a new low barrier

shelter. The Salvation Army is supported by the city and is both a compassionate and pragmatic approach. Before I start chatting with Ty, I want to take a few moments to tell you some very exciting things happening downtown with Friends of Charlottesville. If you have not already heard, Friends of Charlottesville and the city have been working together to bring you free downtown holiday lights coming to the downtown mall November 21st at 5 p.m. That is when the lights will be turned on. Please mark your calendars. It is an incredible opportunity to come see, snap some pictures with these beautiful holiday lights to shop and dine on the downtown mall. We love our friends at Boar's Head or Veritas, wherever else you might see

lights, but we are offering them for free on the downtown mall. So it is an incredible asset and event for the community as well as for the businesses. I encourage you to remember that Friends of Charlottesville is a nonprofit dependent entirely on private philanthropy. If you like these programs, if you like the lights or other things that Friends of Charlottesville are doing, please consider donating to the organization or becoming one of our all-star member businesses today. We're going to go ahead and drop these links into the chat now. So the lights are brand new this year, but we are also bringing back some of our community favorite Magic on the Mall programming. Many of you probably remember the Downtown Express, the kids train running on the Downtown Mall. It was previously just at the holidays, but now it runs every Saturday from 10 to 1 p.m. with extended holiday hours from the 21st of November through the first week of January running until 2 p.m.

So bring your family out to the Downtown Express. We will also be doing free Santa pictures at the Paramount on Small Business Saturday. That is November 30th. As far as I know, we're the only place in town that's doing free Santa pictures. So be sure to come and get your professional photo taken and bring a canned food item for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. We're also bringing back elves in Seville. Santa's elves are lost on the downtown mall. Please come help us find them. You can pick up your passport at J. Fenton or Magpie Knits and turn them back in to get a prize once you've found all the elves. The same is true with the Peppermint Trail. So come downtown,

sample an assortment of delicious peppermint concoctions. Try at least four and win a prize. Again, pick them up, turn them back in at MagPride Knits. There's also the Best in Snow window decorating competition. Come see all the beautiful holiday windows, the Hanukkah celebration on December 29th. You can mail a letter directly to Santa at Alakazam and get a response from the man himself and many, many more things. So again, I encourage you to remember that these things do not just happen. If you are interested in being a sponsor for the downtown train,

we have two advertising spots left. Those are $2,500 a piece, but you are advertised on the train for the entire year. We're going to go ahead and drop that link in the chat now. We are also looking for a sponsor for Santa Pictures at the Paramount. That is a $1,500 sponsorship opportunity. Great for the community, great for the businesses. We encourage you to support this. We're going to drop that in the chat right now as well. And finally, we're looking for some volunteers to help us make all of these things happen. If you're willing to help, we need downtown express drivers and assistance, as well as a few extra special holiday volunteers to help with Elves in Seville and the Peppermint Trail. We're going to put those links in the chat as well so that you can come and volunteer

with Friends of Seville. Be sure to follow us at friendsofseville on Instagram or www.friendsofseville.org to stay up to date for all the latest holiday information. And now, let's welcome our friend Ty Cooper, founder of the United Nations Comedy Tour. How you doing? Hi, Ty. Thanks for being here. Doing well. Doing well. Thanks for having me.

So let's jump right into it. Yep. You started this comedy tour several years ago. Why did you want to bring it to Charlottesville? Well, I started the tour in 2002. So it's been around for about 22 years. And initially, the tour was to promote diversity on PWIs. That's predominantly white institutions, like UVA and many other universities. So typically, sometimes it was sponsored by, let's say, the Black Student Alliance on that campus. So it was at UVA originally?

Well, it was a different college all around the country. It was a tour. But as an example, you know, like a PWI, a predominantly white institution like UVA or many others. And the success, it was this, you know, different university was booking it because they heard about it. I was a member of NACA, which was a, you know, different university were booking it because they, you know, they heard about it. I was a member of NACA, which was a, you know, you know, NACA. Yeah, I had a friend who used to work there.

Okay, yeah. All right. So I was a member of NACA. So I used to book homecoming concerts for different college campuses around the country. And so I created this entity, this brand of United Nations of Comedy. It's in the title. The diversity effort is in the title, United Nations. So that means bringing an array of different comedians based on ethnicity, gender, and so forth.

And so Charlottesville was just one of the places on the map. It was en route to George Washington University, G-Dub, other universities. So it was just another place. I didn't have really a reason to bring it to Charlottesville per se, but it was just, so UVA was, it fit the mold. It was a predominantly white university and it had different multicultural departments and they would sponsor the show to come to the mold. It was a predominantly white university and it had different multicultural departments and they would sponsor the show to come to the university. And then I was

like, you know what, Charlottesville has some potential, but we're going to keep touring. I joined the board of the Paramount Theater in 2010. From 2010 to 2017, I was on the board of the Paramount. And at that time I had a little tete-a-tete with the marketing department and the theater manager at that time. And I didn't really have an appreciation for what I felt as though was lacking in the programming. So because of that tete-a-tete, I sent an email out to the entire board, and I was like, I was displeased with just the programming. They didn't represent the community entirely.

And my board members, because they really sought me out to be a member, and they was like, thank you, Todd. Thank you so much for, like, that needed to be said. No one ever said that. I'm like, what are y'all doing on this board? Y y'all never said you don't look at the program and say hey this is not right so there was no diversity programming at that time no okay I think I've heard I've talked to you about this before yeah no so long story short I say you know what let me give you an example on how

to promote diversity at the theater. So I started bringing my events to the theater. No discount. I ran out the theater. So I would have an event at, let's say, I had an event called the Best of Both Worlds Dance and Step Competition. I had that event was at the Charlottesville High School. So I would do it there every year. And the late Holly Edwards, our city councilor at the time, a good friend of mine, she would give me the space for free she gave it to me free for you know two years in a

row and um so i went from bringing an event to that place for free as far as the rental is concerned to pay to come to the paramount and i'm paying eight thousand dollars to rent the place wow but i did it because i really felt as though downtown was lacking diversity in the programming. So I just bit the bullet. I made the sacrifice. I moved my events from there to here, the comedy show. It stopped touring the campuses a while ago anyway.

And then I started to tour mainstream theaters around the country. And that's how I got to the Paramount, because I was like, all right, you know what, I'm on the board of the Paramount. I have two events I'm going to bring here to promote diversity, to show you guys how to do this, and how to market it to a diverse audience. Market it to the same audience who you have coming in already, but now we go into the inner city or the urban environments

and trying to get them and try to mix it up, mix up the audiences. And it was pretty successful. Well, that's such a win for them as well, right? You're introducing them to a new audience. And they're making more money from Rentoo for me. Right, right. Well, we love the Paramount. We're friends with them.

Oh, absolutely, absolutely. So I had heard part of that story before, but i don't know that i realized that i really came from a personal passion of wanting to see increased diversity as well as sort of improving and supporting downtown which of course we love that's everything what's about the show and friends of charlottesville well you know at that time you know um part of the tete-a-tete was was for in a way was as a board member, you know, you want to, as a board entity, excuse me, you want, you ask for the city, you ask the city

for tax forgiveness, right? You want taxes waived. You know, you're a non-profit, you're doing you think you're doing good for the community. Well, when you ask for tax forgiveness that money could help other communities in Charlottesville. So if you consider yourself as a community theater, you have a responsibility.

Your community theater is in your mission. The name community theater was in the mission. And we're asking for tax forgiveness. We have a responsibility to provide cultural experiences for the community who you're taking money from, potential money from, right? And that's why I had an issue with that. And that was in 2010.

So 2011, so I bring in the events there and we, the Paramount have taken huge strides in providing diverse programming. You know, from Diana Ross we had there when I was on the board. I mean, you know, all the different entities, all the different people.

Maya Angelou, all the different people. And that is what makes you a world-class theater. And then when you become a world-class theater, you assist the city in becoming a world-class city. So it's all about arts and culture, period. So this is, I knew a little bit of this, but there's so much history to it, and I don't know that I could trace all of that back to the United Nations of Comedy Tour. So tell us again, how many years have you been doing this? It's been around since 2002, but I've been bringing it to the Paramount Theater consistently

every year since 2011. Very cool. It's a great event. I didn't go last year, but two years ago, and it was incredible. Yeah, thank you. So we talked a little bit about the purpose and significance. Right. What comedians are part of the tour this year, and how do you choose them? I typically choose

comedians, typically I would travel and go to different comedy clubs and so forth and seek them out. Sometimes I may have relationships with many comedians and someone say, hey, you should get so-and-so. But my comedians

on the United Nations of Comedy must be national comedians. You have to have TV exposure or movies and so forth. I don't just pick people who open up. It's just not. Yeah, it's not the United Nations.

If you're an open mic artist, that's cool. Do your open mics. But I can't put you on United Nations of Comedy because it's just a bigger entity. It's a bigger thing. Okay. All my comedians actually can headline. So when you're having four or five comedians on one show, you could just take names out of a hat, blindfold it,

and you're going to have a good headliner because they all are pretty much basically equally the same in strength. They have their own style, but they're really strong. So, yeah, so sometimes I would go to a comedy show, you know, like in New York, one of my friend's comedy clubs, or I'll go just anywhere and just take notes. I'm the one that sits in the back

and don't laugh at any jokes. Like, because I'm analyzing them, studying them, and I'm trying to make sure that, okay, this is something for Charlottesville. That's so much work. That's kind of how I get them. So I have a couple of questions for you. Why comedy, right?

So you talked about wanting arts and culture and diversity, so why comedy? And then the other question that's top of mind for me is, do you look for a diverse lineup? Or is it really just about the caliber of the comedian? Oh, diverse lineup first and foremost. just about the the caliber of the comedian oh don't diverse lineup first and foremost okay um and accountable it's it's neck and neck for me because i have to stay true to united nations the the title of it sure i have to stay true to the diversity of it's the reason why i even created it you know 22 years ago i that's like a must So I can't get away from that. In the caliber, you don't want to bring crappy comedians to a show. Comedy is very subjective.

And so people are going to definitely feel, oh, I don't like this comedian. I like this comedian. I love this person. Everyone loves funny man Skiba. It's like ridiculous. Some people are upset. Is that one of the comedians this year? Yeah.

He's the one that really hosts. He does his comedy set, but he's also the host. So he's like ridiculous like some people were upset that one of the comedians this year yeah yeah he's the one he's the one that really hosts he does his comedy set but he also the host so he's like my glue okay the show so he comes out in between each comedian so you feel confident that if somebody's not the style of the audience someone got him oh yeah because he come back because sometimes there's been times i'm not gonna mention comedians names but there's been times I'm not going to mention comedians names, but there's been times when I was he come out and supposed to do three minutes in between each one. So he does like a 30 or 25 minute set in the beginning. And then he does like, you know, filler. Sometimes I say, yo, man, you got to do, you know, you got to bring the show back up. So, you know, he got to all the time.

Then he go back out there and then he does longer than I may. I may tell him to do three minutes between each one. But he goes back out there and then he does longer than three. I may tell him to do three minutes between each one, but then he goes out there and they love him so much, he ends up doing ten minutes. I'm like, yo bro, only three minutes man, because you already did a set. So that's my guy. I love him. He's like a brother to me. Does he do, is he

just improv-ing this whole time or he says so much? I mean, he got material and he's just talented. They're all talented. They're all equally talented. They just do what they do. You know, they got written stuff, but then you got to know how to play off the audience. You got to know what's going on.

For instance, we had an election. We're not going to turn this conversation into a political thing, but we had an election. There's a lot of material for comedians to eat up. Tons. If you watch SNL, then you understand that. So comedians, good comedians to eat up. If you watch SNL, then you understand that. So comedians, good comedians stay current and it's never too early.

What I mean by that, if something happens, it's never too early to joke about it, right? I don't care how distraught someone is. And we need that, right? You need that humor. Always. And I think you asked me, part of this question, you asked me why comedy. Yeah.

Comedy is good for the soul. It keeps you younger. You know, you got to smile. You know, smile is good for the muscles in your face. And then people just love it. I just love comedy because I was a Richard Pryor. I was Richard Pryor's biggest fan. And I always loved comedy since I was young.

You know, Eddie Murphy and everybody, Dave Chappelle, you know, now. So for me, doing comedy is almost like a no-brainer. You know, you... And also what's great about comedy, that it's a way to really bring people together. Because what happens is this, and this is the mission of the United Nation of Comedy. When I have you in the room, Paramount Theater or wherever, but if I have you in the room, white, black, Asian, Latino, whatever you are, if you're watching a comedian and you guys are all laughing at the same jokes, at that moment, you don't have much difference. There's not much difference between you and I.

We're laughing at the same jokes. We're enjoying the same thing at the same time. It spans age and race. Yeah, exactly. It doesn't matter whatever that content is. If we're finding that funny, it could be a black comedian making jokes about black culture.

Same black comedian can make a joke about white culture and Latino culture. Then we have an Asian comedian. I used to have Shing Wing on the show. I brought him here a few times. He had a Netflix special. I brought him here a few times way before the Netflix special. He's an Asian comedian. I mix up these comedians.

If you're laughing at the same time, with the same jokes, we are the same. Now I can't control you when you leave the place. I can't convince you to invite this stranger into your house for dinner because you met him because y'all were laughing next to one another. But I got you at that moment and I put a diverse audience together to enjoy something. And it probably happens naturally that people make connections. Yeah, they should, hopefully. But sometimes, as we know, as we very well know, it doesn't happen all the time.

So, Ty, this sounds like a lot of work, and it sounds expensive to bring in this kind of talent. So how is this supported? I mean, I do, to be honest with you, it's me, you know, it's supported, but I also have like certain entities that, you know, who are sponsored, you know, like CBS 19 is a sponsor, Hire Place, you know, I have different sponsors, you know, Virginia Tourism Corporation and stuff like that. So I have like community sponsors and then I just kind of rely on the people buying tickets. You know, that's just what it is.

But here's the thing, you got to remember not when I created the tour but when I bought it to the Paramount I already knew that I was going to take a hit financially as far as the expenses because I went from something having low expenses from rental to paying

$8,000 to $12,000. I've had a bill at the Paramount that was like $13,000 something, almost $14,000. And hopefully you grow your audience and become some more neighbors. Yeah, but it goes up and down. It just depends on what's happening in town. You know, we had an election, like I said,

and some people are staying home. Some people don't want to go outside right now. It's just what it is. But my goal really is just to, I can only do my job. I can't make someone buy a ticket. I can only bring culture here. And it's up to the people. I've got to market it.

But it's up to the people to buy in and say, hey, I'm going to support this event. You know, this event doesn't happen every day. This happens once a year. And it's the only comedy tour that comes to Charlottesville with that purpose of promoting diversity. It's the only one. I don't care what promoter, what venue. So there's nothing like this at JPJ or anywhere else?

No, no one does it. Only me. So it's really up to our community if they want to support it. I hope they do. I mean, I put a lot of time and energy and thought into the comedians and the style of the comedians um to put on that stage to actually entertain charlottesville and the surrounding area but the good thing about it too people do travel in as well so it's a tourist draw yeah yeah yeah definitely a tourist draw um and it just depends. Sometimes it's up or down. It just depends on what's going on in our town.

We have a small city, a small town, but it's very busy. I know, very much so. There's a lot of events. There's so much. We think about this all the time, right, with so many nonprofits and so many things. You're constantly competing for resources and attention and all those things. So we talked a little bit, I think it's amazing, that you're bringing people downtown at different points throughout the year when we want traffic downtown.

So you and I have talked a little bit in the past about this as well, but kind of the importance of arts and culture and why it's so important downtown. Can you speak to that a little bit? Yeah, because one thing, when you say downtown, and why it's so important downtown. Can you speak to that a little bit? Yeah, because one thing, when you say downtown, you automatically think about energy. It's all about energy.

You don't say uptown. You don't say midtown. We allegedly have a midtown here. What is considered midtown? Like the corner or the main street? No, midtown is West Main. Right, okay. That's what they say. I had a dry cleaners there. So there was like midtown. I'm like, what main street? No, Midtown is West Main. Right, okay. That's what they say. I had a dry cleaners there.

So there was like Midtown. I'm like, what are you talking about, Midtown? Because you're from New York. Yeah. Midtown is very wide, very long. It's a stretch, right? But long story short, when you think about downtown, you think about vibrancy, you think about energy. It is all about energy. So

when you bring arts and culture downtown, the energy is what's drawing the state and the city and the county, but the state and the city are marketing to get tourism, to bring people in. Right. Okay. Yes, we

have Monticello, we have wineries,. We have wineries. Like EA. Yeah. We have these different things that people, it's already checked in on their list to go, to attend. But they're always going to come downtown. Right? Downtown is the downtown.

Right. To eat, to shop. To shop, yeah. It's going to stay at a hotel. Yeah. And so you want to be able to have something where, a place where they could do everything without even leaving. They don't have to drive.

You want them to park their car, right? So when they park their car, it's like when I do the Indie Short Film Festival, everything is downtown. All my venues, five venues. I want you to park your car or don't even park. Don't even drive. Right. Take a flight and you come downtown.

Your hotel is here. Your food is here. Your entertainment is here. You could take the train right in and just walk downtown. Take a flight and you come downtown. Your hotel is here. Your food is here. Your entertainment is here. You could take the train right in and just walk downtown. Yeah. And you can go shopping. You know, there's a few boutiques you can go shopping. So I want to have, I think, downtown Charlottesville needs to be a hub of entertainment, food, leisure, and all the things.

And that's really what downtown is about. That's right. That's at least what downtown should be about. So when I bring events here, I want it to come downtown because I want to be part of that element. I want to be part of that place where people are coming to and they can be like,

wow, when I'm in New York, I'm from New York, right? So when I used to leave the house in New York, sometimes I didn't even have plans on what I'm going to do for the day. I'd go outside and be like, what do didn't even have plans on what I'm going to do for the day. I'd go outside and be like, what do I want to do? All right, I'm going to go downtown to 42nd Street. I'm going to go stay on the Tickers line.

Because that's where the energy is. Get a Broadway play. But we have energy in Harlem. Don't get it. Don't get it. Please. Because we have the Apollo. You're right.

Yeah, we have everything in Harlem. But I'm just saying, I have choices in New York. Choices. If I want to go see Asian art, I can go see Asian art. If I want to go on a boat ride, I go on a boat ride. If I want to go to a Broadway play, I go to a Broadway play. If I want to go to a black production, I go to black. Whatever.

Charlottesville is not New York. Sure. It's not supposed to be. It's supposed to be Charlottesville. It's not D.C. It's supposed to be Charlottesville. But what we D.C. It's supposed to be Charlottesville. But what we need to do is create the Charlottesville that we want. And me as a promoter, I feel it's my responsibility. The burden is on people like me, people like Corrin Capshaw and other people where we have to put stuff into Charlottesville. And when you think about Charlottesville, you really think about downtown, to be honest with you. I mean, I love other places in Charlottesville. And when you think about Charlottesville, you really think about downtown, to be honest with you.

I mean, I love other places in Charlottesville. Of course. But I don't think about those places when I want to go for entertainment or anything like that. Now, if I go to see a stage play, then there's opportunities at the Jefferson School, which is right there, downtown,

right there on that cuff of Midtown and Downtown. Right there, up Ridge. We have a couple of other places we used to have. I used to sit on the board of Play On Theater that used to be at the XR Park. So we have places, but you think about downtown. So me, I make the choice of bringing events to the Paramount Theater

because it's a very historical place. And when I look at myself as a promoter and have promoted over 1,500 events since 1993, since I started my company, I look at myself like, all right, you know what? What venue, with you having 30-something years of experience and did all these national things if i'm if you're going to be doing events in charlottesville what fits life your marketing what fits my experience and who i who i think i am and where can i add value so i'm gonna look at the best venue the paramount so i'll spend and pay for the paramount because it fits what I'm supposed to be doing you know I'm saying and I do I have and it's where you want to be doing it right in the center of downtown

right there so it's the paramount it's the premier space it's the paramount so I'm so glad you're here today because it's been something that's really top of mind for me and I hope that we work together on it is I I think arts, culture, entertainment is the differentiating factor for downtown. That is what separates us from everywhere else, right? We're not Stonefield. We're not wherever else you might go. We have this amazing asset.

There's also incredible dining and shopping and community family things, but you have all of these art galleries and all these performance spaces, and how do we capitalize that, and how do we capitalize that, and how do we bring great talent here? And I've been talking a little bit with your wife about it, and Friends of Charlottesville really wants to play a role in that space

because it should be the brand of downtown as a place that celebrates that. It brings people to the place. Imagine no events happening downtown. Imagine not a Paramount, not a Jefferson, not a Southern, and not the Pavilion. What's happening? Yeah, what's going on? Yeah, I mean, the food may not change, but the food may change because those restaurants may be like, you know what? Are getting the crowds.

I need to go somewhere else where people are coming to and I can provide food for them to eat before or after they attend that event. And that's what we offer right here. Like, even, like, today, I'm going to the Downtown Mall to talk to Mike, because I want to give a discount to people who have comedy show tickets. I should have did it last week, but I just got married. Mike at Rapture? Yeah, yeah, yeah, because he does the same thing for the film festival. Oh, cool. Yeah, he provides, like, you know, a discount if you have, like, a badge. So does the same thing for the film festival. Oh, cool. Yeah, he provides a discount if you have a badge.

So I'm going to do the same thing. Like I said, I should have did it a few weeks ago, but, you know, I mean, life. Life happens. Ty just got married. His wedding was in Greece. Yeah, yeah, it was nice. And I love your ring, too, so don't show her that ring. Oh, Robbie's is so beautiful as well.

It's similar. Yeah, it's nice. She made me lose my train of thought. But I think that's so important, and I think we have this incredible, I hope that everybody understands how important this ecosystem is because you're absolutely right. If we don't invest in arts and culture downtown, the businesses, the restaurants will suffer,

the shopping will suffer, the hotels will suffer. It is such a crucial part of our downtown brand. And so we've gotten a little off track, but to take it back to comedy a little bit. Tell me about the four comedians that are coming. Funny Man Skiba. He's a household name here in Charlottesville. He's been here since 2000. Oh, he'd been here UVA before I even started bringing him to the Paramount.

Actually, I forgot about that. So he goes back. Paris Sajay Sage she's an amazing comedian out of New York female comedian female comedian yeah out of New York she's hilarious we have Chris Rock's brother Jordan Rock people love Jordan I didn't have him

here last year because he was busy but I brought him back this year and we have Anthony DeVito Anthony DeVito is hilarious I love that guy man I had him here last year so people was like bring him back

bring him back and I was like where's he from? I need to New York he's in the New York area they're mostly New York New York has a big comedy scene

New York must have a big comedy scene it's the best comedy scene. I thought so. I thought, I assumed. Yeah, yeah. DC would say something different, but Oh, DC thinks they have it? I don't know what they think, but New York is New York. New York is New York. We have the cellar. We have Caroline's.

That's where, you know, Jerry Seinfeld would come to the cellar and just practice new stuff. I mean, so you could be at all these clubs. New York, we got the New York Comedy Club with a buddy of mine. He owns that. So we have a lot of comedy clubs in New York. It's a big comedy scene. So that's why I go there.

I've actually been to D.C.'s comedy clubs to look at comedians to bring here. So I have. But I will tell you this, though. D.C., don't get mad at me. D.C. folks, please don't get upset. I'm about to bring here. So I have, but I will tell you this though, DC, don't get mad at me. DC folks, please don't get upset. I'm about to say something. I got to be honest on this show.

I will say this. We love it. I would say this. The number of people, the number of comedians that I will not book twice, the majority of those, very few, Come from DC. came from DC. I will not book them twice. Okay, of those, very few,

came from D.C. I would not book them twice. Okay, you heard it here, everybody. He's not biased at all. It had nothing to do with D.C. It's just my luck. It's my luck. Maybe they were from Baltimore.

I don't know. But there's actually a couple, there's two New York comedians that I did bring here some years ago. I would not bring them back. They just wasn't for Charlottesville. But they were for another place.

But they was more for the comedy club. Interesting. Okay, so it's a different audience here than. Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes. You got to be mindful of the. Yeah, there's work behind this. This is like a full-time job.

It's so much strategy. It's strategy. I have a comedian, prime example. I have a comedian named Aaron Berg. I love him. He was amazing. And I went to Canada to a comedy club called Yuck Yucks. I went to Canada.

This was in 2000 and, oh, man, it was a while ago. But I went to Yuck Yucks. This was like 2010, I think. I was in Canada. I went to Toronto. And I went to the club looking for comedians to bring to the States. I met this guy.

He joked about me when I was in the West End, you know, about, you know, a black man, blah, blah, blah. It was like a sea of white people. So I was like the only black. I think it was like two black people. He joked on me and stuff. It was great. I didn't get his information because I had to leave. And he didn't know that you're a promoter? No, he didn't know. No. Oh, that's funny. Okay. And then, cause I don't, I don't say anything. I usually sit in

the back and not laugh. And I just, I'm just studying. And then I came, I went back home and I was like, man, that guy in Canada was hilarious. I need to get it's I was gonna call the club or whatever but I just kind of you know just just didn't some time in by 2014 or 13 something like that I think 14 I'm in I don't know why not I get confused but um I'm in the New York Comedy Club you know downtown my friends club, I get confused. But I'm in the New York Comedy Club, you know, downtown, my friend's club. And I'm sitting there, and I forgot his name. So I saw the people that was up there, and I was like, that guy looks familiar because they have the face, like the face and the name. So he's in New York at this point.

I didn't know. He's in Canada. Yeah, I didn't know. Yeah, I'm in New York, and I'm like, that doesn't look familiar. But Jordan Walker was performing. So I really was like, all right, let me see Jordan, you know, see what Jordan, you know, see if he's in the shadow of his brother or if he got his own. The first time you've seen him? Yeah, yeah.

Okay. I went there, saw the comedian, saw the comedian, and then this guy comes out. And I was like, yo. So I'm with my friend and, you know, my girlfriend at the time and her friend. Well, we were both friends, but three of us are down there and her mom. So it was like four of us sitting there in the front row. And then he just like got me again. So he started joking about me again.

And you still didn't know. I'm a black guy with three white women. So it's like, you know, old, maybe like, you know, I think 70 years old to all the way to whatever, 40 something. And he joked me, joked me. And I'm like, I said, yo, I saw you at Yuck Yucks. You did the same thing to me back then. And he was like, oh, you must like this then. So he kept on me and blah, blah, blah.

And then I booked him. I was like, yo, I got him. Hilarious. Yeah. He came here? I booked him and Jordan Rock. I booked both of them from that particular show. That was my first time seeing Jordan.

Second time seeing Aaron. I brought them here at the Paramount. Was this two years ago? No, this was a while ago. This was like around 2014. Yeah, around that time. And when I booked them, it was a great show, but he was so raunchy. Aaron.

Aaron. And you're like, I don't know if Charlton can handle this. No, he was hilarious. I was eager to bring him. Okay. But then I was like, but then when it got started and he picked on this one woman, like I said, he picked on me, but I have tough skin. Right. You don't know me, so you can't torture me.

Nothing you say to me means anything, so I don't take it like that. It's just so convenient doing his job or her job. But my customer, man, she was so traumatized. She emailed me and was like, I'm traumatized. She was serious. And I'm like, what is going on? This woman? Yeah. She was in the front row. You're in the front row of a comedy show with five national comedians? What'd you do? I mean, you know, I just told her, I said, look, you know, you've been, you come to all my shows. She used to even come to the shows I did in Harrisonburg.

She would go to the Court Square Theater. So she's here. She was here in Charlottesville. She was here. Yeah. And then she was. Oh, my God. She was a loyal customer.

She had probably about 10 people. She used to bring a group. That sounds stressful. And then she stopped coming. And then that's when I was like, you know what? Charlottesville is very sensitive at times not everyone but some so I would book

Aaron and a million other places I just wouldn't bring him here because of that experience so for me I'm very mindful of the people yes even back then I did even before I booked him I did say he's kind of strong but I was like they can handle it yeah they can handle it. Yeah, they can handle it.

I mean, because it is what it is. You know, making jokes. You sit in the front row. Yeah. So if he pick on you, both times I'm in the front row. Well, I wasn't in the front row in Canada. I was like maybe like in the third row. But it was like a theater seating.

Not theater. It was like a dinner type of seating, the way they had it. Because they got tabletops. You know, it was a big club so it was different than a theater you know it was like table so but anyway he spotted me in Canada and I'm sitting in the front row at um the comedy club in in um in New York only because I had four of us and they didn't have four seats in the back normally I would sit if I'm by myself I would sit in the back okay where you can judge everybody yeah I'm by myself, I would sit in the back. Okay. Where you can judge everybody.

Yeah. I could just chill out. But it was four of us. So they had a table in the front. So I knew something was going to happen. But anyway. But you almost, when you're right in that front row, you almost have to be on and like kind of engaging and laughing with them. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if not, you're going to, you know, they're going to, It's depressing. It's going to get worse and they're going to get worse for you. Yeah. So laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh it off, and then they go to someone else.

Okay, so that's really good advice, actually. So anybody that wants to go to the United Nations of Comedy Tour next week, if you sit in the front row, make sure you've got a good sense of humor and that you laugh it off. Yeah. 16th, that's Saturday? Yeah, 16th at 8 p.m. Okay, and give us the details.

Like, is there still tickets available? Yeah. Where do they buy them? This year is the first year that we did reserve seating. So you actually, when you buy your tickets, you buy your ticket

for the seat you actually want. Okay. Because, you know, typically we have general admission, so you buy a ticket and you just sit anywhere. But this time,

you got to actually pick your seat. So we have VIP section for $49.50. Then we have the regular section like in kind of like not it's not even far in the back but behind the vip area and then like on the sides um we have that for 39 50 so it's very affordable it's very very affordable i i don't like giving

people excuses on not attending so and when i promote this show as a as an effort for to promote diversity and community is not about money and I think people don't may not understand that they look at me sometimes like oh he's doing all this stuff he got all this money no if you do mathematics like the show doesn't sell out it's funny what people think yeah yeah the show I'm doing this for you I'm not doing this for me now if I was to get someone to give me $30,000 to sponsor it, then yeah, money will be made because then I'll have profit coming

in. But I'm just paying the bills just to make sure that something I bring here is consistent. So it's Saturday, November 16th, 8pm at the Paramount Theater right on the downtown mall. And they can get tickets three ways. They can get tickets by going to the website

unitednationsofcomedy.com, which will take you to the Paramount Theater's website to buy tickets. They can call by phone, 434-979-1333. Called you? Is that you? No. That's a big job.

That's the Paramount Theater. Okay. Everybody got that? Or they could go to the box office, which is right on the downtown mall. The box office had very limited hours, unfortunately. It's something that, you know, even when I was on the board, we had, I complained about it then, and I complain about it now. But it's from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. unless they have a show, and then they open up like about, I think, an hour, two hours before showtime if they have a show

so you can get tickets. So they can buy tickets same day if they're still available? Yeah, yeah. They can buy the same day, but it's reserved seating, so you probably want to, it's better to buy in advance, but you can avoid the fees and stuff like that by going to the Paramount box office during the hours that they open and just buy them there. But convenience, I mean, we all pay convenience fees,

so if you're going to do it by you got your fee up, looking at I Love Seville, you know, and you just buy them from your computer and just pay the small convenience fee, you know. It's going to be a good show, though. So I know that Ty has convinced you that you want to come to this. It's going to be a good show, though. So I know that Ty has convinced you that you want to come to this. It's an incredible price.

When we talk about the caliber of this event, I would expect it to be over $100 a ticket. Yeah, for sure. And so $39, $49 for a night out. Please come support it for all the great reasons that Ty went over. Of course, we also encourage you to come down and visit our restaurants, visit our shops while you're coming in. I'm going to Rapture right now to get that discount too worked out.

Hopefully he's there. Yeah, tell us about that. So if you have a ticket. Yeah, if you have a ticket. I haven't talked to him yet. I'm doing it right now. No pressure, Mike. I mentioned it to him though before.

It was a while, a couple months ago. I was like, hey, man, I got the comedy show coming. I need to talk to you. But I was about to get married. Sorry, Mike. But yeah, usually, if it works out, he'll let me know what percentage he could do. If you have your ticket, you go in there. I'm going to tell him that I talked about it already, so it's got to be a done deal.

I'm just not going to mention the percentage because I have no clue. But yeah, that's what I do. It's about trying to, like, kind of connect the businesses, you know, to the event and try to support one another. You know, have people, traffic coming in. A place like Rapture's or even a place like Corner Juice is right next door. So it's very convenient. So stuff like that. So I'm going to work that out.

I'm going to go there a little bit later when I go to the PO box, check my mail, and then go and see them out. But I think it's just about having something that will allow people who come downtown to not have to go anywhere. You don't have to go somewhere else to eat. I got a discount for you right here.

Don't worry about it. Just support the businesses right here where you are. So you don't have to walk anywhere. You walk about I don't know how many feet. It's about 100 feet. To Corner Juice? Right. It's right next to Rapture. Yeah. About 100 feet. Just

go right there. You're there. You're here. So that's what I want to do. And I'm going to say this too. Last year, I was real nervous because Dave Matthews band was in town and I was like, my event is only going to have 25 people, but I have 500 and something people there last year. Wow. And that was more people that they're doing the time. Dave Matthews band tour started at JPJ.

Then it was the past couple of years because it was trying to rebuild after COVID. Right, I remember that. You know what I mean? So it was a slow build, you know. So I was impressed with Charlottesville and I was impressed. I was like, this is I'm not even thinking about it.

I was thinking about my, that year, last year I was thinking about my film festival in March. I was like, I'm past this. Whatever happened is, I'm not going to get anyone in there. And we ended up having 500 tickets sold. So that was really good. I don't know if that's going to happen this year, but

yeah. Yeah, I think it was, I was happy last year. So we'll bring Ty back on to talk about the Indie Film Festival, which is another amazing event in Charlottesville that we're definitely going to want to feature one thing I wanted to highlight while you're here it's probably come through in this interview but you're just

an incredible relationship builder we really value that you think about that in this community and are trying to help us bring everything together there's so many assets and we just want to highlight them and show what a great community space downtown can be. So anything else you want to talk about with us about the United Nations of Comedy Tour?

You've been an amazing guest. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. I think I just want to say, you know, these comedians just come out and enjoy. Come out and enjoy. It's going to be hilarious. Good time. You know, and it's something, it's the most consistent show to have come to Charlottesville so far.

And I've been paying attention. Every year, we haven't taken a year off. You know, we come to the Paramount Theater every year, every year, every year since 2011. There's no other show that can say that. And in this town, there's no other show that can say that it really has been built and designed and created to promote diversity and bring people together. Yes, some people will say, you know, events are events so anyone could come. No, the mission behind this is intentionally curated to bring people together, to bring the audience together. And that's what I'm about. I do it for the Virginia Film Festival.

I do it for other clients. I have done it for other clients, excuse me. But consistently, I still do it for the Virginia Film Festival where I'm trying to that is that I'm transferring the same energy that I put into the United Nations of Comedy or the Best in Both Worlds Dance and Step Competition. Like those kind of events. When is that, the step competition? It's always at the Paramount. I haven't did it since COVID. But I'm going to bring it back next year, 2025.

And so I just kind of put the energy into that. It's the same kind of thing. I just want to merge audiences. I want to introduce people to new and different cultural experiences. And that's how the United Nations of Comedy. You're going to see a white comedian. You're going to see a black comedian. You're going to see a gay comedian. Then the next year you may see an

Asian comedian, a Latino comedian, a white comedian, black. I try to mix it up that way. So it's all with intent. It's all intentional. I hope that people see that because it is, I'm sure people underestimate how much work that is, but how important it is to really lead with that intention. And like Ty started with, comedy and laughing is good for the soul. And your facial muscles. Fully in support of that. Ty, thank you so much for being here today.

Thank you. Unfortunately, it looks like the Salvation Army is not able to join us today. We will follow up with them and hopefully have them on to talk with us next month. the October 21st City Council meeting where City Manager Sam Sanders presented his recommendations to City Council on, I think it's community safety, homeless interventions, and quality of life improvements on the downtown mall. If you're interested, I encourage you to take a look at that and to continue to support these efforts in our community. Thank you so much for joining us here today on the Downtown Spotlight. We look forward to seeing you again in December.

And please come out to support all of these great events. Thanks. Thank you.