Who the fu(ck)nny are the Have-Nots? According to their co-founder, Jay Mays, "we are, without a doubt, the funniest comics you've never heard of before."
The comedy group was founded in May 2010, when Mays and fellow local comedian Dominic Perenzin met during a gig at Sweat Record's monthly stand-up night Casa De Ha-Ha. This small society of 305 stooges, which includes Scot Lenter, Raul Salazar, and well-known local comedienne Jessica Gross, will kick off the South Beach Comedy Festival this Thursday with an event at Buck15.
Mays explains, "There's so much talent down here but the venues are so
scattered. With the Have-Nots we're creating a family where all these
comics can come, do their comedy, and grow on their way up. We're
grooming and creating quality shows and giving all the less known
talents a way to get on stage and say that Miami, along with New York,
San Francisco, Denver, and L.A., is a great city for comedy. We're not on TV yet, we're not household names, and we're not going to
sell out shows based on our names alone. We're less than famous." But
they're hilarious.
Don't believe us? Check out The Have-Nots picks of
the litter at 7 p.m., February 24h at Buck 15 for their The South Beach Comedy Festival Local All-Stars
kick-off event. The lineup will include Lisa Corrao, Wendi Starling,
Johnny Trabs, Gene Harding, Dave Williamson, and host Jessica Gross.
The Have-Nots also have a show at National Lampoons Underground in Fort Lauderdale every Thursday, a monthly stint at Champions Sports Bar, and beginning March 11th, they will perform at Buck 15
every Friday night.
Hold
up. Never heard of any of these cats? Well, they're straight up
animals! So much so that we got Mays to sum up each comedian's
personality (and act) as an exotic beast. Here are each Have-Not comic's zoological
stereotype and quick snipits of their style:
Dropping from the crotch that was the FIU-based improv group, Impromedy, Trabs is one part of the local sketch comedy duo "A Pair of Nuts" which you may have seen on Comedy Central, VH1, Last Call with Carson Daly, Discovery Channel, BET, MegaTV's Emmy-winning "El Vacilon," or on their own web series called "The Nuthouse." "He's the shorter, rounder more loveable member of A Pair of Nuts," says Mays. "He's got great charisma."
Get a sample of his style:
"Because she's so rare," Mays explains after comparing her to the endangered species. You may have heard Corrao, a 5'3 ex-middle school teacher, on her comedy talk radio show "The Jerk Show" or seen her featured in commercials for Festival Flea Market. She's worked with the likes of Doug Benson, Jim Brewer, Titus, and Sinbad.
Get a sample of her style:
"She'd definitely be an aggressive bird because she's only been doing this for less than two years and is arguably going to rise the quickest," claims Mays. "She's a tough chick with short blonde hair and you can see her just spitting a loogie on the sidewalk and yelling at people." Winner of South Beach Comedy Festival's "Best New Comedian Contest" last year, Mays describes Starling's style as "very edgy but still loveable because of her self-deprecating sense of humor."
Get a sample of her style:
"He's flashy, popular, a good dresser, and a lady's man," says Mays of Harding. "He does monthly shows at the Improv and sells them out. Not to mention he played an African hustler on Burn Notice."
Get a sample of his style:
No, not because he's fat (he's not). But in Mays thinking "He'd be a majestic water mammal or some sort...bottle nose dolphin? No! A Killer whale! He's all-American. He's pulling funny from everyday life. His voice is trying to find balance between comedy, family, and his passions." Not to mention this comic opened for Jennifer Coolidge a couple of weeks back and had the club cracking up from his kids getting drunk on a bounce house bit.
Get a sample of his style:
"Because she's very tall," Mays laughs while describing the comic who's almost 6 feet tall. "No one's more natural and better on stage than her. She's magnetic, easy going, and being a host is the most difficult job because you have to set the tone and personality of the show. The audience is judging the show based on that host, like 'this is going to be a great 90 minutes' or 'dur, oh no, I made a mistake, we got to get out of here' and Jessica will make them stick around." Already a New Times' darling Gross is pretty well known around town. Check out some of her goods:
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