Full Description
Born and raised on the south side of Chicago, comedian-turned-actor DeRay Davis can most recently be "scene" and heard in the blockbuster mega hit 21 Jump Street, Jumping the Broom and his wildly successful Showtime 1 hour Comedy Special, DeRay Davis: Power Play. He lends his voice and writing talent to countless characters on Kanye Wests Albums the BoonDocks and currently on Adult Swims Black Dynamite! DeRay, developed and honed a hip, sardonic, streetwise mentality at an early age and parlayed it smoothly and efficiently into the comedy-club circuit. Davis achieved his career breakthrough at the Laffapalooza Festival in Atlanta, GA, then scored a triple whammy by winning the Comedy Central Laugh Riots Competition and landing covetable spots in the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival and the Cedric the Entertainer Festival. Throughout, the comic wove vulgar and droll, yet also telling and deeply personal, routines around the subjects of race, poverty, and his challenging experiences growing up in the Windy City projects with a dysfunctional African-American family. The transition from behind-the-mike spots to movie roles represented a relatively short jump, for most of Davis' early film assignments emphasized the same subject matter as his routines. He played the "Hustle Guy" in Barbershop (2002) and its sequel, Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004), rapper Mario "Fa Real" Greene in the Martin Short comedy Jiminy Glick in La La Wood (2004), and a Jamaican stoner in Johnson Family Vacation (2004). Davis expanded his genre focus with roles in Rupert Wainwright's supernatural horror outing The Fog (2005), and Todd Phillips' comedy remake School for Scoundrels (2006). Subsequent feature assignments include License to Wed (2007), Semi-Pro (2008, as basketball player Bee Bee Ellis), Imagine That (2009), Life As We Know it and Old Dogs. Davis also appeared on television series including Entourage, Reno 911!, and televised comedy revues such as Comedy Central's Premium Blend and was a Standout MVP on Shaq's All Star Comedy Jam Tour. He is now making the rounds on the tour circuit preparing for his next 1 hour comedy special, Home, Street Home: The Hood Hero Returns, Premium Blend and was a Standout MVP on Shaq's All Star Comedy Jam Tour and is now making the rounds on the tour circuit preparing for his next 1 hour comedy special, Home, Street Home: The Hood Hero Returns.Other Events
The Red Room at Cap City: Ian Fidance
at Capitol City Comedy ClubIan Fidance is an offbeat yet upbeat New York City comic, actor, and writer originally from Wilmington, Delaware. An absolute force on stage, his act is insanely positive and positively insane. Equal parts thoughtful, explicit, and silly, he can be seen performing nightly at the iconic Comedy Cellar in the heart of New York City’s Greenwich Village, and his wildly popular podcast “Bein’ Ian with Jordan” is available on all platforms. Fidance has been featured on NPR’s “This American Life” and is a popular guest on podcasts and radio shows alike. He co-starred in multiple sketches on the latest season of the “Gilly and Keeves” sketch show, “The Last OG” with Tracy Morgan, and was featured on “This Week at the Comedy Cellar” on Comedy Central. A true honor, he was a contributing writer on the most recent season of Crank Yankers on Comedy Central, and did punch up work on Michelle Obama’s children’s cooking show “Waffles + Mochi” on Netflix. His work has been published alongside Jerry Seinfeld, Bob Odenkirk, Ray Ramano, and Maria Bamford in a book of poems entitled “Eating Salad Drunk: Haiku’s for the Burnout Age by Comedy Greats” available now through Macmillan Publishers. He currently resides in Brooklyn.
Special Event: Jay Pharoah
at Capitol City Comedy ClubJay Pharoah is an actor and stand-up comedian. With six seasons as a cast member of NBC's “Saturday Night Live,” Pharoah is best known for his wide array of uncanny celebrity impressions, including President Barack Obama, Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Stephen A. Smith, Kanye West and Chris Tucker, as well as his recurring character of school principal Daniel Frye. Picked up to series by Showtime early this year, Pharoah stars in the new half-hour comedy White Famous, executive produced by Jamie Foxx and Tom Kapinos (Californication). Between headlining comedy clubs around the country and shooting his new series, Pharoah co-hosted the 2016 American Music Awards with supermodel Gigi Hadid in November. In 2015, Pharoah and First Lady Michelle Obama teamed up at the White House to create a viral rap video, “Go to College,” promoting the value of higher education. Later that year, he debuted his first stand-up comedy special, “Jay Pharoah: Can I Be Me?”, on Showtime. His past feature film credits include Get a Job with Bryan Cranston and Miles Teller, Ride Along with Kevin Hart and Ice Cube and Top Five with Chris Rock, among others. Pharoah developed his comedy skills at a young age, training in local comedy clubs. He went on to tour in the U.K., U.S. and Montreal. He has released a series of music videos through Above Average including "Bad Kisser," a parody on Usher's "Good Kisser," and "Problems." Pharoah's previous Kanye West parody, "I Am a Dog," became an instant viral video reaching over a million views within the first week.
The Red Room at Cap City: Ian Fidance
at Capitol City Comedy ClubIan Fidance is an offbeat yet upbeat New York City comic, actor, and writer originally from Wilmington, Delaware. An absolute force on stage, his act is insanely positive and positively insane. Equal parts thoughtful, explicit, and silly, he can be seen performing nightly at the iconic Comedy Cellar in the heart of New York City’s Greenwich Village, and his wildly popular podcast “Bein’ Ian with Jordan” is available on all platforms. Fidance has been featured on NPR’s “This American Life” and is a popular guest on podcasts and radio shows alike. He co-starred in multiple sketches on the latest season of the “Gilly and Keeves” sketch show, “The Last OG” with Tracy Morgan, and was featured on “This Week at the Comedy Cellar” on Comedy Central. A true honor, he was a contributing writer on the most recent season of Crank Yankers on Comedy Central, and did punch up work on Michelle Obama’s children’s cooking show “Waffles + Mochi” on Netflix. His work has been published alongside Jerry Seinfeld, Bob Odenkirk, Ray Ramano, and Maria Bamford in a book of poems entitled “Eating Salad Drunk: Haiku’s for the Burnout Age by Comedy Greats” available now through Macmillan Publishers. He currently resides in Brooklyn.
