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Audiences can’t seem to get enough of Rip City, the Saturday Night Live-inspired sketch comedy show which is selling out faster with each announcement. The longest-running improv show in town at Theatre 99 continues to be a reliable source of joy for locals and tourists alike, with more students than ever enrolling in its improv training program. Stand-up comedians, once frustrated by the lack of shows around town, have curated their own events, and now, there’s a local comedy show to attend most nights.

Charleston comedians agree that the comedy scene here tends to ebb and flow, but right now, it’s having an undeniably exciting moment.

Curated by comedy duo Nameless Numberhead, aka Henry Riggs and Maari Suorsa, the Rip City comedy shows are different each time, with hilarious group sketches, wacky video shorts, performance art and more. After a three-year hiatus from live performances, Rip City made its return to the stage last November.

Husband and wife team Riggs and Suorsa bring Rip City to various venues about once a month including Hed Hi Studio, LO-Fi Brewing and Silver Hill Studios, where they’ll perform May 27.

Every couple of months, Rip City also presents a special show, most recently Rip City on a Boat. Riggs and Suorsa revealed they’ll take over the Terrace Theater in August with Rip City at the Movies, a collection of short live sketches, screenings of music videos and more.

There’s a core cast of performers, including Lindsay Collins, Camille Lowman, Andy Livengood and others, plus special guests like local musicians who want to try out their silly side on the Rip City stage or a sketch group looking to perform. Riggs and Suorsa make sure to let their audience know at the end of each show that they’re always welcoming new talent and open to hearing pitches for performances.

“The people I want to be on stage are the people who feel drawn to do it,” Suorsa said. “We think everybody has a funny sense to them, and we’re truly trying to break down those barriers of entry. You don’t have to label yourself as a comedian, but you can participate in something that’s fun and maybe not something that you normally do. … It pushes artists to think more openly about their mediums.”

Recent graduates of the Charleston of Charleston (CofC) comedy club made their live sketch debuts at Rip City on a Boat, Riggs and Suorsa said. They’re working with the CofC comedy club to create a pathway for new performers to get their sea legs.

“A bunch of new sketch groups have been forming,” Riggs said. “It’s a cool time for sketch comedy right now.”

Riggs, a Charleston native, theorizes this is in part due to a change of attitude towards local art post-pandemic.

“The mentality is shifting,” he said. “Instead of being maybe jealous or wanting bigger markets, like New York, Chicago, other cities, there is this new sense of gratitude towards what we do have, I think because we got it taken away for three years.

“In the ‘before times,’ Rip City was super underground,” he said. “It felt like nobody knew about it; we were frustrated that we couldn’t share our joy for it. We changed our mentality coming into it this time around where we just want to show people that we really like to do this. And we’re getting that feedback from people. They can see that we have a blast.”

Besides making their shows funnier and more strange each time, Riggs and Suorsa said their goal is to eventually open a permanent space which will have classes, performances and more.

“We want to create a space in Charleston for this weirder side of variety and comedy where mediums blend together,” Riggs said. “Where studio artists meet musicians, meet comedians, meet actors, meet dancers, and it’s this space for local creatives to share and collaborate and enjoy each other’s work.”

Theatre 99, space to learn and love improv

Local legends Brandy Sullivan and Greg Tavares are the artistic directors of Charleston’s longest running improv theater, Theatre 99 located above the Bicycle Shoppe on Meeting Street. They’ve performed together as The Have Nots since 1995 and opened Theatre 99 in 2001 with Timmy Finch.

This hotspot allows locals and visitors to enjoy short- and long-form improv using audience suggestions to create scenes on the spot with a talented crew of improvisers.

The performances start with a show of hands, ‘who’s been here before?’ and usually, it’s about half and half. Sullivan said people who’ve been to the show often come back and introduce friends and family to Theatre 99.

Tavares added, “You can bring your 80-year-old grandma, and she’s gonna love it.

“What’s amazing is that over time we’ve built an improv comedy theater for regular people to go see live comedy, instead of seeing a comedy movie that night,” Tavares said. “We’ve created this one little place in America perhaps, where going to an improv comedy show is as normal as going to the movies. And that’s not the way this industry typically works — improv lives in the back alley or it’s like an alternative thing.”

During the pandemic, Sullivan and Tavares worked hard to keep the theater afloat and said pushing through the “dark times” has further solidified their passion. They’re focusing on in-house programming post-pandemic with three shows a week.

“Night in and night out, we focus on getting our wonderful local homegrown performers on our stage. And Brandy and I are 99% of the time up there, too,” Tavares said.

Sullivan said many local comics have taken improv classes at Theater 99, and more students are signing up now than ever before.

“We’ve always had a strong training program,” Sullivan said. “I don’t know if it’s a post-pandemic thing, but people are right now really, really interested in taking it. We’re up to eight faculty members now because of the demand for classes.”

Sullivan and Tavares even teach their improv skills to people in other fields — recently they taught improv to the hotel staff at The Vendue to promote skills in quick thinking and entertainment.

The pair has witnessed nearly 30 years of ebbs and flows of comedy in Charleston, but Tavares said it feels like a golden era right now.

“It’s blossoming into its next phase I’d say, because there’s stuff going on at different places all over town, and that just has not always been the case. For the first time in all the time we’ve been here, there are so many more people doing it,” Tavares said. “I’m super curious to see how that will invigorate, innovate, bring new energy and new ideas to improvisation in Charleston.”

Stand-up comedians curate shows around town

Another comedy discipline is on the rise in Charleston: stand-up. The only full-time stand-up comedy venue in town The Sparrow in Park Circle offers comedy about three times a week. The shows have been curated by North Charleston-based comedian Josh Bates since 2020.

“We have been doing comedy three to four nights a week for almost three years now, and it was kind of a best-kept secret for a while,” Bates said. “Now it’s getting a lot more attention. At least once a month we have someone perform who’s a regular at the Comedy Cellar in New York. Our performers range from really top-notch touring talent and our local talent to people doing a paid show for the very first time.

“You know, five, six years ago when I was getting into comedy, we didn’t have a proper comedy club,” he said. “And now we do.”

Bates invites local comics on the stage at The Sparrow. Some of them get the itch to follow his example and produce their own comedy shows.

One of those comics is Hagan Ragland, a stand-up comedian with 10 years of experience under his belt. In October he started hosting Hagan’s Big Fat Comedy Show at the Lucky Luchador on Hanover Street. He started out with booking purely local comics, and now seven shows later is also booking touring comedians from surrounding cities. He said he hopes to bring his “big fat comedy show” to other venues in the future.

“I like doing the dirty, late-night, raucous crowd stuff,” Ragland said. “And they’ve been just more and more packed each time. I’m just trying to focus on bringing more stand-up comedy to different venues in downtown Charleston.”

Charleston City Paper’s 2023 Best Comedian, Laura Dixon said though comedy can be a male-dominated scene, Charleston’s comedy crew has no shortage of talented women. She shouted out Robin Phoenix, Erin Lok, Mona Bender, Paige Laidlaw and Shawna Jarret, the host of Tin Roof’s open mics, as some of her favorites.

“The best part of being a woman in this scene is definitely the camaraderie,” Dixon said. “We’re all friends. We build each other up. We all support one another.”

Catch a comedy show in Charleston this month

Jokes at Blokes hosted by Erin Lok May 12 at Two Blokes Brewing.Mount Pleasant.

North Charleston Performing Arts Center and Coliseum hosts Chucktown Comedy Week May 17-21. Touring comedians include Nate Bargatze,Tim Dillion, Druski, Shane Gillis,Big Jay Oakerson and Nick Millen.

Hagan’s Big Fat Comedy Show at the Lucky Luchador. May 18. Downtown.

The Sparrow hosts Joseph Cokerand Company May 18, Dedrick FlynnMay 20, and Andie Main on May 27. North Charleston.

Theatre 99’s founding improv group The Have Nots will perform May 27. Downtown.

Rip City Chs at Silver Hill Studio May 27. Downtown.

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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Over 900 graduates crossed the stage in two separate ceremonies at the College of Charleston on May 13.

According to a press release, students from the School of Business, School of Education, and School of Health Science received their degrees during the morning ceremony. Students from the Graduate School of the University of Charleston, School of the Arts, and School of Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering received their degrees during the ceremony in the afternoon.

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"Your experiences these past years have been very different from those of your family members and loved ones," College of Charleston President Andrew Hsu said at the ceremony. "The pandemic, current tensions, both domestic and international, as well as the dawn of artificial intelligence give you a preview of what may come in the future. Times are changing more quickly than ever, and you are showing yourselves capable of changing with them."

Will Ward, a 1993 graduate of the College of Charleston and the founder and CEO of the Los Angeles-based development firm Forward Ventures, gave the commencement speech at the morning ceremony, according to the press release.

"Go out in the world and make your mark," Ward said at the ceremony. "You are inheriting a pretty complex world and country now and it's your job to make it a better place. Bring people together. Have compassion. Live your life with integrity. And always know that the only thing that can hold you back is you."

Read more: MBA and MPA programs at CofC recognized by USNWR

According to the press release, Todd McNerney, the associate dean of the School of the Arts and professor of performance in the Department of Theater and Dance, spoke during the afternoon ceremony.

"Over these last few years, you have met the challenges of your professors and the challenges of their classes," McNerney said at the ceremony. "You have experienced a once-in-a-hundred-year pandemic and you have undoubtedly faced numerous trials and tribulations specific to your own life circumstances, all of which have allowed you to arrive at this moment."

The press release says the afternoon session also featured the first systems engineering majors at the College of Charleston participating in a commencement ceremony.

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Charleston Southern baseball snapped their four-game losing streak on Saturday, cruising to a 10-2 win over the USC Upstate Spartans at Nielson Field on Senior Day.

Offensively, the Bucs (21-25, 12-11 in conference) got it done with the long ball, as hit four home runs on the afternoon. Pitching was also outstanding throughout the day, as Sam Massey and Evan Truitt combined to strike out seven batters and allow seven hits.

Charleston Southern got on the board first in the opening inning. The first three men reached on infield singles, and Kieran Davis walked to give the Bucs a 1-0 lead. That would be all though, as the next three Buccaneer hitters were retired via the strike out.

USC Upstate (33-18, 18-5 in conference) tied the game in the top of the second inning with a solo home run off of Massey, who lasted 4.0+ innings, allowing just the one run on four hits, one walk and three strikeouts.

It was tied at one until the bottom of the fourth inning. Connor Aldrich reached on what would be the fifth infield single of the afternoon for the Bucs. Then, with two strikes, Tyrell Brewer celebrated his Senior Day with his first home run of the season to give the Bucs a 3-1 lead. Brewer was 2 for 4 on the day with two RBI.

The score remained the same until the bottom of the seventh inning, when the Bucs bats came to life. Back-to-back home runs from Davis and James Jett that went over the left field scoreboard gave the Bucs a 5-1 lead.

The Bucs were not done yet, as eight men came to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning, leading to five runs. Nicholas Fazzari and Ike George both singled to start the inning. Then, back-to-back walks brought in the fifth run. Two batters later, Sam Low got in on the Senior-Day fun with his second home run of the year to make it 10-1.

After allowing a solo home run in the top of the ninth inning, Truitt’s final line was 5.0 innings, one run, three hits, zero walks and four strikeouts. He picked up the win to improve to 4-6 on the year.

On Senior Day, six of the ten runs scored came from the upperclassmen. Low finished 3 for 3 with 3 RBI, and Fazarri was 2 for 2 with a run scored and two sacrifice bunts.

On Deck

The rubber game of this three-game series will be on Sunday at 1 p.m. as the Bucs look to finish their 2023 home schedule with a series win over the No. 2 team in the conference. Currently, the Bucs are in fifth place in the Big South standings and are looking to secure a spot in the Big South Tournament.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

ROGERS -- Kelton Moreton did more than just survive in his first appearance on the mound in a state tournament game.

The freshman right-hander pitched into the seventh inning as Charleston defeated Genoa Central 5-3 at Mountie Field in Rogers. The game was moved to Rogers after rain postponed Class 3A first-round games at Lincoln on Thursday.

Moreton was in control of Genoa Central (20-2) until the seventh inning when the Dragons pulled to within 5-3 after singles by Lane Morton and Hayden Teer and a run-scoring groundout from Eli Pierce. But Kolton Pair came on in relief to get the final out on a grounder to shortstop for Charleston.

Moreton received a standing ovation from a group of Charleston fans after he left the mound in the seventh inning and the celebration continued with a bunch of slaps on the back from his teammates as they exited the field.

Not only did Moreton win in his first appearance in a state tournament, he beat the Class 3A-7 Conference champions who lost for only the second time this season.

"He's a ninth-grader and you talk about big-time players, big-time situations, big games, I couldn't be more prouder of him," Charleston Coach Tyler Reese said. "Before the game I told him 'I just want you to go out and compete', and he competed his butt off. I'm incredibly proud of that guy."

Moreton said he was nervous leading up to the game but that he shook off the jitters pretty quickly on the mound.

"I was a little nervous at first but I tried to stay locked in," Moreton said. "After that first inning, I kind of found my rhythm and made some good pitches."

Charleston (13-8) led throughout after talking leads of 1-0 in the first and 3-0 after three innings. The Dragons finally scored on an RBI single by Teer but the Tigers countered with two more runs in the sixth with the help of singles from Trevor Jones and Mason Rudd.

"We didn't have any five- or six-run innings, we just pieced it together," Reese said. "We got one [hit] here, one there, two here and just kind of strung it together for a couple innings with great at-bats. That's a great team [Genoa Central] and I'm just so proud of my kids."

CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston used a three-run sixth inning, two-hit nights from Luke Wood and Cam Dean, and strong pitching from the trio of Ty Good, Aidan Hunter and William Privette for a 4-3 win over top-seeded UNCW Friday night.

Ty Good took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and only allowed two over his six innings of work before Aidan Hunter pitched a scoreless seventh and Privette struck out four over the final two frames.

Luke Wood’s RBI single in the second was the only number on the scoreboard until both teams posted multi-run innings in the sixth. UNCW scored two on the two-out single before Charleston responded with three of their own scoring runs on a bases-loaded walk, Cam Dean single and wild pitch.

Leading Off

Final Score: Charleston 4, UNCW 3

Location: Patriots Point

Records: Charleston (31-17, 16-9 CAA), UNCW (27-19, 16-7 CAA)

How It Happened

Trotter Harlan doubled to lead off the second and came home to score one pitch later on a Luke Wood RBI single past the first baseman.

It would hold at a 1-0 Charleston lead until the sixth when the Seahawks took advantage of a trio of walks and plated two on a single from Bryan Arendt.

The UNCW lead was short-lived as the Cougars drew four-straight walks to start their half of the sixth to tie it back up t 2-2.

Cam Dean laced a ball to left center for an RBI single and 3-2 Charleston lead before a wild pitch scored the final run.

UNCW would get one across in the ninth to make it a one-run game, but Privette struck out the final hitter to nail down his eighth save of the season.

Notes

Ty Good collected his 25th career win at the College of Charleston, passing Christian Powell, Scott Oliver and Bailey Ober for second-most victories in program history.

William Privette tossed the final two innings of the ballgame striking out four and allowing just one hit and one run for his eighth save of the season. Privette also collected his 20th career save moving into a tie with Carter Love for 4th all-time at Charleston.

Charleston collected home win No. 23 and moved to 22-6 on the season when scoring first.

Luke Wood finished the night 2-for-3 with a RBI, walk and run scored for his 16th multi-hit game of the season and pushed his batting average to a team-best .331.

Cam Dean collected his 14th multi-hit game of the season putting the Cougars ahead for good on an RBI knock in the sixth. Dean finished 2-for-3 as well with an RBI and walk.

Cole Mathis and Trotter Harlan walked twice as the Cougars drew eight on the night - four coming consecutively to lead off the three-run sixth.

Five Cougars added to their on-base streak Friday night - Cole Mathis (32), Will Baumhofer (25), Trotter Harlan (22), Tyler Sorrentino (14) and Cam Dean (11).

Friday’s win was the third-straight over UNCW dating back to last season for the Cougars.

Up Next

Charleston and UNCW meet for game two Saturday afternoon from Patriots Point with first pitch set for 2 p.m.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.