Comedians tickle Culpeper’s funnybone

Rhonda Simmons
Published: February 29, 2008

Following his recent success in the entertainment industry, a Culpeper native used humor to help increase awareness for a good cause.

About 65 people enjoyed a night full of laughter during the Alex Scott Culpeper Youth Basketball Fundraiser Comedy Show Friday at Club XS.

The 35-year-old comedian invited three urban comics to perform for charity as he hosted the show.

So far, the event raised about $325 for the youth organization.
"I'm happy because a lot of people came from surrounding areas," Scott said, Monday afternoon in a telephone interview.

"It was nice for the club and plus it was a nice event. And hopefully, it also gave the club a new and positive image."

"I definitely want to do it again," said Scott. "I'm all about doing things local and giving back to the community that I grew up in."

As a child, Scott played youth basketball, football and baseball in Culpeper. These days, you can find him cheering on his nephews who play sports in Culpeper.

But that's not the only chance you'll get to see him.
On March 9, viewers can catch Scott on the tube on his six-minute set during HBO's Def Comedy Jam. This summer, he'll also be in the romantic comedy, "Misunderstandings," which was filmed in the D.C. area.

During the two-hour show last Friday, Scott also performed between each set as he danced toward the stage to the hip hop tunes produced by the club's deejay.

After 90 minutes, he introduced headliner and D.C. comic Huggy Low Down, who began his act with one of his signature lines.

"What's the deal pickle, is everything kosher-" said Huggy, causing the audience to burst into laughter after hearing the funnyman recite that line on the Donnie Simpson Morning Show for the last few years. These days, listeners can hear Huggy on The Tom Joyner Morning Show.

"My manager spares no expense," he said, referring to a recent trip to North Carolina. "He flew me down on Value Jet. It was $40 round trip. They had us sitting in lawn chairs with duct tape wrapped around us as seatbelts."

He joked that his "flight" from D.C. to the Tar Heel state took 17 hours.

"The plane never left the ground, we drove all the way down there," he said, at the beginning of his 40-minute set. "We stopped at red lights and picked up people at the bus stops."

"But I'm glad I'm here in Culpeper, my career is on the rise," he said mocking the rural setting. "I'm scared of the police down here. They should call this Culpeper-spray."

He even made fun of the club's name. Before it was called Club XS, it was dubbed Jimmy's and then JAMS after that.

During his set, Huggy asked the crowd why the club is called, "XS," to which they replied, "It's stands for extra small."

"No (kidding)," he teased, referring to the club's tiny space.
"But it should stand for extra sharp turn, I almost missed it," he joked, about the club's slightly hidden location off of Brandy Road.

During his performance, Huggy made light of the way people reacted to the D.C. snipers, rising gas prices and examples of gangster activity.

"Gangster can mean anything crazy like pumping gas with a lit cigarette," he said. "And being a substitute teacher in D.C. public schools, if they beat the teachers up, you know what they'll do to the substitutes."

Huggy - sporting a snug black leather jacket with a "YouZa Bamma" T-shirt, jeans, sneakers and a fedora - spent a good amount of time poking fun at the security guard donning a flannel shirt.

"You got to be gangster to wear that," joked the mysterious comedian who wore large red-rimmed glasses and requested that the audience not take any photos of him in order to keep his mystique.

Making fun of the Pep
At the beginning of the show, Scott wasted no time poking fun at the local media.

"Give it up for the Star-Exponent, they're the ones that put y'all in there when y'all get caught stealing," Scott joked. "No matter where I am, in L.A. or New York, I go online to the Culpeper Star-Exponent to see who got locked up."

Scott - a 1991 Culpeper County High School graduate - also talked about how the town he grew up in has changed since he left.

He asked the crowd if it recalled the "Old Culpeper," referring to the 1980s when downtown was dubbed an undesirable place to visit let alone open a business.

"Remember in front of The Depot, you wouldn't even stop at the stop sign," Scott joked, about the area previously known for its crime. "You would just keep on riding like there was a yield sign down there."

Then, Scott reminisced about playing games at the local arcade where the police would catch up with folks who reportedly committed some sort of crime.

"The Star-Exponent would be right there, what's his name, what's his name," he joked.

After playfully mocking the Star-Exponent, Scott introduced the first comedian.

Richmond comic CJ Richardson, who has never visited Culpeper until Friday, chose to do some online research about the tight-knit town before cracking jokes about it.

"Out of all the cops y'all got in this town, I've seen them all tonight," Richardson said. "Except for that one that one that was having sex with that teenage girl in that car, I read up on y'all."

Richardson also poked fun at the school system by saying he wanted to apply for a bus driver position.

"What's the worst thing that can happen," he said, referring to the recent news about two Culpeper County school buses flipping less than three weeks apart.

That's when he asked parents in the audience if they still let their children ride the school buses.

After a few responded with a "yes," Richardson raised his eyebrows and said, "Really."

Prior to the show and between each set, hip hop music blared through several speakers as Scott approached the stage.

Reston comedian Big Doug followed Richardson and he kept the theme of making fun of Culpeper and the club's décor - or lack thereof.

"Take down the Christmas (stuff) down," he said, of the silver and red garland lining the wood panel stage. "It's February."

Rhonda Simmons can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 125 or .