On Valentine’s Day in 2019, then active-duty police officer Daryll Triplett stood nervously onstage at the Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre in Marietta to deliver his first hourlong comedy show in front of a live audience.
Triplett knew he was taking a risk. People had told him he was crazy to attempt it.
First, he was a brand-new comic. Before getting coaching from local comedian Josh Harris, he had bombed every stand-up show he ever tried.
“It’ll never work,” he remembers professional comedians saying to him. “You’ll never be able to pull it off.”
“I said, ‘You know what? You might be right, but if I fail, it’s going to be on my own accord and on my own dime. It ain’t going to be from what you say,” said Triplett.
Credit: Mike Williams
Credit: Mike Williams
The second risk: the venue, which sat 500 people.
“I don’t know what in God’s green Earth made me think I could fill up a 500 seat. But it was crazy,” Triplett remembers. “We had about 200.”
Lastly, perhaps the biggest risk of all: Triplett was still an active duty police officer for the Jonesboro Police Department. His comedy set was going to be poking fun at cops. He planned to tell unfiltered stories about his time attending police academy, dating as a police officer and other humor from the front lines of law enforcement.
To top it off, Triplett chose a daring show title: “All Cops Ain’t Bad.”
In 2018 and 2019, there was a string of officer-related incidents that built a narrative that cops are the hotheaded bad guys. Triplett wanted to show people something different: a police officer who could make you laugh. A police officer who didn’t bark orders but cracked jokes.
When he took the stage, he turned to the audience and asked a single question.
“How many weed smokers I got in the house?” he said grinning.
Hands shot up. Smiles crept up faces.
“I’m a police officer,” he deadpanned.
The room howled. The audience’s laughter calmed his nerves. He launched into his hourlong set.
Credit: Mike Williams
Credit: Mike Williams
It was raw. It was blue collar. It contained more curse words than he’d be comfortable with today. It worked.
“There were cops, lawyers, doctors, criminals, non-criminals, just regular people, Black, white — and we were all just in there having a good time,” he said. “You get people laughing together, and all the tension in the room goes down. People start to see each other differently.”
Since that first show, Triplett’s done several under his stage persona Officer Keep it Real. He will perform Friday at Uptown Comedy Corner in Hapeville.
Credit: Mike Williams
Credit: Mike Williams
How a comedy show seeded a nonprofit
The first show not only cemented Triplett’s love of comedy, but it also served as the seed for what would, over the next six years, become a broader nonprofit organization.
All Cops Ain’t Bad encompasses several different initiatives, including community events, youth outreach programs and food drives, all with a common mission: to bridge the divide between cops and community.
The nonprofit’s primary objective this year is to launch a new phone app designed to help active duty police officers assist civilians in moments of crisis.
The way it works: Through the app, on-duty officers can submit verified requests for emergency assistance — such as food, shelter, a ride or medication — for people they encounter on calls. Each request is tied to an official case number, routed through an on-duty supervisor and processed in real time. Ideally, help comes fast no matter the time.
“We don’t want somebody waiting until the next morning, when a grant officer finishes their coffee and logs in,” he said. “That doesn’t help a mother with five kids at three in the morning who has nowhere safe to go.”
Credit: Mike Williams
Credit: Mike Williams
There’s nothing more frustrating, Triplett said, than encountering a citizen on a call that needs small help and not being able to do anything for them.
Triplett has seen firsthand how, when a police officer shows empathy during a moment of crisis, it changes the perception of police officers as merely mean rule enforcers to caring public servants and lifelines.
“The police officer becomes more than a report writer,” Triplett said. “They become a resource.”
David Simon, a board member and chief development officer for All Cops Ain’t Bad, said he has also seen Triplett’s philosophy work.
“I saw how the community treated him based on his interaction with them. It was better.” said Simon. “I also saw his humor break down walls with the toughest of guys. A light bulb went off. … The narrative has to change. This might be a way to do it.”
To raise money for the app and the emergency fund used to service requests through it, All Cops Ain’t Bad has planned several fundraisers. On Sept. 28, the organization will host a black-tie gala called the Guardian’s Ball. But first, staying true to its roots, the organization will host a comedy show Friday.
Six years after his first attempt at an hourlong comedy set, Triplett will do it again. He will take the stage, dressed in a casual police officer uniform, with his sleeves rolled up, to play his stand-up comedy persona Officer Keep it Real. This time, the show will be at the more reasonably-sized Uptown Comedy Club in Hapeville. This time, he will likely be less nervous.
“I’m going to go onstage, and I’m going to keep it real,” he said. “I’m going to tell it like it is.”
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
If you go
Daryll “Officer Keep it Real” Triplett comedy show benefiting All Cops Ain’t Bad. 7:30 p.m. Friday. $25. Uptown Comedy Corner, 1155 Virginia Ave., Hapeville. Book tickets in advance at allcopsaintbad.org/comedy.
Guardian’s Ball benefitting All Cops Ain’t Bad. 7-11 p.m. Sept. 28. Tickets start at $250. 200 Peachtree St. NW, Suite 206, Atlanta. allcopsaintbad.org/the-guardians-ball.
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