By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Friday, December 11, 2015
A year ago, part-time Atlantan and legendary stand-up comic George Wallace did six shows at the Punchline. Soon after, the club closed its original location in Sandy Springs.
On Saturday, December 26, he will be hosting two shows at the Atlanta Improv in Buckhead. (Buy tickets here.) Six days later, the club will shut down since the landlord bought out the lease.
No. Wallace is not a bad-luck charm. It was just strange timing. Until last year, he graced the stage of his own 750-seat showroom at the Flamingo in Las Vegas for a decade and was dubbed "the New Mr. Las Vegas."
For him, the Atlanta Improv had an open date and he found the location convenient: "It's two blocks from my house! Why not? I made it ugly sweater night!"
He likes to do local jokes so expect the stumbling Atlanta Falcons to get some razzing: "When the Falcons move to their new Mercedes Benz stadium in 2017, it will be like Chick Fil A. Both will be closed Sunday!"
And he can see the Macy's Christmas tree on top of Lenox Square Mall from his condo and isn't impressed. "The tree at my house is the same size as that tree! What kids put that up? It should be huge!'
The 63-year old Atlanta native last year chose to leave Vegas and make more TV and film appearances to help generate a younger following."If I stayed in Vegas, I'd miss a whole new generation," he said. "I need to reinvent my brand."
Over the past year, he's appeared on Comedy Central's "Drunk History," IFC's "Gigi Does It," the Disney Channel's "K.C. Undercover" and TV Land's "The Soul Man." He shot an historical film set during the Jim Crow era called "Jerico."
He is also now traveling like mad, zipping this month from Barcelona, Spain to New York to his primary home in Vegas to Anchorage, Ala. He has done 170-plus shows this year. Friends tell him at his age, he needs to slow down. "I don't know how to take it easy!" Wallace said. "I want to do more! More TV! More movies!"
Wallace hopes to do the much larger Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre perhaps in 2016.
With all the fear and terrorism in the headlines, "comedy is healing. Comedy is good for the soul. We comedians should pick the president. We're professional bull***tters. With a guy like Donald Trump, we know another bull***tter. He wants to build a wall against the Mexicans. And they're building tunnels! We should build a wall around Trump and have Mexico pay for it!"
And even if Trump wins the Republican nomination, he believes Hillary Clinton will "kick his butt. She's the most qualified. And even if she lies, who cares? They're all liars!"
He isn't impressed with Ben Carson either: "I don't trust anyone who talks with their eyes closed."
And while his politics are not compatible with that of 2012 presidential candidate Herman Cain, they are friends. He even plans to join Cain on his radio show, heard mid-mornings locally on News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB, on December 23. "We like each other even if he goes the wrong direction!" he said.
As close buddies to Jerry Seinfeld, he approved of Seinfeld doing a residency at the Beacon Theatre starting next year. "He lives down the street," Wallace said. "It's 2,500 seats. People will come to New York and see him." Plus, he isn't impressed by Seinfeld's workload. "It's once a month. I did five shows a week for 10 years!"
COMEDY PREVIEW
George Wallace
6:30 p.m, 9 p.m. Saturday, December 26
$35-$45
Atlanta Improv Comedy Club & Dinner Theatre
56 E Andrews Dr NW Atlanta
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