Pandemic inspires, short circuits outdoor stand-up comedy at Ponce City Market

An effort to provide outdoor stand-up comedy shows at Ponce City Market has been placed on hold after just two weekends.

Marshall Chiles, who owns the currently shuttered Midtown comedy club Laughing Skull Lounge, hosted a handful of shows outside on the lawn of Ponce City Market off North Avenue the weekends of July 3 and July 9. But with the surge of COVID-19 cases in Atlanta, he decided to drop the shows for now.

There were also noise complaints from residents across the street and at the Flats at Ponce City Market Apartments, he said. During last Saturday night’s show, Ponce City Market security forced Chiles’ staff to turn off the microphone partway through the show.

“We all got collectively ‘Karen’-ed!” joked Damian Turner during the show. He had to speak loudly so the audience could hear, but he didn’t mind. “I’m already louder than the P.A. system!”

In an interview after his set, Turner said he enjoyed the challenge: “I get to scream at people, and they have to take it!”

While Chiles is taking a break, sketch comedy shows hosted by RoleCall Theater, with Mighty Shorts, are still scheduled for this weekend at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, at Ponce City Market. Tickets are $10 apiece.

Stephen Beehler, creator of RoleCall Theater, which opened in February, said they are moving to a different part of the lawn at Ponce City Market in hopes that sound issues won’t be a problem there. He said he may eventually provide attendees with sanitized earphones as another way to mitigate sound problems.

“We want people to laugh a little while being safe and respectful to our neighbors,” Beehler said. “These outdoor shows are new for everyone. We’ll get through the growing pains and have a solid series the rest of the summer and maybe into the fall.”

The Ponce City Market outdoor comedy show crowd on July 11, 2020, socially distanced.

For Chiles’ shows, ten comics each did eight minutes of comedy last Saturday night. They aren’t getting paid. It was just a way to get some stage time after months of no stage time and maybe some Zoom shows.

“I’m grateful to make people laugh,” said Minori Hinds, who has done stand up for eight years. “I’ll even do it with no P.A. It was bizarre. I really had to go on and act overconfident.”

She said doing these shows are like being in a desert and grabbing whatever water is available. “I don’t care if it’s not clear and has stuff in it,” she said. “I’m drinking it.”

Katie Hughes, who has been doing stand up for 12 years, said she actually prefers Zoom shows and the experimentation that has necessitated over this situation.

Hughes was able to test out COVID-related material, noting that she has been using telemedicine. The doctor asked her, “How much marijuana do you smoke?” “I said, ‘Why is that your first question?‘” He said: “It wasn’t.”

“I turned off my computer,” she said.

The list of comics who performed on Saturday, July 11, 2020 at Ponce City Market.

Chiles said he didn’t really make any money from the shows but simply wanted to keep stand-up comedy alive. He invested $10,000 to buy equipment to create a make-shift stage.

“It was the best we could do, making something out of nothing,” he said.

He said all the shows — which are beholden to weather— sold out, fitting socially distanced 70 people in a space that could fit 200 under normal circumstances.

Some local comedy clubs with more space have reopened, including Uptown Comedy Corner in Hapeville and Atlanta Comedy Theatre in Norcross. But Laughing Skull, Chiles said, is too small. Even before the pandemic, the place could fit 80 people tops. Right now, he wouldn’t feel comfortable using the tiny space now even with just 30 people.

“I just miss that space,” Chiles said. “The reason it did so well is we put our heart and soul into it. I’ve cried a few times not being able to go in there.”

Laughing Skull is a popular spot for big-name comics such as Jeff Foxworthy and Kevin Hart to test new material.