Stand-up comedian veteran Steve Byrne (writer/director of The Opening Act, Sullivan & Son, multiple hour specials) comes to you each week from Nashville’s historic Zanies Comedy Club with a rotating panel of stand-up comedians and entertainers as they watch stand-up comedy clips together, rate them and crown a winner. The clips spur on a vast array of conversations but most importantly, lots of laughs. Tune in each week to see who will join Steve and who will win Comedy Pinata!
In this week’s episode, Steve is back at the historic Zanies in Nashville to break down stand-up from Theo Von, Nate Bargatze, Collin Chamberlin all with his good buddy Gary Cannon.
Steve Byrne: Steve Byrne has risen through the ranks of the comedy world to become one of the industry’s most innovative and sought-after performers. He has evolved throughout the years into an extremely versatile entertainer that delivers on a day-to-day basis. Hailing from Pittsburgh, PA, Steve Byrne was born to a Korean mother and an Irish father. His unique background gave him the base comedic material for his first television show, Sullivan & Son, which aired for 3 seasons on TBS. Byrne just released his first documentary film he directed “Always Amazing” about comedian/magician The Amazing Johnathan on the Bill Burr’s All Things Comedy channel on Youtube. In 2020, he will release a feature film he wrote and directed “The Opening Act” about his early years in stand up. As with “Sullivan & Son”, it’s being produced by Vince Vaughn. Steve released his fourth hour stand up special entitled “Tell the Damn Joke” in early 2017. He previously released his third comedy special, Champion, on Netflix in May 2014. His popular podcast, The Gentlemen’s Dojo, premiered in late Aug. 2015 on All Things Comedy and was a passion project for Steve along with his co-host, Gary Cannon. A true international comedian, Byrne has performed to sold-out crowds around the world. He has been a featured comic at the Just for Laughs Festival (in Montreal, Toronto and Chicago), HBO’s US Comedy Arts Festival in Las Vegas and the CanWest Comedy Fest in Vancouver. He has been part of several national comedy tours including The Jameson Comedy Tour, Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Tour, The Kims of Comedy, The Camel Cigarettes Sin City Tour, and his own national Myspace Comedy tour. Byrne even had the honor of opening for popular musical acts such as Kanye West, Mariah Carey, Modest Mouse, Puddle of Mudd, Spoon, Rev. Horton Heat and many more. As a big supporter of the US troops, Steve also headlined several USO tours in Afghanistan, Iraq, Japan and Guam. Byrne has appeared in the hit comedies The Dilemma, Couples Retreat, Four Christmases and The Goods: The Don Ready Story. His 2006 documentary, 13 or Bust (available on youtube), chronicles the attempt to perform 13 comedy shows in Manhattan in one night. He’s currently preparing his fifth hour special for 2020. Steve now calls Los Angeles home, woking his nights off the road at iconic Hollywood clubs, The Comedy Store and The Improv. Byrne’s lack of ego and outstanding work ethic has helped him become one of today’s most respected comedians.
Gary Cannon: Gary Cannon’s mom knew her son had comedic talent when, at the young age of five, Gary had a very bad cold. At the time, his mom was out of kleenex and offered her son toilet paper instead. Gary quickly replied, “I need to blow my nose not wipe my ass.” After getting the @#$% beaten out of him, and a timeout, his comedy career began.
Gary began making people laugh in San Francisco but soon moved to LA. After a short time in LA things started happening. He was soon working at all the Southern California Improv clubs, was a regular host at the Hollywood Improv, consistently emceeing shows with some of the biggest names in comedy.
His amazing crowd skills, high energy and ability to jump start an audience enabled Gary to transition his skills to a television warm up comic. Anyone visiting LA and seeing a show tape in front of an audience has probably met Gary. He sets the tone before and during the show creating a fun atmosphere and making audiences enjoy their time especially when many shows can often take hours to tape.
