Tracker Pixel for Entry

Lyon up for comedy at the Aquarium

Humor | January 31st, 2018

Grant LyonFargo has its share of people who are passionate about stand-up comedy, even if the success of clubs devoted to it has been mixed. Despite the fact we have seen places like Courtney’s Comedy Club and Level 2 Comedy Club close their doors, our comedy scene keeps going. And that, among other reasons, is why people like LA-based comedian Grant Lyon keep returning to our frozen little corner of the U.S.

“I like Fargo,” said Lyon, who will be headlining a show at the Aquarium. “It’s a cool, hip town nobody knows about. It has great craft breweries and cool restaurants. Fargo is the most underrated city in the U.S.” He has come out from sunny Los Angeles to Fargo several times, such as to the aforementioned Courtney’s Comedy Club about four years ago as well as Level 2 and the Fargo Brewing Company (which thankfully has not closed, because Fargo loves their beer).

In February he will be returning to Fargo to perform at The Aquarium, with local favorites Mitch Reierson and Jan Syverson opening for him. In fact, it was Reierson who Lyon got to know on one of his previous escapades to Fargo, and whom he reached out to in order to set up this upcoming show.

“I really like supporting local scenes,” said Lyon, and though he lives and performs often in Los Angeles, which has a large comedic community, he finds himself touring for about 50% of his comedic career and helping prop up aspiring comedic communities around the country.

Lyon himself is now in his thirteenth year of stand-up comedy, which got started with humble beginnings similar to the aspiring comedians he likes to inspire around the country.

When he went to college at UC Santa Cruz, Lyon played soccer. When they would be traveling to games aboard the tour bus, he would “perform” other comedians’ jokes, like Mitch Hedberg, for his fellow teammates. Eventually, at the insistence of his teammates and coach, he started writing and performing his own jokes.

He released his first self-released album “Baby Steps” in 2010, so he could “make the mistakes” that come with releasing one’s own album, and is currently recording his new album which will be released through an undisclosed label in 2018.

On top of his comedic exploits, he also engages in a lot of other creative experiences, like designing a new board game (which he cannot as yet release the name of) and helping create a new horror-comedy film called “Killer Kate.”

“People describe it [his comedy] as ‘intellectually silly,’” said Lyon. Though he often tends to be fun and playful, he does occasionally address current social issues. One example comes from his take on our current president’s labeling of various media outlets and stories as “fake news.” He said that if the news was fake it would be less depressing, and tosses out headlines like, “Steve Bannon replaced by Billy the Bigmouth Bass”.

This combination of nationally recognized comedic talent along with our own local comedic representatives is bound to add up to a night full of laughs. It’ll certainly get more laughs than the ham-fisted pun I tried to work into the headline.

IF YOU GO 

Grant Lyon, with Mitch Reierson and Jan Syverson 

Thursday, February 8, 8pm 

The Aquarium (Dempsey’s upstairs), 226 Broadway N 

Tickets starting at $15, available via www.ticketweb.com

RECENTLY IN

Humor

Tracker Pixel for Entry MidwestRoadTripAdventures Tracker Pixel for Entry FargoFilmFestival2023 Tracker Pixel for Entry TheatreBSMS Tracker Pixel for Entry ParamountMar2022 Tracker Pixel for Entry Dvfa Tracker Pixel for Entry

Recently in:

Proposed Bills Could Take Books off Library ShelvesBy Laura Simmonslaurasimmons2025@u.northwestern.edu The passing of ND House Bill 1205 and ND Senate Bill 2360, which would prevent sexually explicit books from being in public…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comHPR chats with a local legendThe following interview was done in February of 2016, just a few months after Mr. Josef Olivieri's 90th birthday. We're sorry to hear of his passing at the age of 97 on…

Tuesday, March 21, 6:30pmZandbroz Variety, FargoAuthor of “Boys and Oil: Growing Up Gay in a Fractured Land” Taylor Broby will discuss the important role libraries play in their communities as sanctuaries of acceptance. He will…

By John Strandjas@hpr1.comOur Opinion: Who on Earth would ever want to move to North Dakota?Let’s talk about the left hand and the right hand. Or, more correctly, let’s focus on the right hand, being as there is no left in ND…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comTwo ForumWhite Nationalist Trumplican Nincoms Have Pooped All Over LibrariansSo it has come to pass that Scott Hennen and Ross Nelson have assaulted librarians in the state, accusing them of…

Well shiver me timbers. After weeks of sampling some of the finest drinks in F-M from more bars than we could shake a belaying pin at, the results of High Plains Reader’s 6th Annual Cocktail Showdown are in! For nine weeks,…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.comWhen thinking of popular sandwiches associated with the Upper Midwest, the sloppy joe immediately comes to mind. But let’s not forget the sandwich with a spicy side – the taco grinder. It’s a…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.comphoto by Andy Wilcox Many of Fargo-Moorhead’s talented bands and musicians have been able to gain fans around the country. Some of this, of course, is due to social media making it…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.comOn Saturday, March 25, filmmaker Mike Flanagan returns to the Fargo Film Festival, where “Absentia,” his debut feature, made its world premiere in 2011. This time, he will be joined by his…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comIf you’ve ever driven down the Enchanted Highway, the 32-mile ribbon of road connecting Regent to Gladstone in western North Dakota, home to the world’s largest salvaged metal sculptures,…

By Jessica M. Hawkesjmhawkes84@gmail.comIt wasn’t long after the founding of the railroad and river town of New Rockford that entertainment venues started to put down their own roots. Its population bolstered by booms of nearby…

By Jan Syverson  Jan.r.Syverson@gmail.comFor the past 30 years live, stand-up comedy has had a place in the Fargo Moorhead area, Starting with…

By Kris Gruberperriex1@gmail.comSpring is here (mostly), and our area is buzzing with people eager to get back out and about -- many newly vaccinated and feeling a bit safer. Partnering with Jade Events, Fargo Brewing is just…

By John Showalter  john.d.showalter@gmail.comThey sell fentanyl test strips and kits to harm-reduction organizations and…

JANUARY 19, 1967– MARCH 8, 2023 Brittney Leigh Goodman, 56, of Fargo, N.D., passed away unexpectedly at her home on March 8, 2023. Brittney was born January 19, 1967, to Ruth Wilson Pollock and Donald Ray Goodman, in Hardinsburg,…

By Ken and Alice Christiansonsubmit@hpr1.com HB 1332 is currently before the North Dakota legislature. The bill proposes to permit social workers to use a discredited treatment method to convert the sexual orientation of gay and…