Guests For The Week of October 13

Tuesday

Costaki Economopoulos

Costaki Economopoulos is a comedian, true, but he’s also a football fan. Those two factors alone make him the perfect candidate to give us a comedic look back at the NFL each week with his new feature that’s also been picked up by The Huffington Post and Bleacher Report. With his Greek heritage, it’s not surprising that he’s been described as a “joke philosopher,” and we’re sure he’s not the only one saying that. Costaki is also a talented joke writer who’s punchlines have been heard on “The Tonight Show,” Showtime, BET, and MTV. Follow Costaki on facebook and twitter. Visit his website here.

Wednesday

Ross Bennett

Ross Bennett’s entertainment career began when he dropped out of West Point during his sophomore year in order to take up a life of comedy and theater. He claims this is the best thing he’s ever done for his country. Though his parents didn’t find the career change all that humorous at first, who’s laughing now that Bennett has been able to make a name (or two, he used to be known as Eddie Strange) for himself doing work he loves. Ross recently released his a brand new DVD, Alive and Floatin’, and you can watch the trailer for his new special, “On the Road” by clicking here. Follow Ross on twitter. Visit his website here.

Tim Bedore

For longer than we can remember comedian Tim Bedore has been calling in or stopping by to deliver an editorial in which he talks about whatever happens to be on his mind. These musings can range from his relationship with his daughter, to hot topics in the news, and even updates on how the animal kingdom is waging war on mankind. From the Animal Conspiracy to his daughter Claire, Tim takes us inside his mind, and with the help of a few sound effects, puts together one of our favorite features. Follow Tim on Facebook. Visit his website here.

Thursday

Ruben Paul

Ruben Paul is one of the most unique and versatile comedians working today. His quick wit, and vivid story telling takes audiences on a hilarious ride from beginning to end. He talks honestly about his life, and has insightful observations
that bring audiences together no matter their age, race, creed, or color. So it’s no surprise that Ruben has become an audience favorite not only in the U.S. and Canada, but abroad as well. Performing for international audiences in Europe, Asia, Australia, South Africa, and The Middle East. With multiple,”back by popular demand” shows, in Johannesburg, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Shanghai, with more shows to come.

Ruben was Born and raised in Carson, California, which is one of the most diverse cities in the Los Angeles area. “I grew up in an all black neighborhood, went to an all Mexican high school, went to an all “white” church and shopped at a lot of Asian stores,” he quips. Ruben’s upbringing was the foundation for his universal appeal. His undeniable charisma, and spontaneity make him a crowd favorite every where he goes. Ruben’s talents as a writer and performer have garnered him many honors including being chosen as one of the “Best of the fest Comics” at HBO’s prestigious U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. Stand up television appearances include: Comedy Central,”The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson”, “Lopez Tonight”, Showtime Network’s Special “Russell Peters Presents”, B.E.T’s “Comic View”, and “Comics Unleashed”, just to name a few. Ruben has toured extensively and collaborated with Jamie Foxx, George Lopez, Cedric The Entertainer, and most recently Russell Peters on his record breaking “Notorious World Tour”. The “Notorious World Tour” gave him the opportunity to perform live for thousands of fans in sold out arenas, which helped Ruben broaden his own audience in the U.S. and Internationally.

As well as being a gifted Stand Up Comedian, he is also a very accomplished actor with guest star appearances on “The Jamie Foxx Show” and a recurring role on “Pensacola Wings of Gold” as well as being cast in B.E.T.’s hidden camera show “Socially Offensive Behavior” with D.L. Hughley. Ruben can be seen in such films as “Ground Control” with Kiefer Sutherland and”Deliver Us from Eva” with actor/rap sensation LL Cool J and the lovely Gabrielle Union. Ruben Paul is a star on the rise and a great performer, that you definitely don’t want to miss. Visit his website here. Follow him on twitter here.

Ms. Pat

Let’s start with Ms. Pat hasn’t lived the life of your typical comedian. Born to a single mother of 5, living on welfare in a tough West end neighborhood of Atlanta, Ms. Pat learned early on she would have to fend for herself in this world. Her Grandfather ran a “bootleg” house where as a kid Pat learned how to roll the drunks for food money. She had her first child at 14 and her second child at 15, “I knew I wasn’t going to college so I figured why not get an early start on my family”. She became a drug dealer in her teens known by the street name “Rabbit”. “I figured there were two things I could do in my neighborhood to earn money, either sell drugs or sell p*@#$y”. At 16 she purchased her first Cadillac. During her teens she was shot twice and arrested numerous times. At 19 years of age she met a man, and with his help and encouragement decided to get out of the “life”. “I was so tired, I thought for sure I was going to end up dead. He was 21 and a military vet and he showed me a way out”.

At 19 with two toddlers and a new husband she is handed 4 more young children from her sister who was struggling with drug addiction. The next 10 years of her life are spent raising those 6 children. Part of that process included visits to the welfare office for food stamps and Section 8 housing assistance for her sister’s children. It was during these visits that Ms. Pat was first told she had a talent for telling funny stories. In 2003 with her case-worker’s encouragement she decided to go on stage and appeared at the Open-Mic-Night at “The Pub” in Atlanta. From the moment she stepped on stage she knew she had found her place. She began pouring punch lines across stages at the rate other moms pour milk at the counter.

With a comedy career now spilling over 9 years this powerful woman brings an honest, in your face, and hilarious perspective to her shows. She has appeared on TV Guide Network’s “Standup in Stilettos”, and Nickelodeons “Mom’s Night Out”. She has an upcoming appearance on BET’s “Comicview” this fall. She is a regular guest on the syndicated Bob and Tom Radio Show, and appears on Katt Williams DVD “Kattpacalypse”.

Ms. Pat currently resides with her husband and three children in Indianapolis. Follow her on twitter and facebook here. Visit her website here.

Friday

Rodney Carrington

Rodney Carrington is a multi-talented comedian, actor, and writer who has recorded eight major record label comedy albums, which have sold millions of copies. Morning Wood has been certified gold and Greatest Hits has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. This year, Rodney is releasing two new albums on his own Laughter’s Good Records: the re-mastered C’Mon Sing You Bastards with 3 new songs that have never been released, and brand new album and DVD: Laughter’s Good. Recently, Rodney had two comedy specials air on CMT (the previously released Live At The Majestic and the brand new Laughter’s Good).   Rodney also recorded the intro song and video for Colin’s Football Show on ESPN that airs every Sunday during the 2014 NFL season. 
 
Rodney starred in his own TV sitcom Rodney, which ran for two seasons on ABC, and he also co-wrote and co-starred with Toby Keith in the feature film Beer for My Horses.  Rodney has appeared on countless TV shows, including the ACA (American Country Awards), and hosted the American Country New Year’s Eve Live show on Fox. He won “Supporting Character of the Year” from the CMT Music Video Awards for his work on the Trace Adkins’ music video “I Got My Game On”, which also won the “Tex Ritter Award” from CMT. According to Pollstar, Rodney has been one of the top ten highest grossing touring comedians for the last ten years and among the top 4 or 5 the last several years. Rodney is on track to be in the top 5 again in 2014 as he regularly performs to sold out crowds across the US and Canada.
 
Rodney Carrington Foundation Rodney Carrington Foundation
Another of Rodney’s projects of which he is proud is the Rodney Carrington Foundation, which was formed in 2010 to benefit those who need a helping hand. Rodney has decided to give back to the community by uniting resources, donors and agencies to strengthen the lives of others. The Rodney Carrington Foundation has received recognition as a 501(c)(3) organization with the Internal Revenue Service and is actively evaluating opportunities to support several local and national charities through ongoing events. $2.00 from each ticket sold for the Rodney Carrington performances will be going toward the Foundation to provide support for its objectives.  
 
First Christmas CD 
Make it Christmas is Rodney’s first Christmas project, as well  as his first serious music release. It is an all song album that perfectly showcases Rodney’s melodic voice and features beautiful traditional tunes, such as “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland,” “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” “White Christmas” “Mary Did You Know,” and “Oh Holy Night,” that evoke warm memories of Christmas past. But Rodney also introduced a few new ones that are destined to become classics.  “Camouflage and  Christmas Lights”, the first single from the album, is a touching tribute to our military. It enjoyed extensive airplay and climbed the charts on Billboard and Mediabase. Make it Christmas was produced by award winning producer and writer Steve Dorff.
 
Comedy Sketch Video
Among Rodney’s other releases is a comedy sketch music video released on CMT. The video, entitled “If I’m the Only One”, features guest appearances by Jennifer Aspen (Rodney, GCB, Glee), Nick Searcy (Rodney, Justified) and Toby Keith.  The song is one of the cuts from Rodney’s all music CD on Capitol Nashville, El Nino Loco, which debuted at number two on the Billboard Comedy music charts. 
 
Major Movie: BEER FOR MY HORSES with Toby Keith
In 2008, Rodney co-wrote and co-starred in a major motion picture with music star Toby Keith entitled Beer for My Horses. The movie debuted in theatres nationwide in August 2008, and on CMT in November 2008.  Beer for My Horses was also released on DVD. The movie won the Tex Ritter award from the Academy of Country Music for 2009.
 
Rodney wins 2008 CMT Music Video Award
Rodney also co-starred in the hit music video by Trace Adkins, “I Got My Game On”, which won three awards on the 2008 CMT Music Video Awards, including “Male Video of the Year,” and “Video Director of the Year”.  Rodney was nominated for, and won the category “Supporting Character of the Year” for his role.
 
King of the Mountains CD, Live at the Majestic DVD, 
Book, and Comedy Central Special
All of the above follow on the heels of Rodney’s many other projects and accomplishments. These included the release of another major label comedy CD, King of the Mountains, which debuted at the top of the comedy charts, and a live concert DVD and Comedy Central special, Live at the Majestic.  Rodney also released his first hard cover book entitled Rodney Carrington, Coming Clean on Hatchette Books. 
 
Rodney’s Discography
Rodney broke through with his major label comedy CD debut Hangin’ With Rodney in 1998. The album featured fan favorite songs “Letter to My Penis” and “Fred,” and over 16 years later, consistently appears on the Soundscan comedy charts.The next few years saw seven more Top 10 albums: Live, Morning Wood, Nutsack, Greatest Hits, King of the Mountains, El Nino Loco, and Make It Christmas, which continue to receive radio airplay and regularly place on the national comedy charts. Morning Wood has earned RIAA gold record certification, and Greatest Hits (a double CD), has now reached platinum status.
 
Rodney’s popularity derives, in large part, from his connection with his audience, both at his live shows, and by personally reaching out through social media. Visit his website here. Follow him on facebook and twitter.

Jeff Dye

JEFF DYE is an extremely talented comedian/actor who is the host of MTV’s hit prank show, “MONEY FROM STRANGERS” and also currently stars in MTV’s popular spinoff show “GIRL CODE”.  Dye has hosted MTV’s “NEW YEARS COUNTDOWN LIVE FROM TIME SQUARE” with Snooki and JWoww which was watched by over 3 million viewers and appeared on the premiere of TBS’ “WHO GETS THE LAST LAUGH” (with Bill Bellamy and Kunal Nayyar). You may have seen him on COMEDY CENTRAL’S LIVE AT GOTHAM, his own half-hour comedy special “COMEDY CENTRAL PRESENTS JEFF DYE”, his MTV show “NUMBNUTS”, Host of ABC’s “EXTREME MAKEOVER HOME EDITION” and as a finalist on NBC’s Emmy nominated series “LAST COMIC STANDING”. Follow him on twitter, or visit his website.

 

Tim Cavanagh

Need a song about your governor? How about Flag Day? Tim Cavanagh is the man for the job. Hey, he’s even written a ditty about Writer’s Block! No subject is taboo – uh, oh, yeah, he’s even written a song about that! You never know what Tim’s next target will be. On the show, Tim is famous for previously being the ”One-Minute Song Guy” and currently for his Cavalcade of Celebrity Birthdays feature. He hails from Chicago and is a huge White Sox fan!. Follow Tim on twitter and facebook. Check out his website here.