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Published on February 10th, 2013 | by Brad Sachs

Comedian Spotlight: Red Grant

I watch a ton of stand up comedy. As a comic, you can’t help but watch a lot, you watch more than you perform most of the time. That’s just how it goes and it’s important. I love watching comics that can really rock the mic. I think it is amazing that a single person alone with a mic can invoke such a response from an audience. No band, no back-up singers, no instruments, just a comic and a mic. Last night, I saw a great example of a comic and a mic and an audience taken to a new level. I saw Red Grant perform and man, that dude can rock a crowd. He sings, he dances, he’s animated, but the best thing about Red Grant is that he makes himself completely vulnerable to an audience, showing people everything he’s got, inviting them to take the ride. And they did take the ride. He really goes to that place and then goes farther and farther. The kind of laughter that when the laughter stops, there’s still a howl in the audience. That kinda laughter. Comics kill for that.

A while ago, I saw his Comedy Central presents half hour special and it was good, but nothing compared to seeing him live. All I could think is, how is this dude not on a TV show? Good question. I say that a lot about comics, guess it’s a tough town but man, what a show. He even said he likes people to leave his performance with more than just seeing a comedy show, he said it is an experience, an event and it was. It was great to see him at the Improv in Hollywood because it is an intimate venue, not a bad seat in the house. As a comic, it was a lesson in how to headline a club, the guy never stopped smiling. He was having the most fun out of anyone. You gotta love that, you could tell he loves being on stage and loves what he does. I was gonna say something to him after the show but he was busy taking pics with fans so I figured I’d just write about it. Catch Red Grant live if you can, it’s definitely worth the ride.