Comedian headlines BoCo

Comedian Jarrod Harris joined the ranks of Hattiesburg’s finest funnymen for a comedy show at The Bottling Company Tuesday evening.

Harris first gained public attention with his popular YouTube series “Action Hero Therapy” and being featured on numerous television shows, including TBS’s “Lopez Tonight” and Comedy Central’s “Live at Gotham.”

The evening kicked off with Hub City Comedy member Jamie Arrington hosting the event, throwing in a few one-liners and celebrity impersonations along the way.

George W. Bush and Matthew McConaughey à la Arrington were a big hit with the audience. As a fan of Hub City Comedy, I’ve frequented shows in the past and had heard the majority of Arrington’s jokes before, which proved to be disappointing. However, Arrington acted as a lively host, overall.

Southern Miss alumnus Mercer Morrison was next on the evening’s lineup. Morrison stuck to his usual chain of pop culture and current event jokes, making jabs at the anniversary of Osama Bin Laden’s death, Mexican restaurant employees on Cinco de Mayo and defeated Republican train wreck Rick Santorum. Overall, Morrison’s set was up-to-date and clever.

USM student and fellow Printzer Corbin McDavitt was the last local comedian to perform before the headliner. The audience was receptive to McDavitt’s stoner humor and pregnancy cracks. Hands down, the highlight of the set was McDavitt’s contagious, non-stop energy—not to mention his green and sherbet paisley button up.

Armed with plaid shirt, black-rimmed glasses and mixed drink in hand, headliner Jared Harris took the BoCo stage at 10 p.m. Throughout his set, Harris joked about being from Atlanta, assuring the audience that there are no peaches in Georgia, just Bobby Brown. Harris also covered a bevy of hot topics, including Chick Fil A, whose advertisements use “Charles Manson family murder font,” Jersey Shore, a.k.a. “today’s modern Holocaust” and Dog the Bounty Hunter, whose “racist mullet resembles an Indian burial ground.”

Harris then segued his set to talk about his new home, Los Angeles. His jabs at his hipster/homeless neighbors and Cher were some of the best of the night.

After the show, Harris tweeted about his first trip to the Hub City, saying “Packed out in Hattiesburg!” and “I love MS.”

After seeing Hub City Comedy’s previous big-ticket comedy shows, I anticipated seeing yet another professional comedian, and Jarrod Harris didn’t disappoint. Noah Gardenswartz from Creative Loafing, an Atlanta-based culture hub, sums up Harris’ comedy as an “oddly comfortable mix of trailer-park filth, comic angst and hipster irony.” I couldn’t agree more. Harris’ awkward Southern charm and raucous sense of humor is comedy that keeps on giving.