This story has been updated from its original version to reflect that Indiana Public Radio's The Scene recorded the live bands from the evening. IPR's booking coordinator Rick Sadlier said he feels its involvement at the show as professional and non-intrusive.
Uniting local comedy with local music, the Hipster Comedy Hour kept Be Here Now busy late into the night as four comedians were followed by four bands.
The Hipster Comedy Hour featured comedy from Ryan Remington, Kyle Dewees, Tim Mclaughlin and Muncie's Jake Lentz. The comedians were then followed by a full night of live music.
"I created the Hipster Comedy Hour to showcase talent in the Midwest," Remington said. "I work with comics who have a unique voice and point of view. I love what DeWees and Lentz are doing with the Comedy Moshpit on Wednesdays, so I asked them to get me into Be Here Now."
Remington and fellow promoter David Chastain, guitarist in Shipwreck Karpathos, originally booked the show with only two bands and four comedians. However, Walk the Moon from Cincinnati and The New Old Calvary from Bloomington were added onto the bill, keeping listeners at the venue from 9 p.m. until after 2 a.m.
Remington will take The Hipster Comedy Hour all across the Midwest, ultimately having it culminate in a nationally distributed documentary. In addition, the Hipster Comedy Hour's appearance at Be Here Now was recorded by Indiana Public Radio.
"As far as IPR goes, they showed up to record the entire show, and after talking to the guys I found out that they are trying to get out and do this kind of thing more often to help spread Indiana music and other events around more," Chastain said.
Rick Sadlier, booking director for IPR's The Scene, said the crew was only there to record the music.
"We also believe the gentlemen's remarks concerning our hindering of the show's schedule were uninformed and false," Sadlier said in an e-mail. "We feel our involvement at the show was professional, and we pride ourselves on being non-intrusive for the venue, performers, and audience."
Remington said he believes the large amount of bands that were booked for the night pushed his comedy portion to an early start, making it less successful than it would've been.
"The event went terribly," Remington said. "[The] show got started late because of IPR and other outside influences and the bar didn't promote our portion of the show, just the two bands they booked, so no one was really there for comedy."
Chastain and Remington worked together to provide this installment of the Hipster Comedy Hour.
"Ryan Remington is a good friend of mine and he is actually the creator of The Hipster Comedy Hour. I booked the two bands that were a part of the show, and he set up all the comedy," Chastain said.
After some last minute shakeups, Shipwreck Karpathos was removed from the bill, only to be added on again after Walk The Moon's set.
"None of us wanted to play by the time we got back on the show, but the crowd was super awesome. We had a lot of friends there, and we didn't want to let anyone down. We were all upset but we were, for the most part, ready to play," Chastain said.
Rodeo Ruby Love, one of the original bands booked with The Hipster Comedy Hour, made sure that Karpathos was put back on the bill, commenting on the situation throughout their own set.
"Rodeo, and Shipwreck were actually the only two bands that were supposed to be a part of the shows. When we got pulled off the show, that we booked, [Rodeo Ruby Love] made a big ruckus about it through their entire set which was awesome, and really put me in a better mood for the night, and I'm pretty sure that's one of the main reasons we were let back on our own show," Chastain said.
Chris Skiles, a junior technology education major, thought the night was a success despite the setbacks.
"I thought the show last night was awesome. I wasn't a fan of the whole comedy portion, but that's probably because I didn't realize it was going to be a part of the lineup," he said "The music was brilliant though. I think Be Here Now is starting to get things going."
As for Remington's set, Chastain believes the lineup chaos prompted one of Remington's best performances yet.
"Before Ryan's set he told me he was worried that not enough people had showed up yet and he didn't know how people were going to respond to his set, so I just told him to be maliciously mean to people...I didn't think he would really do it, but he did, and it killed. It was one of the most fun sets I've ever seen from him," he said.
Due to the Comedy Hour's chaotic night at Be Here Now, they don't plan on returning to the venue again. However, they are hoping to come back to Muncie.
"Overall, I was very disappointed with the show and the way things turned out," Remington said. "This is my dream and something I'm working very hard for."
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