Roachdale bar to host live stand-up comedy show

ROACHDALE -- Following "The Bainbridge Invasion" on Saturday, the Comedy in Crawfordsville series, hosted by Neil Snyder, will make its way to the Roachdale Bar and Grill (formerly Roachdale Tap) on Saturday, March 2.

Beginning at 9 p.m. and likely running past midnight, the inaugural "Roachdale Invasion" stand-up show will feature comedians from Indiana and Kentucky.

Snyder's comedy card includes the creator of The Comedy Moshpit, Kyle Dewees of Muncie, as well as Carmel's Rick Garrett, who has been on Comcast TV, Cincinnati favorite John Bernard, along with Jeffrey Lewis, who has appeared on "The Bob and Tom Show."

The Roachdale show will be hosted by Snyder, whose initial toe-dip into open-mic comedy a year ago has turned into a full dive into stand-up with eight shows bearing the "Comedy in Crawfordsville" tag taking place or scheduled prior to March 2.

Appearing at dozens of Indianapolis-area venues, Snyder has already worked with Dave Landau, DJ Dangler and Dave Dugan, and has aggressively booked a number of shows in west-central Indiana the first half of 2013.

Dewees has created a weekly comedy franchise in The Comedy Moshpit, which offers a unique ambiance near Ball State University at the bar Be Here Now. His own performances have extended to venues like The Sinking Ship near Broad Ripple, Morty's Comedy Joint and Birdy's.

He will be bringing with him a special recognition winner from a stand-up comedy class he helped instruct, whose prize includes minutes at this special Putnam County event.

Garrett draws his humor from his roots, growing up in Appalachia born to a family of coal miners, becoming a firefighter/paramedic and a minister and touring musician. He has made multiple appearances on Comcast's "Who's Laughing Now?" and has been on the Armed Forces Radio Network and is founder and host of Stars on Stage at the Gaslight Inn in Indianapolis.

Bernard, meanwhile, finds self-deprecating humor to be therapeutic. He has hosted at Wiley's Comedy Club in Dayton, and performed at the Funnybone on the Levee Newport, Ky., and Dayton, the Comedy Caravan in Louisville, and Cincinnati's Go Bananas!

Lewis is a Hollywood Sober Talent Search winner, creator of Comedy for Pain Relief, hosts a comedy night monthly at Claude and Annie's in Fishers, and has appeared on "The Bob and Tom" morning show. He's performed at The Indianapolis Museum of Art on a large charity comedy event as well as Crackers Comedy Club and a previous Comedy in Crawfordsville show in January.

As with other large comedy cards, the Roachdale lineup is subject to change, but is likely to also include Crackers Comedy Club emcees Matt Bachus and Jordan Mather-Licht and Jeremy Brown, host of Lovell's Lounge comedy nights in New Castle. Also, Jester's Comedy Club emcee Bettiny Lee and Crackers Comedy Club regular Jeff Vibbert are set to appear.

Saturday's Roachdale show is a special event with no admission cost, featuring drink specials with the kitchen open all night.

However, Snyder advises the show will contain graphic language and adult situations, and is limited to an audience 21 and up.