From April 12-20, 2015, NashvilleStandUp.com first attempted to break the GUINNESS WORLD RECORD for “Longest Stand-Up Comedy Show – Multiple Comedians” in Nashville, Tennessee. #BrokenRecordShow was a non-stop 184 hour, 16 minute long stand-up comedy show that more than doubled the previous record. The show featured over 100 comedians, including surprise celebrity guest sets from Hannibal Buress, Eric Andre, Rory Scovel, Nate Bargatze, Luis J. Gomez, Keith Alberstadt, Jon Reep, Ahmed Ahmed and Killer Beaz.
By more than doubling the previous record of 80 hours (set by the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, CA, for a show which ran December 6-9, 2010), #BrokenRecordShow’s non-stop stand up comedy marathon put Nashville into the record books of comedy history. A GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title Adjudicator was on site to certify the attempt as an official world record on Wednesday April 15th at 8pm.. but the show kept going until Monday, April 20th, at 4:20am. Hundreds of people attended the event and even more watched the livestream online. The successful attempt was covered by many local and international media outlets and mentioned in countless social media posts. It was the greatest, dumbest thing we ever did.
The only thing more pointless and silly than more than DOUBLING the world record for “LONGEST STAND-UP COMEDY SHOW – MULTIPLE COMEDIANS,” would be topping your own GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title by just five minutes. Guess what we did?
#BrokenRecordShow vol. 2 started at 5am May 15, 2016 and ran non-stop through 4:01pm May 24th as an official part of the “Wild West” / Nashville Comedy Festival. That’s 227 hours and 1 minute. Due to a snafu which broke the show, the clock was restarted and the official record-breaking showtime was 184 hours and 21 minutes according to GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS rules. Over 120 comedians performed, including: Rory Scovel, Nate Bargatze, Jay Larson, Nick Thune, Geoff Tate, Ben Kronberg, Sara Tiana, Joe Derosa, Josh Wolf, Tom Simmons, Stewart Huff, Megan Gailey, Ahmed Ahmed, Dave Ross, and Myq Kaplan. Ben Kronberg said, “It was the most unique legit special comedy experience I’ve probably ever had.”
A documentary called “Broken Records” was shot during the 2016 show and is now streaming on ShortFilmsMatter.com.
While conquering the “Longest Stand-Up Comedy Show – Multiple Comedians” record twice, the producers were constrained by very specific rules about what could be allowed on stage during the show. For #BrokenRecordShow vol.3, in order to compliment Third Coast Comedy Club’s mission to empower local artists to produce every form of comedy (stand-up, sketch, improv, comedic plays, variety shows, live podcasts, and talk shows), #BrokenRecordShow producers decided to try something new – setting a record for “LONGEST COMEDY VARIETY SHOW” including stand-up, sketch and improv acts.
It’s The Greatest Dumbest Thing We’ve Ever Done.
“If there was a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for ‘The Most Times A Group Of Idiots Broke The Same World Record Even Though Nobody Else Has Tried To Top Them Because What They’re Doing Is So Incredibly Silly,’ we’d go after that one too,” said #BrokenRecordShow producer Chad Riden.
#BrokenRecordShow vol.3 will begin at 5am on Sunday, April 16th, 2017 and continue through 9:26pm Sunday, April 23rd (senselessly beating #BrokenRecordShow’s “LONGEST STAND-UP COMEDY SHOW – MULTIPLE COMEDIANS” record’s run time by five minutes) for a total of 184 hours and 26 minutes.
Tickets are on sale online now: ALL ACCESS passes allow fans to come and go as they please for the entire show / week and are available at a special EARLY BIRD price of $40. After May 1 at Noon, ALL ACCESS tickets will sell for $60 online and at the door. VIP passes are also available and include special reserved seating, a t-shirt, a letterpress show print and other perks. 24-HOUR passes will be available at the door for $10, and a special DAY DRINKERS pass will be available at the door from 5am – 5pm for just $5.
Comedians wishing to go down in history may submit to perform on #BrokenRecordShow at:
https://nashvillestandup.com/brokenrecord/submit/
About 80 volunteers from Nashville’s community of local comedy fans staff #BrokenRecordShow 24/7 for 8 days. To pitch in and help, contact the show producers at: http://nashvillestandup.com/brokenrecord/volunteer-application/
Nashville StandUp is a 509(a)(2) Public Charity with a mission to cultivate and promote middle Tennessee’s growing stand up comedy scene by supporting the Nashville-based comedians that help make the Music City a great place to see live comedy.
PHOTO: Erika Chambers