GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title attempt #BrokenRecordShow hits 48-hour milestone at The East Room

BROKEN RECORD COMEDY SHOW NashvilleStandUp.com World Record Attempt: LONGEST STAND-UP COMEDY SHOW – MULTIPLE COMEDIANS April 12-19, 2015 The East Room

You guys, WE’RE DOING IT.

Beginning noon April 12th, Nashville StandUp began our attempt to take the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for “LONGEST STAND-UP COMEDY SHOW – MULTIPLE COMEDIANS” at The East Room in Nashville, TN.

NewsChannel 5 talking to Monty Mitchell
NewsChannel 5 talking to Monty Mitchell

As I type this it’s early afternoon Tuesday April 14th. That means the BROKEN RECORD COMEDY SHOW has been going for over 48 hours so far. Unbelievable. We’re having such a great time.

NewsChannel 5 talking to Chad Riden
NewsChannel 5 talking to Chad Riden

NewsChannel 5 did interviews and shot show footage around noon and a live shot during their 5pm show, helping spread the word.

Jessica Watkins, photo: Jamie Hernandez
Jessica Watkins, photo: Jamie Hernandez

Last night was incredible. Jessica Watkins is an East Nashville native, now living in NYC and she did an hour telling stories from her walk across the country when she did comedy and avoided being murdered while filming her documentary “Burning Daylight.”

Nate Bargatze
Nate Bargatze

Louis J Gomez was absolutely hilarious and delightful as he explained how his baby is fifteen times cuter than yours. The house was PACKED for home town boy who done good, Nate Bargatze. A lot of Wild West Comedy Festival people and Zanies staffers supplemented the huge, huge crowd who squeezed in to see Nate. It was pretty awesome.

Ahmed Ahmed
Ahmed Ahmed

Our good friend KILLER BEAZ dropped in and did a 30-minute surprise set, followed by Nashville favorite Mike James. Ahmed Ahmed (TBS’ Sullivan & Son, The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour) dropped in to do a fun set where he hilariously woke up a sleepy audience member in the front row. Ahmed is an absolute beast on stage and any comic would hate to have to follow him, but that didn’t stop Zanies co-owner Andrew Dorfman who jumped up to do a very funny set.

Andrew Dorfman
Andrew Dorfman

This show is the greatest, dumbest thing we’ve ever done, but it’s also been a lot of fun and cathartic. Nashville comedy has really pulled together to make this a reality. The comics deemed as being ‘professional’ according to GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™’ guidelines (20 paid credits in a comedy club, theatre or bar and at least one year’s experience since their first paid gig), have done shows at all hours of the day and night.

DJ Buckley has not left the building since Sunday morning at 8:30 am. Chad Riden has only left for 2-3 hours each day to sleep and shower at home and run his daughter to and from school. Several comics have slept in The East Room’s fancy new comics’ lounge in the balcony. Many have been here all night. Several Zanies servers spent the entire night helping us make sure we had over 10 people in the audience at all times, saying, “we’re all in this together.” We truly are. The East Room staff, the fans, the volunteers, the comics. It’s really been touching watching everybody work to make this stupid thing happen. THANK YOU.

If you’re in town, STOP IN! ANY TIME. We’re here. If you can’t come by, photographer Jamie Hernendez is documenting the show on her Instagram account. She does incredible work and is here at all hours doing a fantastic job taking photos and posting updates on twitter. We’re also streaming video of the event on YouTube and on our special #BrokenRecordShow site. Go now to see the lineup for the rest of our schedule this week.

ALSO: the BROKEN RECORD Comedy Show is honoring ANY Wild West Comedy Festival tickets as valid tickets for our world record breaking show at The East Room. Any and all WWCF ticket holders need only flash their WWCF2015 ticket stub or laminate to be granted free admission to The East Room with no additional purchase necessary. Hope to see you at the show!

NewsChannel 5: “Comedians Begin World Record Attempt At Longest Stand-Up Comedy Show”

Thanks to NewsChannel 5 for covering the beginning of our show tonight! The video is no longer online but the archive is here if you want to click around over there anyway.

Here’s pretty much what they said:

Comedians Begin World Record Attempt At Longest Stand-Up Comedy Show

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A world record attempt at the longest stand-up comedy show got underway and included multiple comedians.

They were set to attempt to break the Guinness World Record, which currently stands at 80 hours set by the Laugh Factory in Hollywood.

Nashville Standup planned to keep people laughing for eight days, amounting to 192 non-stop hours of comedy.

For information on the Broken Record Comedy Show, running April 12-19, click here. You can also learn more by visiting the show’s Facebook page, or click here to hear from the comedians online.

The Tennessean: “Nashville comedy troupe aims to break Guinness record”

Thanks to James Nitz and The Tennessean for their nice write-up about our upcoming show: “Nashville comedy troupe aims to break Guinness record.” Here’s a pdf of it, if you want to print that out for your scrapbook. Otherwise, just read it below:

Nashville comedy troupe aims to break Guinness record
James Nitz, MTSU Seigenthaler News Service 1:42 p.m. CDT April 6, 2015

Organizers are hoping for non-stop laughs as the NashvilleStandUp.com comedy troupe aims to shatter the Guinness World Record for longest standup comedy show as part of the upcoming second annual Wild West Comedy Festival.

“It’s the greatest, dumbest thing we’ve ever done,” says comedian and organizer Chad Riden of NashvilleStandUp.com.

The Broken Record Comedy Show marathon is set to begin at noon Sunday, April 12, at The East Room and last until 8 p.m. the following Sunday, April 19. Guest comedians of varying degrees of fame are set to perform during the week, from local up-and-comers to national touring acts such as Jon Reep and Nashville natives Keith Alberstadt and Billy Wayne.

Also, Riden says, unannounced “secret shows” will feature antics ranging from performances in underwear, to catered biscuits and gravy for the crowd, to surprise guest comics, potentially coming from the star-packed Wild West Comedy Festival.

“There’s wiggle room,” Riden says. “We’ll make room for big names.”

The Wild West Comedy Festival is scheduled for April 14-19 at a host of venues, from nightclubs to Bridgestone Arena. Big-name performers include comedians Kevin Hart, Joel McHale, Hannibal Buress, Lewis Black, Tig Notaro, Ralphie May, and Nick Kroll and John Mulaney.

The current marathon standup comedy record was earned at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, Calif., from Dec. 6-9, 2010 after 170 acts with 150 comedians held the stage for 80 hours. NashvilleStandUp is aiming to shatter that record with its eight-day event, the brainchild of Nashville-based comedian D.J. Buckley.

“Everybody loves the idea,” Riden says, “but they think it’s crazy.”

Riden began doing stand-up comedy in 2000 at an open mic night at a Cummins Station nightclub. During the set, he miscalculated his time, turning his allotted five minutes into a 12-minute performance.

“It was a rookie mistake, but it went really well,” Riden recalls.

Now a full-time comic, Riden has performed shows across the South and has been featured on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.”

He hopes the marathon event, combined with the Wild West Comedy Festival, will help increase Nashville’s stature on the national comedy scene. In any case, where else will you be able to see live standup comedy during the breakfast hours?

“It will be interesting to see,” Riden says, “ how people play at 8 a.m.”

While only loosely partnered with the Wild West Comedy Festival, NashvilleStandUp.com will honor festival tickets for the marathon shows at The East Room, allowing admittance for VIP ticket holders for the entire week or for individual-performance ticket holders for 24 hours after a particular show.

If you go

What: Broken Record Comedy Show

When: Noon April 12 through 8 p.m. April 19

Where: The East Room, 2421 Gallatin Pike

Tickets: $10 day pass, $25 three-day pass, $60 all-access pass, $100 VIP pass.

Details: For more information on the marathon, go to www.nashvillestandup.com. For details on the Wild West Comedy Festival, go to www.wildwestcomedyfestival.com.

The Tennessean: “Nashville comedians go for world-record 8-day show”

Nashville comedians DJ Buckley, left, and Chad Riden, right, are planning to put on a record-breaking, eight-day comedy show.

Thanks to Dave Paulson and The Tennessean for writing up our IndieGoGo campaign and upcoming GUINNESS WORLD RECORD attempt.
Here’s a pdf of their article, in case you want to get the text tattoo’d on your back. Otherwise, read the thing on their website (“Nashville comedians go for world-record 8-day show”) or right here:

Nashville comedians go for world-record 8-day show
Dave Paulson, dnpaulson@tennessean.com 8:48 p.m. CST January 23, 2015

Nashville comedians DJ Buckley, left, and Chad Riden, right, are planning to put on a record-breaking, eight-day comedy show.
Nashville comedians DJ Buckley, left, and Chad Riden, right, are planning to put on a record-breaking, eight-day comedy show.

Let’s say you wake up tomorrow morning at 4:30 a.m. and leap out of bed. You’re struck by the overwhelming urge to see some live standup comedy, right then and there. Well, you’ll be out of luck until the evening, if and when Zanies or another comedy-friendly venue opens its doors.

But for eight days this April, Nashville comedy enthusiasts can live the dream. They’ll be able to see live standup at any time of day, whether it’s just before rush hour on a weekday or well after last call on Saturday night.

It’s becoming a reality thanks to local comedians DJ Buckley and Chad Riden. The pair are looking to break the Guinness World Record for the longest standup comedy show by multiple comedians, so they’re planning a 192-hour, non-stop performance.

The madness begins April 12 and will run through April 19 at the East Room in East Nashville. The dates will overlap with the second annual Wild West Comedy Festival, which is bringing a number of standup stars to Ryman Auditorium, TPAC and other venues on April 14-19.

The current Guinness World Record is 80 hours and was achieved by the Laugh Factory in Hollywood Dec. 6-9, 2010. That show included 170 different acts by 150 comedians.

Buckley and Riden are looking to raise $8,000 to produce the event via a crowdfunding campaign on indiegogo.com. That will cover costs, including venue rental, registration with Guinness and the production of a documentary on their world-record attempt. Funders can buy tickets ($5-$20 for one-, three- or eight-day passes), souvenirs and reserve their own performance slots.

“A lot of people have said, ‘Hey, why would you want to do that? Nobody wants to see a show that long,’” Riden says in the campaign’s video. “Well, that’s true. Quite frankly, we have nothing else going on in our lives.”

To help ensure their success, they plan to have an “Emergency Back-Up Comedian” waiting in the wings at all times and hope to feature “as many talented comedians from as many places as we can manage.”

To learn more, visit www.nashvillestandup.com/WorldRecord