Seven-year old James Draper knew his humor belonged somewhere, but he believed it was a far-off dream.
“I would do impressions and tell jokes with my family constantly,” Draper said.
“But as I grew up in Rock Island, I could see there weren’t any opportunities to make that a reality. I thought I had to grow up in Chicago or New York or LA to do it. So, I just kept being funny with friends and figured the stage was just a dream.
“I was 32 years old and working at a desk when I got an email from a coworker that mentioned an open mic at a club in town (a comedy club I didn’t even know existed at the time). I wrote some jokes, went up and told them with pretty good reactions.
“Even had a stranger come up and tell me they enjoyed my set. I’ve been writing and performing for audiences ever since.”
Draper’s musings, his take on life, has kept him bringing joy to audiences — even through the pandemic. Now, on Friday the Quad Cities comedian will join Justin and Jesse Tuttle, founders of CU Comedy, for their forth show at The Wheelhouse.
Going on a decade of performances, Jesse said venues like the Wheelhouse are the perfect spot to spend the evening laughing.
“Stand Up Comedy shows, especially in a smaller, more intimate environment like The Wheelhouse allows for a better connection between the person on stage talking and the people in the crowd,” he said.
“We notice the crowds are more appreciative right off the bat because there is less live shows in
their area, especially something like stand up comedy. Our goal is to have shows every weekend in different areas and small towns deserve to have more to do that is often not offered. They are great markets for us.”
The Tuttles ran almost 40 shows each year through CU Comedy prior to the pandemic. But with the loss of Soma due to COVID-19 mitigations, the brothers will build a “floating” comedy club that will frequent places like Alto Vineyards and Baldarotta’s inside the Lincoln Square Mall for the time being.
Like many artists, Draper and the Tuttles felt the shock of closed venues during 2020. While Draper has been lucky enough to perform indoors for a few months, the Tuttles have, for the most part, been making people laugh outdoors.
Justin, who took a few months off from writing anything, said he wanted to wait until there could be people in front of him before he began to perform again.
“Honestly, I feel the same, if not more comfortable than before,” he said. “The time off made me appreciate it a lot more. This can go away again at any time, so I’m going to enjoy it while I have it.”
Draper and Justin Tuttle will also be joined by Mikel Matthews in the show that begins at 9:30 p.m. The Wheelhouse will begin seating guests at 8 p.m. with food and drinks available and purchase at cucomedy.com/june-25-wheelhouse.
