Stand-up comic Dusty Slay is back where he started

READY TO SLAY IT

Hot on the heels of his first hour-long Netflix special, Workin’ Man, rising star comedian Dusty Slay brings his latest act to the place where it all began — Charleston. Featuring all new material, Slay’s Night Shift Tour takes center stage at the Gaillard Center on Oct. 5.

Slay, who is originally from Alabama, has long been regarded as one of the greatest comedians to come out of the Charleston comedy circuit. He won the Charleston Comedy Festival stand-up competition two years in a row, in 2011 and 2012, then went on to serve as a judge. In 2013 and 2014, he took the title of Charleston City Paper’s Best Local Comic. Slay was also instrumental in supporting his fellow performers on the scene, hosting open mic nights and comedy showcases around town during the first 10 years of his career.

“Charleston is the very beginning of comedy for me,” Slay said in a recent interview. “I probably have every City Paper newspaper clipping that I ever got mentioned in, [including] my very first one, probably from 2004.

Fast forward to today and the 40-year-old comic, who is now based in Nashville, is a regular performer on the legendary Grand Ole Opry stage. He made his debut there in 2019 — the youngest comedian to do so at the time — and has since returned for dozens of shows. He’s also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel Live; starred in a special on Comedy Central — not to mention that Netflix debut — and now, adds a nationwide tour to his credit.

It’s a long way to come from Charleston in, say, 2012, when you could’ve caught Slay hosting open mic nights at Big Gun, Tin Roof or Upper Deck (now Bangkok Lounge), performing improv at Theatre 99, or maybe even working as your server at Hyman’s Seafood. Slay is still something of an overnight success story, just one 20 years in the making.

“I mean, I remember sitting in Big Gun with my buddies and being like, ‘If you ever got a late night, what five minutes would you do?’ And I was saying it as if there was no way we were going to get one,” Slay reflected. “So it’s fun to actually get to do it.”

This man is workin’!

Now with a new show that brings two decades’ worth of observations of relatable, working-class comedy to the stage — bits center on everything from Cracker Barrel to hipster coffee shops, all delivered in his signature Southern cadence — Slay feels like he’s just getting started.

“It feels good to have worked for [my success],” he reflected. “I did lots of gigs that people would say, ‘Oh, there’s no money, why would you do that?’ When you do all the gigs and things that don’t make sense to anyone, it’s nice when it finally pays off and everyone can say, ‘Oh, ok, what he was doing was working.’ ”

Working is a big part of Slay’s material in the Netflix special, as he says his sense of humor developed through more than a decade of working thankless jobs. But in his Night Shift tour, Slay will share new material, some of it focused on his years spent in Charleston earning a paycheck as a server or pesticide salesman while moonlighting as — in his words — an “obscure, often drunk, open mic comedian.”

“When I moved from Alabama to Charleston, I like to say I moved straight from a trailer park to this beautiful, classy city. It was a bit of a culture shock for me because everything was nice. And then I drank for 10 years because Charleston is a real party town.”

The “funny thing” about hitting the milestone of 20 years in comedy this year, Slay said, is that he didn’t really start until he quit drinking about 10 years into it.

“I lived downtown, I lived on Folly Beach back when Folly Beach was wild. I worked at Hyman’s Seafood for 10 years. I got kicked out of a lot of bars, including a lot of bars that aren’t even there anymore … It was when I quit drinking that I really got good.”

On comedy, sobriety and having a good time

Upon reviewing those early-career City Paper mentions of Slay, it’s clear that while he’s grown in massive ways, he’s also stayed true to the roots of his comedic vision. He’s making a comedy career while staying in the South, creating (mostly) clean comedy, and leaning on jokes that unite audiences to “have a good time,” his catchphrase.

“My show is relatively clean without being squeaky clean or cheesy. Like, if you’re in your 20s or 30s and you want to bring your parents to this show, you can bring them and they’re not going to be embarrassed, ok? It’s the kind of show that everybody likes.”

The show will feature some of Slay’s friends, including Derek Humphrey, Evan Berke and Vince Fabra. Though these comics no longer live in Charleston, like Slay, they got started here.

“There is something about coming back to Charleston that feels special to me,” Slay said, reflecting on how some of his best wild stories and life-altering lessons relate to this place.
“My last two years in Charleston I was completely sober, and it was maybe the best two years that I spent there. I finally got to really see the city. I mean, I had a lot of fun while I was drinking, but it was really something different to ride my bike down to the Battery and watch the sunset and see dolphins out there.”

Slay shared how his journey with sobriety has shaped up his comedy, yet at the same time, he wouldn’t trade his wild Charleston escapades for a thing.

“I don’t think I would have told myself to not drink,” he said, “because if you’re going to do comedy, you need some experiences to talk about. You have to go find things to talk about and go live your life.”

And Slay plans to live it up while he’s stopped in town in October.

“I’m going to try to stay an extra day,” he said. “I usually am just in and out [of touring cities], but I’d love to go to Folly Beach. I’d love to go to Hyman’s and see Eli. I’d love to visit the Tin Roof. I used to do a lot of comedy there. [And I want to] see Gene’s Haufbrau and some of the old spots where I used to go.

“Chances are, nobody I know will be working there. But it would be fun to see. It’s all memories. I spent my whole 20s in Charleston, and it’s a beautiful place. I mean, I couldn’t think of a better place to be an alcoholic, you know?”

Slay, clearly in on the joke, said he has worked pretty much every kind of job. “But going on the road to perform for audiences is by far the best one I’ve ever had. I hope this tour is a chance for folks who work hard to come and enjoy a laugh, on me.”

Don’t miss Dusty Slay at the Gaillard Center, 7 p.m. Oct. 5. Tickets start at $35.75 at gaillardcenter.org.