Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcus Hardy
Hi Marcus, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Marcus started comedy in 2005, and by 2008, he was the Runner-Up on NBC’s hit television series, “Last Comic Standing”. That same year, Marcus met Guy, and we not only become fast friends, but started touring together doing stand-up.
After a few years hanging out on the road, we wanted to try and develop something new that we could do together, so with Guy being a musician, and Marcus being a singer who could do impressions, we decided to write a musical show.
The idea started out as a few musical numbers at the end of our shows, and has developed into a full fledged musical experience that we do full time .Plus, we realized after we wrote it that we could accidentally perform shows completely clean, which lead to us doing mostly corporate and private events, where people or companies need hilarious, but clean, entertainment. It’s a path we never really imagined, but have really enjoyed.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with any performer, not every show is amazing, and not every hotel is sanitary, but our job is fun, even when it’s not. And to be fair, our fanbase has always allowed us to try new things. It wasn’t the easiest thing to transition from regular stand-up, to a full blown musical show, but we’ve been incredibly lucky to have such supportive and devoted fans, no matter what we’re doing on stage.
I would say that with anyone who’s self-employed, there’s no guarantees too work, no matter how good you are at what you do, so sure, we could always be busier, who couldn’t? We just love what we do, and would love to do it for as many people as we can! Especially in a state like ours, where people need clean alternatives for entertainment! So hey, if you’re reading this….. HIRE US!!!!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We do a show that no one else does. Our 20+ years of experience on stage, our razor sharp wits, our ability to adapt to any size crowd or theme, anywhere, anytime, not to mention that we can do it all completely G-Rated clean. Thats not something that many comics can, or even want, to do. Plus, every time you see our show, it’s different. Whether it’s at a club, or a corporate event, we shape every show around that crowd.
Plus, we’re hilarious. Like genuinely hilarious.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Learn to pivot.
Comedy is about using the crowd you’v got, so we were able to wrap our heads around other ways to perform, like doing corporate events over Zoom, using a giant TV to perform to a sea of screens.
Nothing beats being in a room full of people where you can feel the energy and connect face to face, but if we have to, we can bring that same experience to other platforms.
If we’re really good at what we do, then we should be able to do it no matter what, so that’s what we tried to do. It wasn’t easy for anyone, but we did the best we could, like everyone else. Taught us a lot about looking at our talents from every angle.
In our business, even if you have a week between shows, that’s still 7 days where you could be doing things that aren’t necessary performing, but further your growth and share your talents, so we both looked for ways to use our talents, even if the shows weren’t there.
This lead to developing a training / coaching course on using the creative mindset that comedians use to be in constant creation, to help public speakers, business owners, marketing departments, sales teams and individuals who want to connect deeper with their audience or clientele.
It’s been a lot of fun to help people learn to think like we do and to watch how it changes their approach to everything they do. It’s quite rewarding to see the connections that people make after, I’m actually glad we had the time, because it made us stop and think about how else our skills could be utilized, and it ended up leading to an entire new direction. Pretty cool to be able to pivot into something so important.
Pricing:
- Our shows run anywhere from $3000-$5000, depending on day of week and time of year..
- We also know there’s a lot of ballers out there, so people can also feel free to pay us more, if they want.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://MarcusAndGuy.com
- Instagram: @MarcusAndGuy
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/MarcusAndGuy
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarcusAndGuy
