Comedy Show at the Villa to be held on October 25

Travis Rhoads hopes to make you laugh.

Well, actually, he hopes the comedians he is bringing to the Villa Theater on Saturday, October 25 make you laugh …but if you’d rather laugh at him, he isn’t opposed to the idea, as long as you have a good time.

“Whatever it takes,” quipped Rhoads. “Just come out and enjoy yourself.”

Featured comics on the night will be Lukas Seely, a former Montana resident now residing in L.A. , Jose Belanos from Seattle, Wash., Charlie Mulluck – a former KMMR employee now working for a radio station in Bozeman and rounding out the foursome, Conner Roma from Denver, Colorado.

“Lukas is from Billings originally and moved to Seattle to hone his craft,” Rhoads said. “He is also the promoter of the Big Sky Comedy Fest in Billings.”

Seely will soon be featured on the cooking show, On The Menu, on cable television’s TNT as well as a spot on Louie Anderson’s comedy showcase on Showtime.

Tickets for the event – which is 21 and over – are $20 each in advance and $25 at the door. The event will have alcohol catering and the Villa Theater will be selling refreshments during the show.

There will also be a CD release party at the comedy show as Malta native Nathan Salsbery’s band Prairie Dweller debuts their newest album entitled Kickin Cans (The album was recorded at fellow Malta native Jessica Henderson’s recording studio – Zeal Audio -- in Seattle.) Jessica and Nate were also both local Country Showdown winners in Malta and hope to provide the audience with a look into their new CD.

“The doors will open at 7 p.m. and Prairie Dweller will play from the time the doors open until about 8 p.m. when the comics will start taking the stage,” said Rhoads.

The Comedy show coming up in October isn’t Rhoads’ first foray into event promotion in Phillips County. In 2010 and 11, in conjunction with Round Table Sports, Rhoads and Salsbery brought two MMA cage fighting events to the area. Following the collapse of the old Pavilion Center, Rhoads no longer had a venue for the fights and decided to scrap that idea.

“The turnout for those events was really strong,” Rhoads said.

Rhoads said he hopes the comedy show in October will do well enough that he can bring more shows to town this winter.

“If this show goes well and we have enough support I hope to bring more shows to Malta with some big names in comedy,” Rhoads said. “I’d like to do four of these shows this winter, so we will see how it goes, but more than anything, I’d just like to see as many things as possible going on in our community.”

The Villa holds up to 400 people so tickets are limited. For more information, call Rhoads at 654-4674.

“The response has been real good so far,” Rhoads said. “It should be a fun night.”