Lukas Seely returns to Malta on Friday

Over the last 13 months since Lukas Seely first brought his comedic stylings to Malta, some things have changed for the Billings, Mont. native and somethings remain the same.

Since he headlined the first ever Montarctica Live Comedy show last October, Seely has gotten a gig working for his favorite NFL football team – the San Francisco 49ers, where he gives pregame “comedic weather reports” to the team in which he jokes about their opposition – and was recently contacted by the booking agent from Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show.

Some of the things that remain the same from a year ago are Seely's promotion of Montana comics and his love for the city of Malta.

“Dude, I loved it there and that is why I am coming back,” Seely said. “As a comic and performing all over the country, you can kind of get a feel for which audiences are appreciative and which ones are not. Performing in Malta, I got a really good feeling and you could tell how much the people of Malta appreciate live comedy. Everyone was so great last time and the whole experience was amazing.”

Seely has appeared on numerous television shows since starting his comedic career and has done his act on hundreds of stages across the country, but he is also the Big Sky Comedy Festival co-creator and Producer. The festival is a four-day event which takes place in Billings where comedians compete for cash prizes and are given the chance to showcase their abilities for agents, managers, producers and casting directors.

“The history of stand-up comedy in Montana is Lukas Seely started a comedy scene in Montana,” Seely joked. “None of the comics coming to the show at the Villa have ever been to Malta, I don’t think, but they are all looking forward to Friday because they have heard about the great audiences there in past shows.”

Prior to last year’s performance, Seely (an Asian American) walked around Malta to get a feel for the community and ran into “the only other Asian in Malta” while shopping at the local Albertsons. He talked about the chance meeting during his set that night (with Malta’s Callie Hines) and everyone knew whom he was talking about.

“It just made for fun comedy,” Seely said. “She better be at my show next week.”

The night will feature Seely and four other comics, all from Montana, who were handpicked by Seely for Friday night’s show at the Villa Theatre.

“Will (Thomas) was a competitor at the Big Sky Comedy Fest this year,” said Seely. “Cody Sutton was the winner of the Montana Comedy Competition last year.”

The other standups to take stage on Friday are Phillips Tilley, from Billings, and Donovan Archambault who is originally from Fort Belknap.

“They are all really funny,” Seeley said. “People should expect a lot of fun. I try to fashion my comedy so that the people of Malta will think I am from Malta. I will spend a lot of time before the show walking around talking to people and acclimate myself in the community. I am from Montana, I love Montana and when I do shows in Montana I want my comedy to be about Montana.”

This will be the fourth live comedy show to hit Malta in the last 13 months thanks to Montarctica owner and show promoter Travis Rhodes. Rhodes said he is excited to be able to bring this type of show, with this type of talent, to Phillips County.

“I like being able to play a part in making Malta the destination that the surrounding towns look to and say ‘wow, that little town has a lot going on, let's go hang out in Malta for the night or weekend’,” he said. “I hope everyone can come out and support these events so we can keep bringing high quality live entertainment to Malta.”

Rhodes thanked all of the show’s sponsors and everyone that has supported live comedy in the past.

The doors open for the show at the Villa Theatre at 7:30 p.m. with the comics taking the stage around 8 p.m. this Friday, December 5, in Malta. The show is for ages 18 and up and the portions of the money made on beer served will once again go toward benefiting the local Shriners.

As for Seely, he can currently be seen all over the internet including the multiplatform network All Def Digital co-founded by Hip Hop mogul Russell Simmons (co-founder of record label Def Jam as was the 1990’s stand up show Def Comedy Jam.)

“They have almost a million subscribers on their YouTube Channel and I write and do sketch comedy with them,” Seely said. “It has been great.”