The Borderlands Brewing Company served as one of the unofficial homes of the Brew-HaHa stand-up comedy event.
The people at Borderlands managed to provide a unique, rustic atmosphere for equally unique performers.
The bar, located in a Tucson Warehouse Arts District building from the 1990’s, was originally was home to the Tooley and Sons Produce Company.
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Borderlands thrives off local ingredients and places a true focus on community, which led to their participation in Brew-HaHa.
Once a month, a group of local comedians come together to put on an evening of unfiltered, uncensored and honest comedy to a band of locals. Brew-HaHa rotates its host brewery every month, and Borderlands hosted the event this time around.
The roster of local men performing their jokes all share a unique style of comedic humor—i.e., they are brutally honest and relatable in the strangest ways.
Comedian Justin Tietjen, for example, shared his feelings towards the epidemic known as dating.
“You know how guys talk about how in bed they’re the best, and they’ll rock your world?” Tietjen said. “I talk about how I probably won’t rock your world.”
Tietjen grabbed the audience’s attention by striving to be relatable more than just outright funny. Luckily, the audience found no difficulty in seeing the humor in these everyday situations.
Monte Benjamin, the headlining comedian and a Miami native, made a point to express how much he dislikes Tucson. Of course, this raised some eyebrows in a room full of locals.
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Benjamin managed to describe his feelings about Tucson in one simple analogy: “Tucson is the doormat of a home where you wipe your dirty shoes off before stepping into the actual home of Arizona—Phoenix.”
Benjamin managed to rack up a couple laughs from a room of die-hard Tucsonans, hitting them where it hurts most—their Tucson pride. Monte is an advocate of the truth; he finds that there is truly nothing funnier than truth itself.
“Just taking the truth and adding to it, that’s the beginning of a good laugh,” Benjamin said.
Comedian Charles Engle finds it best to really involve the audience in his act.
“I like to talk to them, not at them,” Engle said.
Engle, like most of the other comedians performing at Brew-HaHa, has a somewhat pessimistic outlook that resonates surprisingly well with the crowd. He is, however, the more upbeat of the bunch.
His extravagant facial expressions, perfect timing and relatable jokes add to the essence that is Charles Engle—an average guy with a not-so-average sense of humor.
Sharing local talent with local people is the objective of the Brew-HaHa comedic event. Benjamin finds it important to showcase talent at events like these, as well as be one with the people. He said that the comedians just want people to come out. They’re grateful for any audience.
These comedians deserve more than just an audience though—some exposure and recognition are bound to follow these jokesters.
Catch up with the local comedians of Brew-HaHa once a month at a local brewery in town and share an unforgettable evening with a good brew and a couple ha’s.
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