Comedian (and Hall of Fame Sportswriter) Sam Adams Invites you to
Laugh at the Lyric!
Friday, December 17 at 7:00PM

Join us on December 17 at 7:00pm, for a bit of refreshment from the busy-ness of the season! Sam Adams is a very funny guy—but much more, than that, as well, An acclaimed sports journalist, Sam is able to be both funny and serious in a way that draws you in, making him in great demand as a motivational speaker. Unlike some entertainers who are inclined to ‘coast’, Sam is both fearless (though sometimes a bit “concerned”) and a student of places to which he travels to entertain—even becoming a dedicated fan of Harrison Golden Goblin Football before his first trip to the Lyric! Sam has continued honing his craft since then and came to help us out last November, as we started the Lyric’s recovery from the pandemic. Now he wants to bring even more of “the funny” and to see our lobby’s new look!

That’s just the kind of guy Sam is: his humor comes from caring and his performances are hilarious precisely because of his deftly touching on things that everyone can relate to, in a way that doesn’t just entertain, but helps you see ‘the funny’ in things, so that the show goes on long after he has left the stage and you have left the theater. That’s why his comedy has resonated so well at the Lyric, where we are not typically bombarded with entertainers to distract us from life, but enjoy concerts, plays, and the like that involve a lifestyle and help us get more out of life. That is to say, the comedy of Sam Adams ‘fits’ an organization that has as its goal the enriching of lives through making the Arts available to all—his comedy shows him to be what his listing with the Denver Speakers’ Bureau says: a true Renaissance Man.

About Sam Adams

On the pages and the stages, Sam Adams always tells a story. They are shared often when he performs an energetic, hilarious brand of comedy that is 100-percent profanity-free.

Sam is the only dual prize winner in the history of the Great American Comedy Festival. It happened in 2009, just four months after his newspaper employer of 13 years abruptly went out of business. Sam won the festival’s amateur competition, and when asked to compete with the professionals, he placed second — giving him an impetus to pursue a professional career in stand-up comedy at age 49.

During the summer of 2018, the “True Color” video clip from Sam’s Dry Bar Comedy special (titled ‘Incoherently True’) went viral, with more than 10 million Facebook views in less than 72 hours. Since then, the “True Color” video clip has amassed more than 32 million Facebook views, and the overall social media views from all of Sam’s Dry Bar Comedy clips for one year have surpassed 41 million.

Sam has received a befitting label of ‘Renaissance Man.’ Prior to his established career in entertainment, Sam spent three decades as an award-winning newspaper sports journalist. In October 2019 he was honored by the prestigious Denver Press Club with induction to its Hall of Fame. Sam is the first African-American sports journalist to be inducted, and only the fifth African-American journalist inducted in the club’s 153-year history.

Sam's Book Cover
Sam’s book is a great read that moves from ‘sports’ to ‘more’.

In 2003 Sam’s media peers elected him Colorado’s Print Journalist of the Year. His experiences as a sports journalist for major daily newspapers in the U.S. began with the Denver Post in 1986, included a stint with the Charlotte Observer (1995-96) and finished with 13 years at the Rocky Mountain News. His coverage for many of the world’s most popular sporting events (from Super Bowls to Olympiads) helped Sam gain perspective for his book titled, If You Don’t Believe Me: Lessons Learned from Listening To The Greats (released in April 2013.) In the book, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway offers the following tribute to Sam…“Through the ups and downs of an NFL career, I developed great trust, respect, and appreciation for him. Blending an uncanny ability to mix humor with keen insight and knowledge, Sam is a one-of-a-kind storyteller.”

Sam’s motivational keynote presentation is titled ‘Going Up: Taking Steps To Elevate Your Levels Of Success.’ The keynote offers riveting stories and intriguing references from his personal and professional odysseys. The audience will gain insightful and humorous tips for success gleaned from Sam’s numerous encounters with an A-List of stars — from professional sports Hall of Famers to world-renown, award-winning entertainers.

Comedian. Storyteller. Journalist. Speaker. Commercial actor.

Count on Sam Adams to live up to the professional quality of entertainment he promises to give audiences of all ages.

There were two stars on the night…….Host Sam Adams….not the beer guy…..who was hysterical in a PG way that reminded us of Bill Cosby. They should have let him do the whole two hours. The other big winner was the funnel cake fries which were sweet and delicious and served in a big basket. Sam Adams, in my opinion, is a spectacular talent waiting to be discovered on a national stage. If you see him on the list of performers, you should go. — Review of Comedy Works of Denver

Sam has appeared with the likes of Daniel Tosh, Mike Epps, Jake Johannsen, Wendy Liebman, Greg Warren, and Frank Caliendo, as well as opening for musicians and bands like The Guess Who, Three Dog Night, Al Jarreau, Air Supply, Al Stewart, and Starship. A world-class entertainer—and a classy guy in general—the Ozark Arts Council is thrilled to bring Sam Adams back to the Lyric stage!

Comedian Sam Adams #LiveAtTheLyric Saturday, December 17, 2021 at 7:00. Tickets are available on our ticketing page, by visiting the OAC office at 115 W. Rush Ave. (just to the left of the Lyric doors) or by calling (870) 391-3504; $15–$18 in advance, $20–$25 at the door.

OAC Ticketing Link

One thought on “Take a Break from Holiday Shopping: Comedian Sam Adams Returns! — Friday, December 17, 2021 at 7:00 — #LiveAtTheLyric!”

  1. It’s a little scary hearing that your favorite band—or restaurant or spouse or comedian—is going to showcase “the new stuff”: they are your favorite for a reason, after all! We brought Sam Adams to our theater the first time for a simple reason: the True Color video. We knew his humor would resonate with the people of our area so that even where standup had often not filled the seats in the past, we were confident that Sam would fill the seats and make those who came glad they were there. We never really counted on what happened, though: a full-scale adoption that conferred ‘favorite son’ status on a comedian who was “not scared, but concerned” about coming to Harrison, Arkansas. Would our favorite son now disappoint us by leaving behind our “True Color Comfort Zone”?

    The answer to that question should have been easy, just based on what Sam’s comedy had already taught us. Though not a hoodie guy, Sam slipped out of his usual sport coat and into the Harrison Golden Goblins hoodie he had been given on a previous trip and, just as with the change of material, the man inside those clothes and the man inside the comedy remained the same. Of course the new stuff would be good—it was still Sam, after all! In the four years he had made the annual journey to us from Denver, Sam was always Sam…but always being Sam doesn’t mean “always the same,” but “always growing, always refining.” Whether what he was talking about was an entirely new area for us or a hearkening back and expanding on things he’d shared before, the hours of contemplation that the pandemic forced had allowed him to refine and expand his ability to make us laugh. Sam was Sam, so the new stuff was hilarious.

    As usual, Sam delivered far more than he promised, a hilarious show of new material, some extra takeoffs from things he’d talked about before, and some warm and truly funny remembrances of his parents and grandparents and others who shaped him as a youth, as well as of the history we’ve shared through his being here for past shows. As you can tell from his stories about audiences in other places and the impact they’ve had on his life, Sam loves what he does and brings all of his journalist skills to bear in doing it, studying his audiences and remembering them so that he is always growing in his ability to bring them joy. That’s what Sam’s ‘new stuff’ demonstrates all the more to me, and this show was a great reminder of why Harrison, Arkansas loves Sam Adams: he cares to make us laugh. That’s guaranteed to be a winning recipe whatever he cooks up and wherever he serves it, so bring on the new stuff, so long as it’s Sam!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.