WellRED Tour, Howlin Wolf

Photography: Canonblue Lalley

Words: L.B. Wilson

New Orleans, Louisiana 

On March 30, New Orleans’ Howlin’ Wolf hosted Corey Ryan Forrester, Drew Morgan, and Trae Crowder of the WellRED Comedy Tour. The Howlin’ Wolf is an awesomely New-Orleans-Style venue, with a bluesy, speakeasy, just-grimy-enough-to-be-cool-but-not-enough-to-be-concerned-with aesthetic that showgoers come to expect from New Orleans nightspots. Exposed brick walls and an open floor face a massive stage that works as well for a rock show as it did for standup.

The WellRED guys did two shows, and both sets slayed the crowd. For those unfamiliar with their message, the WellRED comedians have made careers out of exposing the politically liberal views of Southerners and criticizing the stereotype that everyone with a drawl must necessarily be an ignorant hillbilly. A highbrow political-comedy style combined with each comic’s thick Appalachia accent and exquisite timing makes for an great show. Each comic puts a specific twist on the irony of the good-ole-boy-liberal. Corey Forrester’s set stole the show with his insistence that Southern liberals were “new to liberalism” and should be permitted certain conservative vices to ease their transition. Drew Morgan is an attorney-turned-comedian, and while his set is more academic and biting, his critique of capitalism-driven-democracy is placed in an allegory about a state fair carney named “Buckshot.” The headliner, YouTube sensation Trae Crowder, splits the difference between the two and offered jokes that were familiar to fans of his famous porch-rants, with plenty of stage-exclusive material that crushed; go see his show specifically for his bit about his wife’s attitude on “thoughts and prayers.” Leading with Corey, raising the intensity with Drew, and bringing the tone back to the familiar with Trae is too genius to be an accident. It kept the show hilarious from cover-to-cover, and if you ever get a chance to see these guys live, do.