Born To Be Funny at Comedy Jamboree

“Some people are born to do math,” muses Andy Parks. “Some are born to be nurturers. And some are just born to be funny.”

Parks should know. He’s been studying the art of humor for most of two decades at Grand Country Music Hall, this year sharing the stage for the Comedy Jamboree with Master of Ceremonies Justin Sifford.

It all begins when "Andy goes out before the show and does this usher character," Sifford says. "I’m not even out there, and I’m tired just listening to it! He’s out there seating people, asking about birthdays, anniversaries, gauging the crowd. When he comes back after that, he’ll tell me what he's learned — 'they’re hot' or 'we've got our work cut out for us today.' It's worthy of a university study why some crowds are hot and some just aren’t.

"But Branson crowds are always fun and easy going," Sifford quickly adds. "As emcee, my job is I’m the straw that stirs the drink. We’re going to talk to you, engage you, possibly make fun of you. But that preshow that Andy does is the fast ball. Then we come out swinging."

Sifford says Comedy Jamboree is not Branson's traditional "country" humor. There's no country music, he says by way of example; nowadays it's rock 'n roll and pop. And the comedy, he says, is more of the sketch style, more improv and a little bit edgier.

There isn't a script, Parks adds. Instead, there is a meeting at the beginning of the year when the Comedy Jamboree team outlines some of the bits within the show. The rest, Sifford says, "is completely organic." Audience participation is always a crowd pleaser — and a lot of fun for the comedians. But Sifford adds that it isn't easy.

"You've got to be at the top of your game when you do something like that," he says, laughing himself. "You're putting it all out there, and you run the risk of failing badly. But it’s one of the parts of the show I look forward to because it’s challenging."

Sifford came to the Branson entertainment scene the same way so many people did. He worked at Silver Dollar City.

"That was my job during college," he explains. "I'd come home on the weekends and rob trains. My parents were so proud."

But the day after he graduated with a bachelor's degree in TV and radio broadcasting, he got a call saying there were openings in the theme park's saloon show. He auditioned, got the job, and met Mike Patrick, who is now his boss at Grand Country Music Hall. The rest is history — and comedy gold. Parks has Silver Dollar City on his resume, too, and says that's where he learned all about the idea of making memories with your audience.

"Andy used the word to describe this year's show as 'an experience,'" Sifford says. "That's a pretty good word! This show this year is the hardest I've ever worked! At times in the past, I had time to sit down, time to look at my phone. For this two hours, I don’t have time to go to the bathroom!

"I think people outside looking in wonder how hard can comedy be? Well, try it. And you tell me. I’ve got a college degree; I’m physically able to do most anything; I could be trained to to do most anything. But nobody can be trained to do what we do. Comedy is timing. It’s delivery. Either you have it or you don’t. I emcee, I do comedy, I sing — and I try every day to give 110 percent for those two hours."

What Parks can promise is that Comedy Jamboree will be clean.

"Someone will always be offended, and someone will always think it’s hilarious," he says. "We’re not doing other people’s jokes; we’re making it up. We'll shock them into laughter, tickle them into laughter, comfort them into laughter. Comedy should be an experience that takes you out of the theater and out of the sorrow, the sadness, the pain, the frustration, to where you can see a little light at the end of the tunnel."

Showtime for Comedy Jamboree is 3 p.m. on select dates.

Find out more and make your reservations at grandcountrylivemusic.com.