Killer Beaz comedy buzzing at The Ritz Friday

By DEUCE NIVEN

tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com

     Truett S. Beasley Jr. has never been to Tabor City, but the comic better known as Killer Beaz says he knows small towns, and he’s looking forward to his performance here Friday.

     His 8 p.m. performance will last about 90 minutes. Doors at The Ritz Center on Hickman Road open at 7 p.m. For ticket information click here.

     Now in his eighth season on the Discovery Channel series “Moonshiners,” Beaz has a long body of work that includes Bill Engvall’s New All-Stars of Country Comedy: Vol. 2 in 2002; Killer Beaz, Southern by the Grade of God: and Follow Me To Mudcat Creek.

Stand-up vet

     Born in small-town Andalusia, Mississippi, Beaz said he grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, got the bug for comedy young. His training was a bit less than traditional.

     “My earliest memory of performing was in a funeral home,” Beaz said. “Dad was a funeral director and an embalmer. I had the run of the funeral home.

     “Every day I would see sad people. I learned that I could do silly cute stuff and the crying people would stop crying and come over.”

     Teachers and classmates saw the comedy spark.

     “I was the wittiest in school,” Beaz said. “I was told forever that I should be a comedian. There was no comedy scene in Mississippi, it really wasn’t something that was available.”

     Beaz realized early that neither New York nor Los Angeles were the right place for him to hone his comic skills.

     “When it looked like I wanted to be a comic professionally, I looked at Nashville,” Beaz said.

     Why?

     “Friend, they won’t discriminate because of your accent,” he said. “It’s a show biz town.”

     Nashville is an ultra-competitive place for a performer, music or comedy, Beaz said.

     “When I went the line to get stage time was a mile long,” Beaz said. “I’ve done all the improvs, the ice house, comedy store. I’ve done so many free shows, like 100.”

     Eventually Beaz got noticed. He even earned a blue jacket at the renowned Ryman Auditorium.

     “I got the blue jacket from the guy who made Dolly Parton’s and Porter Waggoner’s,” Beaz said.

     For more of this story see this week’s Tabor-Loris Tribune in print and online.