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BYRON ALLEN: TV host rounds up comedians for roundtable
*Starting today, a band of renegade comedians will wreck havoc on television. TV host/Comedian Byron Allen will debut his show “Comics Unleashed” on channels all over the world.
Allen describes the show as a comedy talk show, something like “The View,” “The Best Damn Sports Show,” or “Politically Incorrect” except all of the guests are comedians.
“’Comics Unleashed’ is basically comedians sitting around having a good time,” Allen said. “I’ve been doing stand-up comedy for about 31 years, and the best nights of my life have been hanging out with other comedians before we went on stage or after we went on stage.”
The entertainment entrepreneur tapes five of the daily half-hour shows a day and has on the panels four or five comedians such as Howie Mandel, George Wallace, Sinbad, Wayne Brady, Adam Corolla, Carol Leifer, Tommy Davidson, and Robert Wuhl.
“I give the other comedians an opportunity to shine,” Allen said of his goals for each show. “If I want to step in and do my thing, that’s easy to do; and I have my monolog, but I really want the comedians and comics to get in there and really feel comfortable. I really want them to get off. It’s like a team. If all the players are scoring and hitting, then you win the championship. My goal is to make sure everyone gets in the game, everybody’s funny – that’s my number one job.”
Allen continued that the subject matter on the show is not really planned, either. The comedians have no interest in knowing what subjects host Allen may have for each show. Allen said that it makes the show a lot more unpredictable.
“I try to talk to them about it, but they don’t want to talk about the subject. They just say, ‘Bring up anything.’ So I just bring it up and see what happens. I don’t know what’s going to happen. We go out there and we’re basically in the moment,” he said. “It’s just like friends getting together. You don’t know what’s going to happen when you get together with you friends; you just know you’re going to have some laughs.”
Though the show is made up only of comedians, and Allen acknowledged that some comedians will make return trips to the show, he assured that “Comics Unleashed” could never get stale.
“The show is always going to evolve. The comedians [will start] to really understand the format and it’s going constantly to evolve.
And then, the chemistry – the comedians are going to bring in different things. It’s going to be stronger each time,” he said
“A show like this is in need and long overdue. Where comedians can get together and make people laugh and the world needs it more than ever.”
“Comics Unleashed” is syndicated in most major markets. Check your local listings or www.es.tv for show clips, information, and broadcast times in your area.
