On April 30, Gene May and his cohorts in Damage Control gave exposure to some of the region’s most underexposed and offbeat talent. The event at The Heights trolley barn space provided yuks aplenty with stand-up comedians, sketch groups, musicians, rappers and oddball acts who fall between the cracks of tradition and avant-garde. Gavin Hawk and Ricky Wayne of American Stage and comedy Rapper Big Cheese were the standouts of the night. The owners of Car Credit were in the crowd (Damage Control does their TV spots), and they dug the Cheese-man so much they had him rap to their next commercial. The spot went on to win IFC’s Rhett and Link LOCO commercial challenge (more below). Despite a couple of technical glitches, the event was a success and pretty darn admirable for a local homegrown launch. TampaComedyFest.com.
