Welcome to On the Radar, where we preview up-and-coming arts events to mark your calendar for. Seems like everything has been ghost and ghoul-related lately, but if you're in search of a little levity, head to The Tampa Improv to see comedian Roy Johnson next Wednesday.
He's been beefing up his funny resume since his first-ever open mic in 2000. A year later, he headlined and produced his first homegrown showcase of local talent (eight followed) and the Improv eventually hired him on as the house MC in 2002. He continued to carve a name out for himself on the road, got a ringing endorsement from standup legend David Brenner (who said Johnson “is absolutely brilliant and is destined to be a world class headliner”), won the Maxxim/Bud Light-sponsored Real Men competition and enjoyed a cushy gig opening for Charlie Murphy, Joe Rogan and John Heffron on the Real Men of Comedy Tour, released a CD, Love Notes From the True Romantic, and triumphed in the I-4 Comedy War against the best comics of Tampa and Orlando. Johnson is headed to LA and performs one more night of his observational comedy – about anything from his experiences living in Florida and dealing with hurricanes and redneck neighbors, to the follies of romance and life after marriage – this Wednesday at his farewell show. See him off, buy him a beer, and be prepared to laugh your ass off. Wed., Nov. 4, 8 p.m., Tampa Improv in Centro Ybor, Ybor City, $8, tampaimprov.com. – Leilani Polk
This article appears in Oct 22-28, 2009.