Allen and Riffe to bring laughs

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Henry Allen will be returning his seventh time, to raise funding for Friends of Portsmouth (FoP) later this month, bringing friend Austin Riffe along to share laughs, music and a good time.

The young comedian with Minford roots has had a busy 12 years learning the craft and says that he has come a long way in finding his place.

“Henry is a laid back, funny guy. He can be straight and clean, but he can be raunchy as possible,” Friends of Portsmouth Executive Director Bryan Smith said. “It just depends on what we say to expect, but, this is an adult crowd, so it is pretty free game. If you’re coming to a comedy night, you better be prepared.”

Allen said that he has a great show planned for his sixth Friends of Portsmouth visit.

“I guess I’m kind of storytell-y, not very serious. I do play music with my best friend Austin Riffe who is, like, an insanely incredibly talented musician. The show is going to be me doing a little bit of crowd work and improvising; I call people out sometimes, stuff like that,” Allen said. “We’ll do some stand up and tell some stories and jokes about my life. Then, for about 30 minutes, I will perform with Austin and we will sing songs about Portsmouth, Joe Biden, Trump and stuff like that.”

The FoP are allowed to fit in 105 guests at the Holiday Inn, where they will be hosting the two friends. Smith suggested that people get tickets early, because a majority, five out of six, have sold out. In some cases, they’re over capacity and still have people asking for a seat.

“There usually isn’t a dry eye in the room. He is hilarious and I’ve never heard a complaint from anyone who has come out for a night of his,” Smith said. “Plus, he is always changing his routine and adding new materials, so, you’re not going to hear the same stuff. I mean, you may hear one or two jokes repeated, only because they’re just that good, but it is all mostly new stuff.”

Smith said that all proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit the expenses of Winterfest.

“In supporting the comedy night as a fundraiser for Winterfest, it helps support having the skating rink, being able to put up the lights, being able to have the extra props that we do, the extra decorations we are looking at this year, vendors space for vendors. In general, it really helps go to that overall cost of bringing all that stuff in for Winterfest.”

The comedy night will thrill Saturday, September 24, between 6 and 9:30 p.m., at the Holiday Inn. There are no hard tickets for the event. Anyone wanting a ticket will need to visit the group’s Facebook or Eventbrite pages. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m. Servers will be onsite and a cash bar will be available.

Reach Joseph Pratt at (740) 353-3101, by email at [email protected], © 2022 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved

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