Mud House turns into a laugh house

The Mississippi Mud House, Cape Girardeau's newest coffee shop and entertainment venue, continues to bring something new to town. The Mud House has started a comedy series that features a different comedian every Wednesday night.

For Timexx Nasty, event coordinator and co-owner of the Mud House, comedy is an almost guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

"I like comedy, and I've gone to a lot of comedy clubs. It's hard not to enjoy laughing," he said.

When local residents expressed interest and he "saw that there was a desire for comedy in Cape," Timexx decided to bring them the laughs.

"We were already discussing different avenues for this venue, and a lot of people were interested in comedy," he said. "There's no other thing like this in town."

He teamed up with Richard Cason, MC and part-time freelancer for the Southeast Missourian, to bring live comedy to the Mud House. The acts have been all local so far, but they'll bring in their first national comedian Wednesday with Longhorn the Comedian, who Timexx said is "promoted as the world's only black cowboy comedian."

Hailed as one of the most unique acts in comedy, Longhorn is a Texan who blends jokes and observations from his "country boy" point of view.

He has performed with some of the country's best known comedians including D.L. Hughley, Paul Mooney, Aries Spears, Tracy Morgan and Cheryl Underwood. Other upcoming comedy nights will feature local comedians Rusty Hughes and BuDreAux the Clown.

"BuDreAux is a little strange, but he's funny," Timexx said.

Cason will host the comedy nights, and Timexx said there will be a open-mic break each week where anyone can step up to the microphone to test their comedy skills.

The Mud House is smoke-free, and Timexx said since the venue doesn't serve alcohol, "it's not like a comedian shows up and tries to make a bunch of drunken college students laugh."

He said the comedy nights are more like dinner theater.

"People can eat dinner, drink some coffee and enjoy the show," he said. "Most shows run from around 7 to 11 p.m., so this is more of an early venue. People can still be home in time to watch the news, go to bed and get up and work the next morning."

Though Longhorn the Comedian is the only national touring comedian the Mud House has booked so far, Timexx said he would like to pull other bigger name comedians from cities such as St. Louis, Memphis, Tenn. and Carbondale, Ill.

"As the word gets out, more comedians will want to perform here as well," he said. "As long as people keep coming, we'll keep doing this."

Longhorn will perform from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Mud House from 7 to 9 p.m. Admission is $3. For a full list of upcoming performers, visit myspace.com/mississippimudhouse811.

Want to go?

* What: Comedy night

* When: 7 p.m. Wednesdays

* Where: Mississippi Mud House, 811 Broadway