Comic Relief at Redding’s

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT > AC NIGHTLIFE

Three Atlantic City friends are putting on a comedy show with top-shelf talent at an affordable price.  

By Ray Schweibert 

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Dec. 14, 2011

ATLANTIC CITY — Three friends born and raised in Atlantic City have teamed up to present an event called the Comedy 4 Peace Laugh Out Loud Jam — a show not just designed to lift local spirits in tough times for an affordable cost, but to help revive the same sense of camaraderie in a community that their longstanding friendship may best reflect.  

“What initiated us is that my company provides DJ and entertainment for parties and we like to get involved with events related to good will,” says Ramone McClellan. “Fareed [Abdullah], Kevin [Francis] and I are all childhood friends, and now that we’re doing business on this level we decided to do an event together just to give back to our community in light of all of the violence that has been happening, and with all the people who are desperately in need.” 

The show will start 8pm Saturday, Dec. 17, at Redding’s Restaurant & Lounge, Kentucky and Pacific avenues in A.C., and will be headlined by Harlem-based comic Smokey Suarez, a regular on such high-profile series as HBO’s Def Comedy Jam and the Bad Boys of Comedy, BET’s One Mic Stand and others. Opening for Suarez will be veteran comics Ray Diva and Shawn Harvey. 

“We’re in tough times and we just saw this as a way to sort of help break the monotony of all the bad news — three guys from your community who are trying to do something positive and to give back,” says McClellan. “That’s the basic premise.” 

Like his associates, McClellan (whose cousin is established actor/musician Mos Def) is a longtime entertainment-industry affiliate whose business alias is Blakk Dyno’mite. His daily job is as a teacher at PleasanTech Charter School in Pleasantville, and Francis, who goes by DJ K-Ave in the nightlife world (and will host Saturday’s after-party at Redding’s from 10pm-1am) is a juvenile detective by day. Abdullah is firmly entrenched in the Philadelphia nightlife scene as the CEO of E.V. 4 Change Entertainment, and was largely responsible for assembling the talent for Saturday night’s gig. 

“Fareed’s done several events in Philadelphia, Maryland and a few other places, and he’s the one who put all the acts together,” says McClellan. “He’s worked with Smokey and many other comedians in a lot of different shows. He’s very skillful in selecting talent and putting them together to make sure that the show jibes and meets the demographics that we’re looking at.” 

Abdullah managed to land Suarez (pictured) as the headliner even though Suarez has his own birthday bash to attend later that night in New York City. 

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