Tallent Show to Take Over Renwick Mansion Ground on Sunday
Comedian Sam Tallent will perform Sunday at 7 p.m. outdoors at the Renwick Mansion, 901 Tremont Ave., Davenport, as part of the Tomfoolery on Tremont stand-up series.
Food and a full bar will available for purchases, as will copies of Tallent’s new book. Single tickets are $12, available at Eventbrite.com. A table for four is available for $40 at Eventbrite.
Tallent’s self-published debut novel, “Running the Light” (February 2020) has been highly praised by comedians Kyle Kinane, Bert Kreischer, and Doug Stanhope.
Stanhope called it: “Brilliant writing. Astounding. One of the best books I’ve read. Ever. The best fictional representation of comedy in any medium.”
Sam Tallent
“Debauched, divorced and courting death, Billy Ray Schafer is a comedian who has forgotten how to laugh,” according to a book synopsis. “Over the course of seven spun-out days across the American Southwest, he travels from hell gig to hell gig in search of a reason to keep living in this bleak and violent glimpse into the psyche of a thoroughly ruined man.
“Ex-inmate, ex-husband, ex-father — comedian is the only title Schafer has left. Trapped in the wreckage of his wasted career, Billy Ray knows the answer to the question: what happens when the opportunity doesn’t come — or worse — it comes and goes?”
In 2019, Tallent was one of the “New Faces” at the Just For Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival. His bio says the 33-year-old Denver-based comic is known for “whip-quick wit and rollicking improvisations, and is one of the sharpest, most original rising talents in comedy today.”
He has worked alongside many of the biggest names in comedy, including Russell Peters, Ron White, and Dave Chappelle. He recently won his battle on Comedy Central’s Roast Battle, and was seen on VICELAND’s Flophouse as well as The Chris Gethard Show.
An August 2020 feature at denverpost.com said Tallent “prides himself on his manic, seat-of-your-pants improvisation and punk-rock credentials, is ready to be taken seriously.
“My comedy’s silly and stupid,” he told the paper. “It works at the Oklahoma comedy club as well as in Denver. But if you’re a comedy nerd, you can find interesting things there, too.”
The Renwick Mansion is at 901 Tremont Ave., Davenport.
“Stand-ups often labor to balance smart and stupid in their acts, but Tallent’s sets frequently blow past that goal on the way to surreal, chaotic bliss,” the story said. “Rapid-fire wordplay rams headlong into ridiculous, inventive premises as the physically imposing Tallent roams the stage, constructing jokes in real-time.”
“The economy of words is important in stand-up,” said Tallent, who made up one-quarter of the Fine Gentleman’s Club, the Denver comedy institution that formerly ran weekly showcases under the Too Much Fun banner. “I could never write a joke down on a piece of paper, like some of these other comics.”
The gorgeous Renwick Mansion was built in 1877 by lumber baron William Renwick. It is Davenport’s finest example of Italian Revival Villa architecture, according to www.renwickmansion.net.
The home features a large fourth-story tower that overlooks Davenport and the Mississippi River, amazing wood trim and 12-14 foot doors, 8 bedrooms available for rent, 8 fireplaces, a 3-story staircase, a limestone exterior and it sits on four acres in the heart of Davenport.
In 1907, the mansion became part of St. Katharine’s School, and in 1973 was sold and became part of a nursing home complex. Although it was listed on the National Register of historic places in 1983, the home fell into disrepair. The ailing complex was purchased by a historic property developer in 1997, who renovated the St. Katherine’s location and the Renwick House.
In 2007, the Renwick was updated with geothermal and opened to the public as a wedding reception venue and bed and breakfast. After closing in 2016, the Renwick House was opened once again in 2017, as a premier location for weddings, receptions, reunions, parties and meetings, the site says.
