“The Green Book Comedy Tour,” featuring veteran comic actor Mark Curry, will stop at Sassafras Farms at 315 Hill House Road in Toone, Tennessee, 65 miles northeast of Memphis, for a variety show, happy hour and afterparty at 1 p.m. – 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31.
Tickets are $75. Bus transportation, departing at 12 p.m. from Memphis’ Wolfchase Galleria mall, is available for $61.50 per person.
Produced by Steve Capers, founder of Martha’s Vineyard Comedy Fest, the tour celebrates African American history and culture, and the power of laughter to bring people together, according to organizers. It also pays tribute to the Chitlin’ Circuit, the network of Black-owned entertainment venues across the country that welcomed African American performers when mainstream theaters, clubs and concert halls refused to showcase them.
The historic “Negro Motorist Green Book,” which helped Black travelers navigate America during segregation, inspired the tour that kicked off Oct. 1 in New York and aims to connect the past with the present through comedy, music, film and storytelling.
“We like to say it’s the same road, with new stories and bigger laughs,” while honoring the historic tradition, Capers said.
The Memphis area had to be one of the stops, because of its culture and history, he added. “And traveling the country also gives us a chance to find new talent, such as Jae Henderson, who’s performing with us,” Capers said.
Henderson, a stand-up comedian, and Memphis vocalist Melvia “Chick” Rogers will perform and DJ Dolla Bill will spin records at Saturday’s West Tennessee show, before the tour travels to Xavier University for homecoming in New Orleans.
Featured performer Mark Curry, a native of Oakland, California, has entertained audiences for more than four decades, rising to national prominence as teacher and coach Mark Cooper on the ABC sitcom “Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper” from 1992 to 1997.
Sassafras Farms, a Black-owned 18-acre sustainable grange and eco-friendly retreat launched in 2021, is helmed by physician, farmer and native Memphian Dr. Gisele Bizel. It includes an event venue, guest house for up to 18 people, gift shop, vegetable crops, fruit orchard, large Koi pond and a bee apiary that produces local honey while chickens, peacocks and goats roam freely.
Proceeds from the West Tennessee comedy show benefit the Farming Initiative Supporting Sustainability Health and Wellness Project, Sassafras Farms’ service arm, which offers sustainable living education to local residents and an adopted community in Sembehun, Liberia.
For comedy show tickets, bus transportation from Wolfchase Galleria in Memphis and a schedule of events, visit www.visitsassafrasfarms.com.
Visit thegreenbooktour.com to learn more about the tour.
