Bear’s Place celebrates 25 years in business with 2 comedian headliners

Bear’s Place will feature two headliners in the same show as the Bloomington institution celebrates a quarter-century of entertainment Monday. \nComedians Roy Wood Jr. and Josh Sneed will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. \n“Now in our 25th year at Bear’s Place, Comedy Caravan shows have been part of Bloomington entertainment history for longer than most people have lived in the city,” said Tom Sobel, president of TSM Artists, the parent company of Comedy Caravan. “Within its walls is a rich history of comedy older than many of the patrons who attend our shows.” \nThe partnership between Bear’s and the Comedy Caravan has become the longest-running one-night comedy show series in America, Sobel said. On March 31, 2005, USA Today published a list of “10 great places to sit down and watch stand-up.” Bear’s was listed among the ranks of comedy clubs in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas.\nBear’s stage has hosted many of America’s famous stand-up comics, including Roseanne Barr, Ellen Degeneres, Steve Harvey, Sinbad, Paula Poundstone, Darrell Hammond and Jim Breuer. The back room of Bear’s features deep wooden booths and intimate red walls from which hang framed pictures of great comedians who have taken the stage and talked with the patrons of Bear’s Place.\nThe comedians who perform at Bear’s have great respect for the venue.\n“Bear’s is historic,” Wood said. “Hundreds of great comics have come through those doors, and I love it performing there. I love how close and intimate the room is. ” \nSneed, who takes the stage with Wood Monday, has performed at Bear’s many times in the past. \n“I remember the first time I came to Bloomington,” Sneed said. “A buddy of mine was actually the one that was working at the club that night, and I was just hanging out with him. We went on stage together, and we did, like, ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway’ kind of improv stuff. And I think that night was kind of a shock to see how busy it could be on a Monday night." \nWood appeared on “The Late Show” with David Letterman as well as “The Late Late Show” with Craig Ferguson. Roy has also appeared on BET and Comedy Central. In addition, he’s known for his prank calls. He is currently working on a new prank call CD and looking into television opportunities for the future.\nSneed was featured recently in a half-hour special on Comedy Central. \n“It’s a show that has been on since before I started doing stand-up,” Sneed said. “The cool thing about that show is you get to pick what your backdrop looks like. So like even before I ever went on the stage the first time, I watched that show and always thought, ‘Man, if I would ever do that, what would my backdrop look like? I always had this picture in my head of a high school classroom that would look like I was in detention. And then last summer when they told me that I got picked for one, that was the thing that I was most excited about, not the paycheck, not being on TV. It was this thing I had dreamed about for so long becoming a reality.”\nNow Sneed is working on a five-minute set to send out to different late night shows, and he’s also headlining in many major cities. Recently, he started a T-shirt company with a friend. These shirts can be found at www.lookatmeshirts.com. \nSneed said coming up with material is all about keeping your eyes open. Wood also has an analytic approach.\n“Material for me comes from me simply overanalyzing the world in which we live,” Wood said. “For as long as I have a crazy friend and for as long as the world has stupid people, I’ll always have material.”\nMonday night Sneed and Wood will perform two shows at Bear’s Place. The first show begins at 7:30 p.m. and the second begins at 10:15 p.m. Admission for the event is $5 at the door.\n“I just want people to know that they need to support the live comedy,” Sneed said. “Especially at a place as cool as Bear’s Place, because they’re very fortunate to have something that cool like that on a Monday night.”