Yellow and Company to host C-U Comedy on July 30

It’s not uncommon to find friends at Yellow & Company in Mahomet.

Whether they have gathered to paint or are looking for a unique gift, the store located at 604 E Main St. has become a staple in the Mahomet community.

But comedy shows in the town of 8,000 are hard to come by.

That is until C-U Comedy shows up at Yellow & Company on July 30.

Bringing comedy to small towns in East Central Illinois has been the focus of brothers Jesse and Justin Tuttle.

“It’s always fun to go to a smaller town where there may be a few less options on entertainment; they always seem like they appreciate it more since there aren’t as many live shows in the area,” Jesse said.

Jesse began perfecting his stand-up routine over a decade ago when he would look for “strange experiences or just little things that happen” to plug into his show.

“I also have hyper-vigilance which makes me notice every small thing happening around me,” Tuttle said. “It’s a blessing and a curse. Most people have several funny things happen to them every day; it’s just figuring out how to put it into as few words as possible and then share it with a group of strangers in hopes they will relate.”

As a kid, Tuttle listened to George Carlin, thinking about how he would enjoy making crowds laugh, but never dreamed it would be an option.

Then, one night, “on a whim” Tuttle grabbed an opportunity at an Open Mic Night in Peoria.

“When you first start, even with preparation, you don’t really know what you are doing,” he said, “which sometimes makes things better, as you are just winging it and hoping for the best.”

Tuttle said he doesn’t watch as much stand-up on television anymore as he once did.

Spending time with friends, learning from their triumphs and mistakes, then reliving it with them, is what drives his talent.

“With your friends, it’s great to see them do well,” he said. “But it’s also a fun car ride back if they do poorly.”

Learning to pick yourself back up after a flopped show is something that comedians have to face.

Coming off a show where the crowd just isn’t connecting, Tuttle said, as friends, comedians razz each other.

But, looking at it as he would a first date where two nice people just don’t have the right chemistry, Tuttle said the trick is learning that you can’t please everyone.

“It’s a hard thing to come to terms with as a performer,” he said. “I used to focus on that one person not laughing in the crowd even if the rest of the audience was really into it.  It’s a silly thing to do.”

“I also learned that I really like free drinks, so when the audience or the venue buys them for me; I’m quite okay with that.”

Whether or not Tuttle will get free drinks at Yellow and Company is still up in the air.

But, by bringing the professional traveling comedy club atmosphere to places like The Wheelhouse in St. Joseph, Sleepy Creek Vineyards in Fairmont, among other venues, in recent years has helped widen the comedian’s reach.

The Tuttles ran almost 40 shows each year through CU Comedy prior to the pandemic. But with the loss of Soma due to COVID-19 mitigations, the brothers have built a “floating” comedy club that will frequent places like Alto Vineyards and Baldarotta’s inside the Lincoln Square Mall for the time being.

Justin, who took a few months off from writing anything, said he wanted to wait until there could be people in front of him before he began to perform again.

“Honestly, I feel the same, if not more comfortable than before,” he said. “The time off made me appreciate it a lot more.  This can go away again at any time, so I’m going to enjoy it while I have it.”

The July 30 show will begin at 7:15 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.cucomedy.com/upcoming-shows.