Trae Crowder and Corey Ryan Forrester share a lot in common, starting with both being stand-up comedians from the South. They both got big boosts in their careers after posting viral videos — Crowder in 2016 with “The Liberal Network,” in which he delivers scathing political commentary you might not expect to gibe with his accent, and Forrester in 2021 with his alter ego “Buttercream Dream,” a faux professional wrestler who proves to be surprisingly enlightened.
At the same time, the two have very distinct styles of comedy that have complemented each other as they collaborate on several projects. With fellow comic Drew Morgan, there’s the wellRED Comedy Tour and podcast, along with the book “The Liberal Redneck Manifesto.” And Crowder and Forrester also host the Puttin’ on Airs podcast and have just released a new book, “Round Here and Over Yonder: A Front Porch Travel Guide by Two Progressive Hillbillies (Yes, That’s a Thing.)”
Published just this week, the book contains stories of their travels from all over the United States, as well as a recent tour to the U.K., told in the pair’s distinctive voices — in fact, they highly recommend the audio book if that’s your thing. But they also stress that the physical copy is, in Crowder’s words, “a great toilet book.” He elaborates: “Because it’s essays and such, you can pick it up and put it down, you can skip ahead or do whatever you want. It’s easy to read in trips to the toilet.”
As guided by the pair, you’ll get travel tips on finding the best spots in each city for food and fun as well as good-natured observations about each place visited. “Making fun of something and hating it are not mutually exclusive,” notes Forrester. “I could sit here and make fun of Dave & Buster’s for two hours, but at the end of the day, there’s not many places better to watch a football game. Like, there are 10 ‘Fast and the Furious’ movies for a reason.”
I spoke with the comedians about life on the road, how their act plays from town to town and how much acting comes into their personas.
You’ve travelled all over — do you notice dramatic differences in how the comedy plays on different coasts? Or even when you went to the U.K., did you have certain expectations?
Corey Ryan Forrester: It went better than I expected in the U.K. I mean, we I knew that we’d have a good time. And I knew that we’re both professionals. And the end of the day, we know how to do comedy, even if our comedy is not for you.
Trae Crowder: I feel like he’s downplaying it a little bit. I literally thought, “These people are not going to be able to understand the words that are coming out of my mouth!” Who cares if they get the reference points, they won’t even understand the words I’m saying! But it went well. I know that a big part of my comedy hinges on the crowd knowing this accent is considered to be dumb sounding. I asked our tour guide if that came across and he said, “Uh, yeah, I think they get that. I think pretty much everyone on Planet Earth knows that.”
Forrester: And we do play a little different when we travel. For instance, when we do shows in the South, we’re lucky enough that people who come to our shows generally know who we are. It’s not a bunch of random people at a comedy club. We actually tend to poke a little more fun at the South when we’re there because we’re amongst friends. It’s that old joke of “well, we can say that!” On the West Coast, I probably make more fun of coastal elites. It’s like the opposite of pandering, if that’s a thing.
How much of your stand-up do you think of as acting because you’ve created these personas — the Liberal Redneck and Buttercream Dream — who are characters. How much of it is you and how much is a performance?
Crowder: There are parallels with acting for sure, and it varies from stand-up to stand-up. Sometimes I’ll go out and do more voices and accents and characters, but it’s not at the level of someone who is doing sketch and improv and brilliant characters onstage. With the Liberal Redneck videos, I like to say that it’s me cranked up to 11. I come from a very rural, white trash, redneck background and I’m a progressive guy. It’s not a totally different person, it all comes from an authentic place.
Forrester: Likewise, the Buttercream Dream is 100% acting, but the things I say as him, I wholeheartedly believe. There’s no doubt that when you go on the stage, you crank it up a little bit, because it’s show business – you’re putting on a show. But when I’m on stage, there’s not one part of it I don’t touch — I’m over here, I’m over there. But that’s how I am, I’m a bubbly personality. It’s how I am when Trae and I are just talking, and I get excited because I see a Waffle House. It’s different from a total character like Andrew Dice Clay, which God bless him, that’s awesome.
I find comedians often make great actors. How much are you looking to expand as actors and even stretch yourself into, say, dramatic roles?
Crowder: I’m absolutely open to it. John Mulaney has a famous bit about watching “Law & Order” and the guy at the bar who won’t stop unloading boxes while discussing a brutal murder. I did a couple episodes of “Veronica Mars” and essentially played that guy. But I didn’t have formal training originally, and when I moved out here, I started taking classes. And it made a huge difference for me. I think back on auditions I went on before I started studying and I just cringe. There are plenty of people who are complete naturals but for me, the classes made a huge difference. And our coach, Myra Turley, specialized in comics who want to be actors, so it was perfect for me.
Forrester: I’ve done some short films, including a pretty dramatic one that’s not out yet. I do think stand-up helped me just in terms of being comfortable in front of people. And I’ve done some audio dramas that I’ve really enjoyed. I’d love to do all kinds of things — behind the camera and in front of it.
