Harry J. Riley
Flood Valley Brewing Craft Taphouse will host “Highwater Hilarities” on Saturday Jan. 4 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. featuring comedians, Harry J. Riley, Natalie Holt and Travis Nelson.
Owner of Flood Valley Craft Brewing Taphouse Chris Rohr said he has been hosting “Highwater Hilarities” every month since April with positive reactions from the community and performances from excellent comedians.
“These are the shows that other people are paying $20 to $25 to see in other places and we’re only charing $10 because we’re not out here trying to make a bunch of money we just want to have something for the community to do and have a good time,” said Rohr.
Riley was a finalist in the Seattle International Comedy Competition and he won Valleyfest’s PG Comedy Competition three times. He has also appeared in the movie “Falling Up” and on the SYFY television show Z-Nation, according to Riley’s personal website.
“My favorite thing about being a comedian is bringing laughter to people,” said Riley. “I am also terrible at a desk job.”
Riley was born in a small town in South Carolina and served in the U.S. Airforce. It was during his last year of service in the Air Force that he started performing stand up comedy that touched on topics of his childhood and “crazy musings” according to Riley’s personal website.
Riley told The Chronicle that he is excited for the upcoming show at the Flood Valley Brewing Craft Taphouse.
“I have not performed in the area before so this will be new to me. These are the first comedy shows of a new year and a new decade so I am excited to hopefully light a path of funny for those that come out.” said Riley.
Riley has performed all over the western side of the country and said he has worked with other comics including Dan Cummins, Jay Wendle Walker, Jay Mohr, Jamie Kennedy and others.
For a look at Riley’s personality and his perspective on being a comedian, he has a blog on wordpress at harryjriley.wordpress.com/, which includes posts titled “Gift Ideas for the Comedian in Your Life,” “How Comedy Competitions Ruined Me”, and “How to be a Great ‘Corporate’ Comic.”
Natalie Holt is a Seattle-based comedian who is involved in the Seattle’s Comedy Underground weekly open mic night, the longest running comedy open mic in Seattle, has appeared at Seattle’s Bumbershoot festival, the 208 Comedy Festival, Asheville Comedy Festival, and 10,000 Laughs, according to an interview conducted on “Working Comic,” a podcast.
Travis Nelson was raised in Grays Harbor and has performed across the U.S. and Canada in comedy clubs, cruise ships, theaters, colleges, and bars, according to his personal website.
“The lack of sunshine and abundance of caffeine fostered his obsessive personality. With an act that intertwines real personal stories and experiences with absurd and imaginative meanderings, he invites the audience to escape into the sometimes dark but always lighthearted playground of his psyche,” stated his website when describing his comedy style.
Rohr said the seating is limited and a good show in the space will see about 60 people.
“We’ve got good beer, good food, it’s not super expensive and after the show you get to meet the comedians and hang out,” said Rohr.
Flood Valley Brewing Craft Taphouse is located at 289 Northwest Chehalis Avenue in Chehalis. Tickets to the “Highway Hilarities” comedy show are $10 and can be purchased at www.eventbrite.com/e/highwater-hilarities-happy-new-year-with-harry-j-riley-tickets-85293086919.
