The words and wit of a West Georgia legend will be brought to life in Tribute to Lewis Grizzard, at the Carrollton Center for the Arts, February 4, 2021.
“This show has played across the state and all over the Southeast to sold-out audiences,” Arts Superintendent Tim Chapman said. “It delivers the funniest moments of Lewis Grizzard’s career and the personal stories that defined his life.”
Lewis Grizzard, from Moreland, Georgia, was the most widely syndicated columnist in America for 15 years before his death in 1994. South Carolina native, Bill Oberst, Jr.’s. two-act, one-man show, Tribute to Lewis Grizzard, features some of the author and humorist’s best-loved stories and jokes, along with poignant and humorous readings from his books and newspaper columns.
Oberst’s characterization of Grizzard is authorized by the writer’s family, who insist the show is the closest thing to seeing the writer onstage since Grizzard’s passing.
“When he looked down over those glasses and the audience laughed, it really was like seeing a ghost,” Grizzard’s widow, Dedra, said of when she first saw Oberst portray her husband.
Grizzard had several number-one books on the New York Times’ bestsellers list, including: Elvis Is Dead And I Don’t Feel So Good Myself, Shoot Low Boys – They’re Riding Shetland Ponies, When My Love Returns From The Ladies Room Will I Be Too Old To Care? and Don’t Bend Over In The Garden Granny – You Know Them Taters Got Eyes.
Onstage, Oberst wears Grizzard’s own Gucci loafers and favorite golf shirt. The show has been consistently popular for more than a decade, although the actor is reluctant to take too much credit personally.
“It has nothing to do with me and everything to do with Lewis,” said Oberst, “The whole experience has been one of the greatest blessings of my life. I just hope when I get to heaven, he’s not mad at me for wearing his shoes.”
This performance is sponsored by Moe’s Southwest Grill of Carrollton and The Family of Mike Steed. Tickets: are $20 and can be purchased online at https://cprcad.myboxoffice.us/, by phone at (770) 838-1083 or at the Center for the Arts box office at 251 Alabama Street in Carrollton.
What: Tribute to Lewis Grizzard, starring Bill Oberst, Jr.
When: February 4, 2021, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Carrollton Center for the Arts
For questions concerning this performance or the Carrollton Center for the Arts, please call Tim Chapman, Arts Superintendent at (770) 838-1083.
