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For Immediate Release:
July
15, 2004
“Bicycling Comedian”
Pedals to Marshalltown
for July 28 Performance
Comedian Tom
Snyders has spent the past 17 years pedaling his fully-loaded touring
bicycle to all his stand-up comedy performances. He’s cycled more than
125,000 miles and to all 50 states. Along the way he snaps pictures of
weird and amusing road signs he encounters – the best of which are
featured in his live performances.
His next stop is
RAGBRAI in Marshalltown, Iowa, where he will perform his one-man comedy
show at the First Presbyterian Church, 101 S. Center St., on Wednesday,
July 28. Snyders will perform four shows – 4:00, 5:30, 7:00 and 8:30
p.m. Tickets are $6.00, payable in cash at the door.
Snyders, known as
“The Bicycling Comedian,” will arrive at the show by bicycle. Before
getting to Iowa, he pedaled from Key West, Fla., to New York City,
performing at comedy clubs and bike events on his way up the East Coast.
He will eventually end up in Los
Angeles in October.
Marshalltown is one
of many stops Snyders will make on what he’s calling “the first-ever
book tour by bicycle.” He’s promoting
National Lampoon’s
Big Book of True Facts,
an all-new collection of absurd-but-true humor from everyday life. The
hardcover book, which was released June 23, features more than 200
photographs of funny road signs contributed by Snyders. He and his
bicycle are featured on the cover.
Snyders’ journey
and his “Smile America Bicycle Comedy Tour” began in 1987 when he left
Las Vegas by bicycle. Since then he’s been pedaling the back roads of
this country performing his clean, unique, one-man comedy show at bike
events, conferences and comedy clubs.
Over the years, he’s pedaled onto the
set of ten national television shows, including appearances on Good
Morning America and Live! With Regis & Kathie Lee. He’s also
appeared on Comedy Central and ESPN and he’s been a featured performer
at the “Just For Laughs” International Comedy Festival in Montreal,
Canada.
“I’m off the
interstate and not going by at 60 miles an hour so I see a lot of
strange stuff,” Snyders explains. “Some of it’s incredibly funny, and I
always keep my camera loaded and ready.”
On this journey
Snyders has also: been attacked by a police dog; pedaled up a mountain
in the middle of a raging snow storm; looked a grizzly bear in the eye
from 15 feet away; been run out of town by local police in Georgia; and
tried to figure out how to possibly have a steady relationship while on
the road for 17 years.
Snyders has also written
a screenplay; coincidentally, it’s about a comedian who travels by
bicycle to all his stand-up comedy performances. “It’s Forrest Gump
meets Seabiscuit,” he jokes.# # #
It's not just a comedy show, it's an adventure! |