DC ExtraTime: AYTO Takes Over Boogie's Comedy Slam

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Tomorrow is a day most of us have been looking forward to, or dreading, depending on the mood you are in right now as we are this close to Election Day. As a place you come to for a place of escape as detailed by a slogan I've taken ownership of since March - "The Escape You Deserve", we don't really need to elaborate on that title above... but one aspect of American society which has taken full advantage of this situation we are in has been the world of comedy. And judging by the playful jabs and jokes that Stephen Colbert and other late night talk show hosts have given us before bed all during this tough year, then they have treated this campaign and lead-up to tomorrow as a daily field day.

Making you laugh has been a regular fixture of this DCBLOG ExtraTime series, including the instances of online pranksters hanging out with MTV'ers, the lighter moments involving these people, and what we got planned next in showing those hilarious costumes from back on Halloween on Saturday night. And someone who's been a frequent subject on here has been the resident comedian of the show that brought me into watching romantic reality TV: John Jacobs was part of the first Are You The One? cast and paved the way for other shows to join The Challenge when he was on Battle of the Exes 2, but we've featured JJ many times here including his Tampa News Force YouTube satire series.

Two years ago, we had another comedian take a break from telling jokes to head to the one show where the hopes of a perfect match and a million dollars can live or die by lasers and lights. And just recently, that man got to do what he does best in front of a couple NBA stars and in two places he calls home: the stand-up stage and in the place he grew up in - the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area.

At first glance, the Season 7 cast of Are You The One? are smack dab in the middle of the renowned Season 6 cast that proceeded them, and last year's trend-setting eighth season that became a milestone for the LGBTQ+ community. But this is the same cast that gave us more than a few notable figures.

   Maria Elizondo may not have lasted long in the AYTO house after being an early perfect match that summer with Shamoy Persad, but she's gone on to bigger things as part of the Jersey Shore iteration of A Double Shot at Love and the crush of the Keto King, Vinny Guadagnino. A couple who we also saw there and came out of the truth booth a perfect match, Kenya Scott & Tevin Grant, then showed up on Season 3 of Ex On The Beach last year. Nutsa Sikharulidze had a year-long relationship with Season 5's Ozzy Morales after her romance with Brett Ferri, while Zak Jones garnered buzz dating Season 1 original Shanley McIntee after courting Bria Hamilton in Hawaii.

   Pageant queen Lauren Roush was in the same Miss USA 2018 field as recent Big Brother/Challenge star Bayleigh Dayton, while former Seahawks cheerleader Kayla Umagat got to be a dancing gnome on an episode of Ellen. Her crush, Cam Viney, once asked Taylor Swift out to prom while he was in high school, while two guys with international ties - Kwasi Opoku and Daniel Vilk - got another chance at love on a digital version of MTV 90's hit Singled Out. And we can't forget that Instagram heartthrob, Andrew Couture, or fellow lovebirds Cali Trepp & Tomas Buenos.

Someone who flew under the radar a bit on Season 7 two years ago was Oakland comedian Lewis Belt, who as our bio on him wrote: "...is known not only for his sense of humor but also his good looks and smile. You can't say the same when it comes to his romantic life, even though he has seen what true life is like thanks to his parents but has yet to experience what it's like himself. Because he fronts with his comedy, he doesn't open up that much, but his female friends say to not take him seriously. Lewis' goal here: bust out of that shell and gamble being vulnerable to find true love."

   As most of the attention was on everyone else in the house, Lewis got just about as much face time as Andrew and Maria: not much in that category. But as it turns out, him being a background figure on an MTV show would still become a stepping stone to bigger things to come after leaving that house $50K richer, thanks in part to this national TV exposure and boosting his fledging career to the point that he now has something big in that resume.

Comedy is embedded in Lewis' DNA, having grown up watching Russell Simmon's Def Comedy Jam and BET's ComicView thinking to himself that he would want to be on a stage like that. He has performed stand-up for eight years not only in Oakland but also across the country including in comedy clubs down in Los Angeles, where he calls home most of the time when not going back and forth with the Bay. He has also developed a good social following with a 143K following on Instagram @LewDo2Much and having done content for his YouTube channel since 2014.

   For someone who calls himself a class clown, it's at the ladder that that he developed his live wire alter-ego SonnieBo, which Bay Area public media outlet KQED calls, "...an amalgamation of a post-hyphy Bay Area archetype." Videos involving SonnieBo ranging from skits to music have gone viral with nine of them chalking up views in the hundreds of thousands, making up for nearly three-fourth's of his channel's nearly four million views, including going up against Mistah Fab in a rap battle and hanging out with Beast Mode -- Marshawn Lynch.

   Belt spent his childhood, adolescence and early part of his adult life in one of the most diverse regions in this country, having first taken the stand-up stage in the nearby suburb of Antioch in Contra Costa County before heading down to Oakland. Where he lives now there are plenty of comedy clubs around the Southland, but thanks to L.A. taking a page out of the playbook of Bay Area culture he feels almost right at home. And while in his new home, Lewis got to share a movie set Mike Epps, who he cites as a personal inspiration as Lewis sets his sight on comedic stardom.

For any comedian, perhaps a couple of their stated goals is to land a big spot on a major comedy festival and to have their own nationally-televised stand-up special... and in the course of a few days last month, Lewis was able to check off both on his to-do list. In early October, he took part in the 2020 edition of the Olympics of stand-up comedy, the Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival... and like other events this year, it reverted to the virtual sphere and he performed for online viewers on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, which takes place at the same time as Indigenous People's Day in the U.S.

   Before taking the Just For Laughs stage, Lewis also took another stage in the comforts of home... but this one took place a long time ago. In April 2019, he was approached by NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins, who joined the hometown Warriors during the midst of their dynasty in the Association, about taking part in the latest installment of his online comedy series, Boogie's Comedy Slam. It was filmed that same month at the historic Paramount Theatre before the start of what would be the last stand for the Dubs, as their reign as defending champions ended at the hands of the Raptors two months later.

   The half-hour special, which began the Rookie of the Year sub-series to highlight new comics, not only includes Boogie but also Stephen Curry, who sat in the audience to watch Lewis perform in front of his hometown crowd and showed his appreciation for the MVP when he spotted him sitting in the front row. His set makes mention of embattled singer R. Kelly among other matters, which as he told Athletes Creative Trap, "Words wouldn't even explain this project. You gotta really watch it and be like, okay, I see why he was excited about this."

Below, the trailer for Lewis' Rookie of the Year special which premiered on the Amazon Prime Video platform last month and of him roasting the MVP. A caution: the videos below as well as the special itself, contain adult content.

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