Denver comic just got his own Comedy Central special
Denver stand-up Adam Cayton-Holland, who co-stars on the truTV sitcom “Those Who Can’t,” has become the first Denver-based comic to get his own special as part of Comedy Central’s “The Half Hour” series.
The news came this week as Comedy Central announced a rebranding its “Half Hour” specials, now entering their sixth season, as “Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents.”
The network named 36-yearold Cayton-Holland as one of the
14 rising names in its 2017 crop, which also includes Anthony Devito, Jo Firestone, Solomon Georgio, Casey James Salengo, Sam Jay, Josh Johnson, Joel Kim Booster, Lashonda Lester, Chris Redd, Yamaneika Saunders, Julio Torres, Shane Torres and Jenny Zigrino.
“I recorded a set at El Charrito awhile back and my people submitted that — and I got it!” Cayton-Holland said over the phone from Los Angeles. “I had recorded an hour with the goal of doing something like that, and Comedy Central bit.”
Previous “Half Hour” comics include Nikki Glaser, Ron Funches, Michael Che and Chris Gethard, as well as Colorado natives Ben Kronberg, Dan Soder and Noah Gardenswartz.
Denver-based stand-ups have also appeared in various shows on Comedy Central before, such as Steve McGrew, Josh Blue and Cayton-Holland’s Grawlix troupe cohorts Ben Roy and Andrew Orvedahl. And certainly, Denver native T.J. Miller has been ubiquitous on the network with full-length specials (“No Real Reason”) and series (“Mash Up,” as well as the upcoming “The Gorburger Show”).
But Cayton-Holland is the first comic who lives in Denver to get his own special on Comedy Central as part of its half-hour series — even if he’s currently in Los Angeles writing Season 3 of “Those Who Can’t,” which begins shooting in June and is set to premiere on truTV in October.
“This year I’m in L.A. for five months so I feel like an L.A. sell-out half the time, but I’m Denver through and through,” said Cayton-Holland, who in 2014 fulfilled a longtime dream by throwing out the first pitch at a Rockies game.
News of the special comes four years after Cayton-Holland’s national TV debut on “Conan” — and only a couple months after “Those Who Can’t” was greenlit for a third season on truTV.
Cayton-Holland also announced in October that he will be writing a memoir for Touchstone Books called “Tragedy Plus Time,” about the suicide of his younger sister Lydia. His first draft is due in May — he said he is “working his (butt) off ” on it at the moment — and the book is scheduled to be published in May 2018.
That makes for a busy 2017 for Cayton-Holland, who will also shortly be rolling out the lineup for his latest High Plains Comedy Festival, which will return to the Mile High City Aug. 24-26.
Still, he’s most intimidated by the fact that this will be his longest-ever stand-up set on TV.
“I’m pretty excited. I’ve been headlining for years now and I have lots of material, since I haven’t recorded an album in awhile. Probably over two hour’s worth. But this will be the longest set I’ve ever done on TV, by four times. I’m not quaking in my boots, but I’m not trying to be cocky about it, either.”
“Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents…” is scheduled to film 14 new episodes at the Civic Theatre in New Orleans from Wednesday, April 19 through Saturday, April 22 at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. each night. Tickets are free and can be requested at tblus.com/ ccsup.