ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Nationally renowned comedian Rory Scovel is bringing his signature brand of oddball Southern charm to the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts next week.
The WNC Benefit Show with Rory Scovel and Friends will begin at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 19, at the Diana Wortham Theatre, 18 Biltmore Ave.
Scovel will be joined by local comedians Hilliary Begley and Cayla Clark for the show, which was organized by Charlie Gerencer, executive director of Asheville Comedy Festival.
Scovel is a Greenville, South Carolina native and grew up taking trips to Asheville. However, it was only after his comedy career took off that his relationship with the city fully developed.
“There’s a fish hatchery near Hendersonville. I think. I think that’s right. We used to go there, but yeah, never really had a relationship with it, and then comedy is thankfully what brought me fully in to discover the city,” Scovel recalled. “I like to consider it sort of this gem up in the mountains of cool vibes, great restaurants, great bars, great people.”
The WNC Benefit Show is specifically designed to help great restaurants and great people. Proceeds from the performance will go to Linked4Life, a Bear’s Foundation effort to provide mental health services for workers in the food and drink industry. They are partnered with local counseling clinic All Souls Counseling Center.
“In Asheville specifically, we launched in July of 2024, so it was really just a few months prior to Helene,” said Linked4Life founder Cheryl Antoncic. “That was in partnership with All Souls Counseling. They’re a nonprofit counseling center located in Asheville, and they provide free to sliding-scale mental health services for uninsured or under-insured individuals.”
Linked4Life has donated $28,000 and counting to an All Souls Counseling fund for food and beverage workers. Individuals in the food industry who live or work in Asheville will receive up to six free counseling sessions.
“The comedy show that’s coming up with Rory on the 19th is in part to benefit Linked4Life,” Antoncic said. “Any monies that come into Linked4Life, really it’s going to get passed right through to All Souls Counseling for it to continue to put money into this fund for food and beverage workers’ mental health services.”
After Tropical Storm Helene hit Asheville, Linked4Life has been more focused on the community than ever. Parent organization the Bear’s Foundation also owns Bear’s Smokehouse, a mecca for free meals after the storm. The restaurant served food throughout the storm with World Central Kitchen and fundraised for Linked4Life with their HOPE Bus, a former food truck retrofitted with hundreds of Linked4Life carabiners, each dangling a supportive message written by a community member.
Scovel reflected on his experience watching Helene devastate the area around his hometown and the fires destroy Los Angeles, where he still has a house.
“I will say it’s been a strange few months watching that devastation happen not only in Asheville, but that whole entire region and Greenville, where I’m from,” Scovel said. “But also these fires in Los Angeles, which I’ve recently moved away from, but still have my house there. It’s all been very surreal. I think I felt the same shock a lot of people felt when they realized a hurricane had hit a mountain town.”
Caught between the two tragedies, Scovel continued to do what he does best: tell jokes.
“It’s strange because I think there is a massive need for light and levity, and people need it and they need it in the face of these tragedies,” Scovel said. “Obviously, within reason and certain distance from the tragedy, but yeah, it’s strange. I don’t think I can turn it off. I think my brain just operates this way. It’s maybe sadly my own need for therapy to realize why in the face of tragedy I feel the need to make things funny, but I will say, it has helped me survive. And if it helps other people, great.”
For any prospective audience members unfamiliar with his work, Scovel likes to tell jokes about politics, religion, drugs and sex.
“I like talking about how beautiful and weird and strange it is. I like talking about the vulnerability of it,” Scovel said about the latter.
However, perhaps more than anything else, the comedian loves “anything silly.”
“The dumbest joke in the world I cherish in my soul,” Scovel declared. “It’s so fun.”
Scovel’s most recent comedy special, “Religion, Sex and a Few Things in Between” is now streaming on Max. The comedian is also featured in the recent Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell comedy, “You’re Cordially Invited,” now streaming on Prime Video.
For tickets to Scovel’s show, visit boxoffice.worthamarts.org.
For more information about Linked4Life, visit www.thebearsfoundation.org/initiatives.