Catch Hickory Native, Funnyman Jon Reep at J.E. Broyhill Civic Center in Lenoir on Jan. 30

Jon Reep, a native of Hickory and winner of season five of NBC’s Last Comic Standing, will take the stage at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute’s J.E. Broyhill Civic Center on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m.

Jon Reep
Jon Reep

Reep was born and raised in Hickory and graduated from Fred T. Foard High School and North Carolina State University. In 1998, he hit the road as a full-time traveling comic, and, according to Reep, “that was the end of my life as a normal human being.”

In 2000, Reep moved to Los Angeles to try his hand at an acting career and has played several unforgettable characters including the pot-smoking farmer “Raymus” from the movie Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, and the dim-witted cop “Gerald Bob” from the ABC Sitcom Rodney. But, you probably know him best from Dodge Truck’s popular ad campaign as the “Hemi guy.” Reep is known to millions as the redheaded hillbilly in the Dodge Ram commercials who leans out of a beat-up car and utters the now famous line: “That thing gotta Hemi?”

Before his success as a actor, Reep was already one of the hardest working comics in America, selling out clubs and getting standing ovations at college after college across the country.  You may have also seen Reep on season 5 of Last Comic Standing on NBC. “I was the winner that year, thank you very much,” says Reep.  You may have also seen Reep on Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend,” the half-hour special “Comedy Central Presents: Jon Reep,” on TBS’s “Pit Stop Comedy,” NBC’s “Late Friday,” or CMT’s “Comedy Club” & “Comedy stage.”

The self-proclaimed “Metro Jethro” stays busy performing in front of sell-out crowds nation-wide. “My show is supersonic energy filled with non-stop characters and super clever writing,” says Reep.   

Be sure to catch our own homegrown comic, Jon Reep, as he visits his old stompin’ ground for a night of nonstop laughs. The show is set for Saturday, Jan. 30 at 7:30 pm. Tickets for the show are $26 for adults and $11 for students and children. For more information or for tickets, call the Civic Center Box Office at 726-2407 or visit www.broyhillcenter.com.