The variety show PEP Rally is celebrating two seasons with the show Yesteryear, a best-of collection from seasons one and two held at the Phoenix Center for the Arts this Thursday from 8-10 p.m.
PEP Rally has held shows for a year and a half, with the second season just wrapping up. PEP stands for “Phoenix Educational Programming,” while Rally represents the idea of rallying local artists as well as the community together. Each week PEP Rally bases a show around a letter (for example, the past three weeks’ subjects have been XXX, Waiting and Valley). Poets, comedians, storytellers, experts and musicians all share the stage.
Matt Storrs acts as the fact checker for the shows and co-hosts alongside comedian Hattie Jean Hayes. Storrs said there is an insane amount of local talent in Phoenix, which is what the show aims to bring together.
“With there being so many different venues that are so focused on music or so focused on comedy,” Storrs said. “It’s like ‘those things can work anywhere.’”
The two hosts agree that those various talents can come together to great success. Storrs said the fact that the show is able to immediately transition from an intimate story to an unbelievably funny comedy set has proved amazing.
“You can get this whole spectrum, it’s so wonderful,” Storrs said.
The shows are sometimes educational, but always entertaining, and the banter between Hayes and Storrs is important in such a wide-ranging show, Hayes said.
“You have to learn how to navigate the space in between and help sort of control the audience reaction,” Hayes said.
Yesteryear is the best of the best performers that have been in any PEP Rally shows, hand selected by Hayes and Storrs.
“Yesteryear is going to be the best and the brightest of seasons one and two,” Hayes said. “We have hand curated everything from singing professional wrestlers to tattoo artists to local poets who have won awards and toured all over the country.”
“It’s a really great showcase of what Phoenix has to offer in terms of comedy, storytelling, poetry, music and then just experts that have just such profound and specific knowledge,” Storrs said.
Michael Skarsten, who has performed in six PEP Rally shows over the last two seasons, said that PEP Rally shows give performers a chance to stray away from the norm, like a comedian being able to talk about serious, personal topics.
“It’s kinda cool that PEP Rally gives you that outlet,” said Skarsten, who is giving what he calls a tongue-in-cheek play on a TED Talk covering vortexes at the best of show.
Ernesto Moncada, an artist and comedian who has also performed in many PEP Rally shows, said that while they are are a space to exercise his standup comedy, they also act as a place where people who have something important to say, can say it.
“It’s very much giving people a stage to experiment,” Moncada said. “It’s almost like saying ‘Do you have something raw and unrehearsed? Here.’”
PEP Rally has gathered somewhat of a following. Jennifer and Scott Mitting are two fans who have attended many of the shows. They like the idea that you can choose from the themes that appeal to you week-by-week.
“The whole idea of a themed presentation is kind of cool and seeing what people do with it,” Scott Mitting said. “Some of the topics seem to really inspire people.”
Usually the shows are held at Lawn Gnome Publishing, but this Thursday’s show will be moved up to the larger Phoenix Center for the Arts in order to have a bigger venue, to be able to build up their shows and to be able to serve drinks to the adults attending the show.
Storrs said if this week’s show goes well, they plan to have similar monthly curated shows. The third season starts in September, where they’ll have never-before-seen performers and newly innovative themes. Storrs and Hayes hope people who have attended before as well as newcomers will make it to Yesteryear’s special show.
“You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll learn at Phoenix’s best punk-rock variety show,” Storrs said.
Visit this page for more information on the show and to buy tickets.
Editor’s note: Hattie Hayes was previously a contributing reporter for Downtown Devil. She was not involved in the reporting or writing of this article.
