How hard is it to make stoners laugh? Buds-a-Palooza: Comedy, music, glass blowing and, of course, MUNCHIES
'Woodstock for the 420 crowd'
HARK!
I hear…uncontrollable giggling…
The hardest, longest and most painful laughter I ever experienced was in 1978, falling out of a movie theater seating watching Up in Smoke. And, yes, I was...
Watching a clip sober, I'm like, "That was funny?"
Similarly, you won’t have to be stoned to enjoy Buds-a-Palooza–but it sure won't hurt.
Billed as “the DOPEST 420 Block Party in Downtown Phoenix,” the event fires up at 4:20 Friday afternoon, with music and comedy stages going until midnight.
Telling jokes to a buzzzzzed crowd…is that like Aaron Judge of the Yankees crashing a slow-pitch softball game?
Anthony Thornton, previously profiled by HARK Valley (click here for the story), is on the comedy lineup; he says he plans to work as hard as usual.
“Stoned crowds are fun, but definitely not a gimme crowd,” Thornton said. “Just like a drunk crowd, or any other crowd, some game-time adjustments need to be made on stage. Timing, expressions, word emphasis, crowd interaction, it's all a bit of a puzzle I get to put together as I watch the other comics and step on the stage myself.”
Anthony Thornton
Thornton is a skilled improv performer as well as a stand-up comic, so he is pretty good at adjusting on the fly.
“Love getting to figure out a crowd and seeing what adjustments work!”
A sort of mini-First Friday, the Buds fest takes over four city blocks of Roosevelt Row on 5th Street and Garfield.
While recreational marijuana has been allowed in Arizona since the beginning of 2021, “420” has been a code word for weed for decades, with the date April 20 (4/20) being an unofficial holiday for cannabis loyalists.
According to Bud of Bud’s Glass Joint, “We've been throwing a 420 event for the last nine years. This is the first large-scale event titled Buds-A-Palooza.”
In addition to music makers and laugh hustlers, Buds-a-Palooza has a beefy lineup of glass artists with glass blowing demonstrations.
And this might be the only festival with “Stoner Flicks all night long!”
The movie lineup includes the trailblazing 1978 Cheech & Chong’s Up In Smoke, Dave Chappelle’s 1998 flick Half Baked, the maple syrup chuggers of Super Troopers and Richard Linklater’s future-star-filled (Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Parker Posey) 1993 teen flick Dazed & Confused.
The music lineup is headlined by Passafire, the reggae-rock band that cranks up feel-good songs like Keepin’ On.
Got munchies?
Pizza, hot dogs, burgers, ice cream, sloppy/tasty Philly sandwiches and plenty more vendors will be grillin’ and chillin’.
Philly sandwiches, for all your munchie needs
Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 day of the show.
The music
OGEEZ! Main Stage
Passafire: 10:30p - 11:45p
Passafire on the good vibes
Tomorrows Bad Seeds: 9:00p-10:00p
This L.A. band pictures itself as “the musical embodiment of surf and street culture; a perfect blend of hip hop, punk, reggae, rock and soul”
Where surf meets street
The Stakes: 7:50p - 8:30p
A local outfit described as “the collaboration of self-made rappers, university-educated performers, cover artists, and Gospel musicians, creating an intoxicating blend of energy that will bring you to your feet.”
The Stakes are high
Hotrock Supajoint: 7:30p-7:50p
How he tells it: “Yo I be HotRock SupaJoint® an I love weed. I do this kinda Comedy/ HipHop/ StonerRock kinda thing wit two ipads an a microphone. I got a potcast calld the SupaShow too yo.”
Yo! Don't Bogart that supajoint!
Scattered Melodies: 6:50p - 7:30p
Nutter Tut Band: 5:45p-6:20p
Snailmate: 4:45p-5:15p
Dj Xara sparks up the music at 4:20 p.m. and will be spinnin’ and grinnin’ between sets.
Laughs
Buds comedy lounge features:
Tony Tripoli
Savannah Hernandez
Josh Harrison
Kristofer Royer
Mike B. Dapper
Ray Earl
Ruben Bugayong
Kate Borell
Thomas Zorio
Dana Whissen
Ben Kaufman
Alice Valpey
Cari Medina
Anthony Thornton
Bubba Mccomb
Glass Masters
Arizona Glass Masters putting on demonstrations include:
Josh Porter
Steve H Glass
Shubuh
Brian Jacobson
Desi B
Friday Glass
Reverend Morse
Erkdejerk
Stoney Chicken
LQL Glass