Memphis is the next stop on comedian Gianmarco Soresi’s “Looking for the Next Variant” tour, but unlike the other cities he’s visited or will visit, this stop has a bit more stakes. “I’m there to meet my girlfriend’s parents,” he says.
Regardless of how the meeting will go, you’ll probably hear a bit about it at his show. “I really dig into my own life,” Soresi says of his style of comedy. “I find that when you’re really honest about yourself, you connect to other people’s truths because we all are very similar in the ways we can be selfish, the ways we can be fools.”
Before he started doing stand-up, Soresi was a theater kid. “I was planning on being a song-and-dance man,” he says, having gone to college for musical theater. “I was doing all the acting, the singing, and the dancing in New York City and booked some stuff here and there. I was the spokesman for General Electric and Baby Bottle Pop — I used to get recognized on the playground when I was out jogging.”
These days, Soresi’s work is less likely to get recognized on the playground. “I can be loud and singy-songy, but I have a dark edge, so if you want some dark humor, some jokes you probably can’t repeat to your parents or grandparents, I’m your guy,” he says. “My favorite comics are Anthony Jeselnik and John Mulaney. If you like either, I think you’ll enjoy me and find me much more affordable. Even if you hate comedy, just come, help a guy out. My girlfriend’s family is going to be there, and I’d really like to impress them by selling this out.”
Gianmarco Soresi, Chuckles Comedy House, Saturday, April 9th, 5 p.m., $12.50 | Lamplighter Lounge, Sunday, April 10th, 8 p.m., $10.
It was so like a dream. “We were in the old house. You were there, and you, and you…And we saw this door we’d never seen, so we opened it — and found a whole other room, that had been there under our noses all these years!”
Except it wasn’t a dream. It was only yesterday and I was getting a tour from Laurel Cannito, who, along with Chuck ‘Vicious’ Wenzler, took over the Lamplighter Lounge last year after longtime owner Ann Bradley decided to retire. Looking a little mischievous, Cannito motioned me to a door I’d never seen and threw it open. And there it was: the Secret Room.
“It’s like Harry Potter, isn’t it?” she said, looking rather proud of her bar and the team that helps her run the place. “The room’s always been here, but we haven’t always been connected. This used to be a TV repair shop in the 60s. And then it was a bookstore. And then it was a ball point pen repair place. We’ve always said, ‘Oh, wouldn’t that be neat to turn into a venue space?’ So, we recently acquired it. We have great landlords. They worked with us to help get it attached and everything. Then we did a lot of the construction work after we put it onto our lease.”
Justin Fox Burks
Thomas pours a PBR
The Lamplighter Lounge, of course, is the long-adored dive on Madison Avenue that some say is the the oldest bar in Memphis. Despite the smallish space of the original lounge, the new owners removed the pool table last year and began hosting bands with increasing frequency. The vibe was always great, but it could get a bit cramped.
Now, the Secret Room more than doubles the size of the place. Entering from a door on the south end of the bar, you see an unassuming functional space that (gasp!) even includes a green room for the bands. What’s more, the new room marks the return of the beloved pool table. Cannito is happy to have it back. “Miss Anne sold the pool table before we bought the place, so we didn’t choose to get rid of it,” she says, now visibly relieved at its return.
In addition to some few finishing touches like stringing lights, she’ll outfit the new room with more bar-like amenities soon. “The original jukebox is still here by the bar, and we got that working again. But there on left is a new old jukebox that we are gonna get working for the Secret Room. Yep, double jukebox. You just need a jukebox in every room. That door over there is the customer door. And this door behind the bar is gonna be split in half and have a bar top on it so we can sling drinks from there.”
Aside from such touches, the Secret Room will remain fairly sparse. “It’ll be a little bare bones. It’ll be not so much a raw space, but a malleable space. I like performance art. I would love to have more of that, like performance art and puppetry and dancing, or even the aerial stuff that’s been around. Next month, we’re doing a pop-up boutique every Sunday, because me and some friends have a bunch of clothes that we’re trying to get out into the world. Stuff that’s really nice, but it’s just not our style anymore. And then, I have some friends in Asheville who are part of a professional circus. I could get them here at some point. It just expands our ability to help encourage creativity around town, give it a space,” says Cannito.
And of course there will be music. “We already have music of all kinds, like the old time string band, soul bands, rock bands of all kinds, and rap and DJs and 80s nights. It’s so nice. I want this to be the kind of space where every kind of music can find a place. And having the Secret Room is going to be really good for that. I think it’ll bring even more types of music and even more bands. Because not everybody wants to set up in the small room and just play for people who drink. It’ll help a lot with the intentionality of it.”
To that end, the Secret Room will be having its inaugural show this weekend, Saturday, July 13th, featuring some of Midtown’s favorites: Louise Page, Faux Killas and Rosey. Remarked Cannito of the latter band, “They’re so, so good. When they finish a song, there’s just a silence as the audience tries to process what they’ve just heard.”
Discover the Secret Room this Saturday, to see and hear it for yourself.
The Secret Room at the Lamplighter: Grand Opening On Saturday
The Lamplighter Lounge is lit only by lamps. No overhead lighting casts its unflattering light on this hole in the wall or its patrons, located at 1702 Madison. The Lamplighter Lounge recently changed hands, coming under ownership of Chuck Vicious, a longtime bartender. While Chuck and co-owner Laurel Cannito have made a few changes, the Lamplighter remains as dependable as its lamps: a shining light that attracts barflies.
“We’re the type of bar that you either love it or hate it,” says Thomas, the engaging and charming man behind the bar when my friend and I visited. I get what he’s saying, but he sells the Lamplighter short. The people who hate it would hate any old Midtown dive. No one is at the Lamplighter for a carefully curated wine list; they’re there to rage at a rock show, drain several pints of PBR, and blast cigarettes even though they’re trying to quit. If one takes proud ownership of their vices, then, yeah, they’re going to love it.
In addition to its lovingly dingy interior, full of furniture that looks like it was commandeered from a 1970s insurance office that closed up shop, the Lamplighter proceeds to check a lot of dive bar boxes. There’s PBR on tap, of course, but also PBR in bottles (you know, if you’re a snob about cheap beer). There’s smoking allowed inside. Kitschy, smoke-stained posters adorn the walls, and the sign directing you to the restrooms reads, “The Boardroom.” Check, check, and check. The most notable change under Chuck is the removal of the pool table, freeing up more space for bands to play. Not a bad idea, especially considering that as I recall, that pool table had a lot of stories to tell, and most of them didn’t involve actual billiards. A pool cue is still affixed to the wall. “As a memorial,” Thomas says. The most welcome change, however, has been the removal of the carpet from the floors. “As a blessing from Midtown Jesus,” I say.
Photographs by Justin Fox Burks
Thomas pours a PBR
The Lamplighter, like any good dive, allows you to bring in your own liquor and pay for a set-up fee. When it comes to alcohol, they only serve beer. There are plenty of local and domestic beers available. Amazingly, they now offer La Croix, so all of Memphis’ weird seltzer nerds can pound flavored waters in a bar, as absolutely no one ever intended. They also offer a variety of hot teas and pour-over coffee, which is intriguing in a place like that. It brings together in seamless combination two of Memphis’ favorite things: coffeehouses and dens of iniquity.
Thomas, wearing a Jeff Gordon shirt and recommending Long Road ciders to several patrons, is an untapped talent in the bartending world. He works both Sunday and Thursday nights; on Thursdays he also hosts karaoke. I’ve never witnessed Lamplighter karaoke, but I’ve been to enough dive bar karaoke nights to have a firm grasp of what kind of performances patrons will witness. When asked about other 2018 amenities they have to offer, Thomas says, “Well, we’ve got wifi and an auxiliary cord!” Rejoice, everyone! While you can still spin some vinyl behind the bar, you can now also plug in your iPhone and force others there to listen to your own lackluster musical selections! Someone down the bar from us adds that the Lamplighter boasts a new PA as well. It’s welcome news for anyone who’s been to a show there, as sometimes bands stumble on the line between loud, creative genius and sounding like they’re taking the stage inside a construction dumpster. Again, you’re not at the Lamplighter expecting the acoustics of the Orpheum. You’re there to listen to loud music and accidentally spill beer in your friend’s purse.
We’re joined later by a wedding party, welcoming its first out-of-town guests for a weeklong Memphis affair. Their guests, from halfway around the world, receive their first introduction to Memphis in the form of the Lamplighter Lounge, a round of cheap beers, and a selection of board games (they’re playing Connect Four). The bride, faithful to the Lamplighter, wouldn’t have it any other way. Lord knows those lamps have been shining on a lot of folks, welcoming them to Memphis, for a long time.
The cozy, quiet dive bar known as the Lamplighter will turn into a rowdy rock-and-roll venue when Orlando’s Golden Pelicans stop through Memphis this Friday. The Lamplighter has served as a live music venue sporadically for the past five or six years, hosting local bands like NOTS, The Oscars, and Kruxe, in addition to ex-Memphian Cole Weintraub’s many musical projects like the now infamous weekly “jazz night.” While the bar has long been a haven for Midtown outsiders, it’s service as a live music venue has always been a “love it or hate it” type of situation. Those not into the idea of loud music tainting the house that Miss Shirley built definitely aren’t going to experience a change of heart when the Golden Pelicans — a band that’s known for their loud and unpredictable, beer-splattering live show — perform.
Josh Miller
Golden Pelicans
Since forming in 2011, Golden Pelicans have put Florida garage rock back on the map, releasing handfuls of singles and two (now sold out) LPs. They’ve toured most of the U.S. and recently got back from a successful outing in Europe. While the band’s median age is probably in the upper 30s, their youthful energy and willingness to hit the road has made them one of the premier garage-rock bands in the country. Drummer Rich Evans also serves as the figurehead of Total Punk records, a label that’s worked with the Memphis band Manateees and a bunch of other Southern punk bands. Musically, Golden Pelicans sit somewhere in between High Voltage-era AC/DC and Eddie & the Hot Rods, blasting through their songs with enough ferocious energy to power a small town. Total Punk alumni Manateees and Black Panties open the show. Donations are encouraged.
Fresh off a new book deal with Simon & Schuster, Memphis erotica writer Eva Morris aka “Road Babe,” will read a selection from her book at the Lamplighter Thursday night. Things kick off at 8:00 p.m.
Justin Fox Burks 
Photographs by Justin Fox Burks 
Josh Miller