HERRIMAN, Utah, Jan. 9, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) — On a recent Saturday night, Utah’s favorite comics, Marcus and Guy were preparing for possibly the best comedy show of their careers.
The 250-seat venue, Ogden’s Wiseguys, was sold out. The crowd was psyched and ready for a dose of the smart, raucous, relatable musical comedy the duo always delivers.
But, to be honest, Marcus and Guy go into every show hoping it will be their best yet.
“We’re striving to be the literal best we can,” Marcus said in an interview with Gephardt Daily. “We try to be ready for anything.”
On Jan. 17 and 18, Friday and Saturday of next week, Marcus and Guy will bring that energy to Redemption Bar & Grill, in Herriman. It will be a show for ages 21 and older, so expect some edgy language and adult themes.
They will bring classic and modern songs, sung in some combination of tribute and parody. They will bring original songs to inspire laughter, surprise, and nods of recognition.
And they will bring irreverent audience banter, too, crafted on the spot for the people they find themselves in front of.
“We do a lot of stuff where we just see who’s in the audience, and what are they doing? We lean into those moments. So we never do two shows that are the same,” said Marcus.
It’s a skill level and style Marcus Hardy has been building and honing for about 20 years, the past decade or so with partner, best friend, and fellow standup comic Guy Seidel.
Prior to his partnership with Seidel, Marcus had already made his mark in the world of comedy, appearing as a finalist on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” in 2008.
Marcus, by popular demand, also runs a business coaching individuals who want to learn skills he has mastered, including holding the attention of a crowd, finding the “funny” in any situation, solving problems creatively, thinking on your feet, and more.
But in his youth, Marcus said, he didn’t know what he wanted to do for a living.
“I’ve kind of always done voices, and I kind of always sang and did things and was always funny. And you kind of grow up, and people tell you, ‘You know, you should do that, you should do that for a job, that’s what you should do.’ And you kind of never think that’s actually something that you can do.”
He had a weekly radio gig that led to his meeting Wiseguys’ owner Keith Stubbs, and Marcus “did a little bit (of comedy) for him. And he said, ‘Well, you know what, if you want to come back on Sunday, I’ll give you three minutes.’ And I never left the club after that.”
About eight years later, Marcus began to work on material with Guy, who often worked the same clubs and came from a musical background, including playing with bands. A decade ago, they became an official duo, often with Marcus singing as Guy accompanied on guitar, and both making comical comments on the spot or from material they had developed in advance.
Both loved music and anything funny, and that evolved into their current hybrid comedy, making observations and demonstrating things they have noticed to be common among popular songs from different genres or eras.
“We would just mess around with songs and sing in the car and, you know, make fun of music. And then, kind of one day, it just clicked. We shouldn’t make this a show. We should turn this into something. And so it started with us doing a couple little musical numbers at the end of shows that we did together. And for at least the last 10 years, as Marcus and Guy, we just started crafting a musical comedy show based around, you know, our love of music.
“Also, one of the best things you can do when you love something is find the funny in it. And so it was just kind of us finding what was funny about all of our favorite things, so that when we were on stage, we get to talk about all of our favorite things and have a good time doing it.
“Then over the years, we just kind of became, I don’t know, a little better at finding these consistencies in music, and then it just became a challenge of becoming not just comedians, but composers who have to write musical numbers that are also funny, that also have voices, but also, it’s so it became a real fun, challenging process for us to do, and a show that nobody else has. I think we’re really the only ones who kind of exist and have a show like this.”
Another thing Guy loves about his work is how it features compositions that people already feel an attachment to, but framed in a way that casts new light on familiar songs.
“Honestly, we literally start out and say, ‘tonight you’re not gonna hear a song you haven’t heard 1,000 times, but tonight you’re gonna hear it in a different way.'”
Marcus and Guy have taken time to strip songs down to the basic chords and structures and show their common elements.
“That seems like such an obvious thing that we all should have noticed, and somebody should have said before,” Marcus said. After sanding songs down, “that’s when you start finding all these things that are the same, because most times it’s all dressed up with all of these different kinds of instruments, different sounds, different genres and different takes on the same kind of structure. It’s almost like this magic trick, where you’re kind of deconstructing the magic that is music, the magic that is songwriting.”
Joining in is encouraged, and a good number of Ogden fans did sing along. Marcus and Guy are hoping for an even more vocal crowd at Redemption.
And finding new angles and new humor in music and the world around him is what makes musical comedy a dream job for Marcus, he said.
“When we are at a club, we can cut loose and have fun, but about 90% of the shows we do are corporate or private events. And this kind of happened by accident, but we wrote a show we could do 100% clean if we had to, and it’s still funny.
“When people come to a club, they bought a ticket and are excited to be there, but we also work company parties where people are only there because there’s a raffle to win a Traeger grill, and suddenly then these two idiots come out and have to do an hour show for you. You know, a lot of times it’s not about people who are super excited to see a show.”
“It’s been 10 years or more of us going out there and taking our show to people, winning over crowds. ‘You didn’t know this was going to happen, maybe. And now this is going to be the most fun night of your life.’ And it’s been really cool to have those experiences and have people come up to you after and go, ‘I had no idea this is happening. I never heard of you guys before. I’ve never seen a live comedy show that was, that was, this was the best event we’ve had.'”
Marcus and Guy love keeping their material fresh and funny and sharing it on stage, Marcus said.
“I love it. I do. It’s where I’m at home. It’s such a beautiful, freeing experience to be like in a spotlight, being vulnerable, and asking all of the people in the room to be just as vulnerable for the experience that you’re about to have. I think that’s really a cool thing.
“I’m very fortunate that I get to do it. That’s what success is, being able to wake up and when you have to go to work, I can’t wait. We try to do our best show every night, and we always hope we continue to get better, and our best show is still ahead.
“I can’t wait to go do my job, because my job is awesome, because I made it and followed what I wanted to do. That, to me, is success. Living truthfully, to what you ultimately really, really want to do with your life — that’s success.”
Redemption Bar & Grill features an entertainment venue in the basement, a patriotic sports bar and special activities space (karaoke, bingo, trivia, etc.) on the ground floor, and a tiki bar on the second floor. The menu offers a variety of appetizers, main courses, drinks and daily specials.
Redemption is at 3517 W. Maradona Drive, Herriman. Come early to enjoy the unobstructed views of the south valley and Wasatch mountains.
Marcus and Guy’s shows start at 9 p.m. Jan. 17 and 18. For ticket information, click on the calendar listings here. The shows are likely to sell out, so be sure to buy tickets in advance.
Redemption Bar & Grill is a proud sponsor of Gephardt Daily and supporter of independent local journalism in Utah.
