NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — He talks, and he hopes you listen.
That's the primary routine for Landon Bryant, whose following is nearing half a million on Instagram at LandonTalks. Hailing from Laurel, Mississippi, Bryant is regaling the internet with stories spun in the South and the quirks that craft Southern culture.
Before he zipped up from Mississippi to Nashville, I sat down to talk to him about how his page got started, and how he is now making a living telling stories.
He is taking a spot at Zanies on Tuesday night. Doors open at 6 p.m. and tickets start at $38.25.
NC5: How did this all start for you?
So I talk too much and my wife, we've known each other since we were in second grade. She's heard all the stories too many times. She is on the receiving in a lot of my chit-chat. And one day her eyes like glazed over and she was like, 'What if you told your stories to the internet?' That's the nicest way she could have said like, 'Hush and tell somebody else.' So I did. I started talking to the internet and within like a month it blew up.
NC5: I've always followed your Instagram stuff about being in the South and how we talk. But I didn't know you were trying to do the funnies. Tell me about that.
LB: Well, honestly, I didn't mean to. I've always been a stage person. I loved being in the theater. Like I've always done our local theater. I've always done it, and we directed the shows when we were teaching in public school here in Laurel. So the stage is a place that I love very much. So kind of anytime I get a chance to do something on a stage, I usually take it. I had someone ask to me to do a show. And I just pretended I had done one. So I got up there and had a great time in my first stand-up show.
NC5: You are usually behind the camera on Instagram. What's it like to be on stage and live in front of an audience?
LB: It's like a thing that is hard to grasp because I just am at my house with my phone. So it's so strange for it to translate to real life like that and to be on an actual stage with actual audiences. And they seem to love it. And I love to be with them. So it's like a great connection to take me from behind the screen to actually meeting the people that I talk to every day all over the internet.
NC5: Is the South a part of your comedy? Obviously, Southern comedians are really taking off right from Dusty Slay to Nate Bargatze to Leanne Morgan.
LB: I'm not making fun of the South unless I'm making, I'm poking fun at myself as well. I can't get away from Southern, even though I didn't even realize I had a Southern accent till I started doing all this. I try to take the warm nostalgic feel to the stage. I talk about the South. I talk about a lot of more of it. It's a lot more story-based than my videos, my videos are short and concise.
NC5: Why come to Nashville while you're touring?
LB: It's just full of opportunities. I really like the vibe of Nashville seems to be a place where if you want to be in this industry — like media and entertainment — I feel like I don't have to go all the way to LA. That's where I would like to focus all the production, and anything I can do that can come out of Nashville.
I'm so excited to come to Nashville. I'm really honored to get to be there. It's going to be a great show.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at emily.west@newschannel5.com.
Forrest Sanders recently introduced us to a Nashville hero named Eudora Boxley. She was the first black woman to have a cooking show on TV in Nashville. Her grandson was precious describing Eudora and how she raised him and how proud he and the family were of her impact not only on WLAC but on a city during the turbulent Civil Rights Era. A woman who did extraordinary things at a time when history did not expect her to.
-Amy Watson
