Shawn Carter

Shawn Carter came up through the early 2000’s Boston Comedy scene.  One October night in 2002 he stepped on stage at The Comedy Connection in Faneuil Hall to try his hand at standup comedy.  He was nervous, sweaty, and slightly drunk.  When he delivered his first joke and heard the laughter of the crowd, it changed his life.  From that day on he was no longer a security guard that worked at a hospital, he was a standup comedian that worked security to make rent.

From 2002 – 2006 Shawn dreamed of becoming a comedian, he wrote and planned, and planned and wrote, but he only got on-stage about once every 6 months.  Thinking at some point he would get “discovered”.

In 2006, Shawn found open mics, the ugly underbelly of standup comedy and he started hitting them hard, quickly establishing himself as one of the most prolific writers in the city.  In 2008 Shawn was a finalist in the Catch a Rising Star competition in Lincoln Rhode Island. In May of 2011 Shawn served as the Comic in Residence at the hip independent club in Cambridge MA, The Comedy Studio, located directly across the street from Harvard University.  In November of 2011 Shawn Carter was selected as a semi-finalist in the Boston International Comedy Festival.  Over the course of the next several years Shawn performed everywhere from The Thirsty Ear at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology to Elks Lodges in rural Maine.

Shawn was founder, writer, and editor for the popular website UnScene Comedy.

Finally in 2018 Shawn recorded his debut comedy album which hit # 1 on the iTunes Comedy Chart and landed in the top 10 on the Billboard Comedy Chart.By 2019 Shawn Carter was running 3 weekly shows, Pour House Comedy in Boston, Sally O’Briens Comedy in Somerville, and his live comedy debate podcast Pick a Side Stupid at Maggy’s Lounge in Quincy, and was frequently referred to as a “Comedy Dad” by many of the young comedians getting started in the Boston area.

In February of 2020 Shawn Carter and his wife Sarah left Boston to go on a great American road trip.  With a plan to return for the Boston Calling Festival which Shawn was slated to perform on in May 2020.

As the world shut down because of Covid 19 Shawn’s life changed drastically, for 6 month’s he lived in his in-laws basement.  As the path towards normalcy continued to blur Shawn and Sarah decided it would be best to stay in Bristol Tennessee for awhile and moved into their own home.  In October of 2020, Sarah and Shawn brought home a newborn baby, now this “comedy dad” who hadn’t performed in over a year was just a dad.

As the world began to slowly open back up, it became apparent that there were not any comedy clubs near their new home so Sarah suggested opening up their very own comedy club.  That is how Blue Ridge Comedy Club was born.  Shawn continues his work as a dad raising a two year old child, as well as his work as a comedy dad, fostering an amazing comedy scene in Bristol Tennessee.

Shawn has opened for the likes of Pauly Shore (fired after the first night), Deon Cole, Orny Adams, and other comedians that have since been cancelled and Shawn would rather not talk about.