This week’s Spotlight is on Joe Mabe. Originally from the Wilmington, NC area he attended South Brunswick High School, which is south of Wilmington, North Carolina. He moved to Goose Creek about three and a half years ago and have bought a place in Walterboro with his wife Donna.
After trying truck driving for a few years, Mabe spent 14 years in the Navy, participating in Desert Storm in Bosnia. achieving the rank of Second-Class Petty Officer, spending a tour on the USS Mount Baker, stationed in Charleston. He then went to the Philippine Sea stationed in Mayport and had shore duty in Rockland, Connecticut. Finally, he went to USS Shreveport, out of Virginia and the Naval Reserve Center in Dubuque Iowa.
Mabe enjoys Walterboro but wanted to bring some entertainment to town, “Me and my family really enjoyed it here. I was really looking for something to bring entertainment to town. We have sports here, but no comedy. So, I came to the Civic Center and asked about doing Comedy here one night. We will have a show on January 18th at 7pm, a “Veterans Comedy Night”. It’s it’s a veteran’s benefit show. We’re all veterans. That’s one thing we have in common, we’re all brothers, love to have fun. So, we decided to pick up the name veteran comedy show. We have five comics in the show counting myself, hosting and telling jokes. We have one guy from coming from Fayetteville, North Carolina. He’s an Army veteran, his name is Dennis V. We have Yuncle Boudreau from Orangeburg. Then we have Brandon Johnston, He’s a Marine veteran from Summerville, and Stan Shelby a navy veteran from West Ashley.
He has been doing comedy since March of last year. Mabe explains, “believe it or not, I was a rodeo clown. I had surgery and couldn’t get back into the ring anymore. I rode bulls for 10 years. I rode while I was in the military. I grew up on farm, a soybean farm in North Carolina, I started riding bulls, and I met my wife, and she asked me to quit riding, so I started doing rodeo photography. Then one night, I was in Alabama doing a rodeo, a good friend of mine and I were in Georgia right after Clemson beat Alabama for national title. We walked into a Waffle House. I was in an Alabama t-shirt and ball cap, and my friend said that if I was stupid enough to do that, I can jump in a barrel at a rodeo. He got me a few dates, and we decided to try standup and improve. There is a huge improv following in the Charleston area. I go to classes for improv and hopefully we can bring that here, so that the audience will get involved in the show. I would love to get some of the nightclubs or bars in the area, local establishments to have a comedy night here in Walterboro. This would give anyone a chance to come up tell a joke and get their about five minutes of fame.”
Mabe likes to work comedy clubs in the area, “I am going to West Ashley to work on Sunday. I work on new material and the mic is free. I’m working on new material three to four nights a week. Sunday. I’m in Myrtle Beach doing a show Sunday afternoon and Sunday night.”
Besides comedy, Mabe is a photographer. They have a 10-acre farm with horses and he raises show rabbits. He has a number of organizations he likes to work with, “I like to promote veterans organizations, there is one called ASAP, Armed Services Art Partnership, based in Norfolk, Virginia. They do have satellite offices in Indianapolis and San Diego, I went through the comedy class through zoom. It’s free to military veterans and independents. Just learn different techniques. They don’t have to become a comedian. They do writing, improv, and public speaking. I just went through Operation Song. Operation Song is for veterans and families. It’s a songwriting class. They pair you with a songwriter out of Nashville and within two hours you have song. I would like to do more and try to bring stuff here.”
Mabe will be performing on Saturday Night, January 18th at the Colleton Civic Center. The 7pm show is family friendly and will be full of laughs. Mabe says, This will be a great date night or a family outing, perfect for that. I’m hoping we can make this a yearly thing; it falls the Sunday before Comedy Fest in Charleston.” He’s talked to comedians in California, Texas, and Washington, DC. If this show does well, they could be bringing more comedy to Walterboro in the future.