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Port Richmond Couple Performs Dirty Comedy Monthly


When someone mentions a dirty comedy show, most people picture younger folks in the audience and onstage. 60-year old Roger Snair and 68-year old Linda Berry are a married couple who break these age barriers by performing Guilty Pleasures monthly at the Adrienne Theater (2030 Sansom Street).

“People can’t believe that a 50 or 60-year old white guy gets up there,” Snair said, laughing.

guilty pleasure

Joe Moore co-hosts the show with Snair and agreed he notices a reaction from the audience due to Snair and Berry’s age.

“People expect one thing and they get something totally different. Linda and Roger are definitely daring. They’re willing to push the envelope and not just be complacent comedians. They’ll do things you have never seen before,” Moore said.

Snair began working on Guilty Pleasures — named 2015’s “Best Comedy Night” by Philadelphia Magazine — in 2008. Linda Berry is the opening act and typically performs three to five minutes of stand-up comedy.

Guilty Pleasures is an improv show that was created by Brendan Kennedy who moved to Los Angeles and no longer performs with the show. A description says the show contains skits and makes fun of everything from, “terrible scripts to embarrassing poetry, YouTube videos and stage plays” found online.

The show has deeper intentions than to ridicule questionable posts on the Internet.

“Brendan Kennedy and me were talking about philosophy of all things and I said ‘Let’s bring up the intellectual level of our [comedy],’” Snair said. “[The show] teaches you how to take pop culture with a grain of salt. [Pop culture] is open to everybody, but it shouldn’t tell you how to live your life.”

Moore feels Guilty Pleasures is a way to highlight Roger’s talent.

“Roger is really the star of the show… He’s always been really smart and really sharp. Guilty Pleasures is a way to showcase his wit. I have not met very many people like Roger Snair,” Moore said.

Snair has experience critiquing pop culture from his previous radio show “Roger the Road Rager” based out of Mt. Holly, New Jersey. During the show, he broke down the lyrics of popular songs, like “Imagine” by John Lennon, and put a comedic twist on it. Snair worked on radio for two years.

Linda Berry was a guest on Snair’s radio show once a week after the couple — who now live in Port Richmond together — met at a 24-hour long comedy event at The Walking Fish Theatre (2509 Frankford Avenue) in the mid-2000s.

The couple’s love of comedy precedes the work they did on “Roger the Road Rager.”

“My mom said when I was three I used to stand in front of the television and mimic all the old comedians. My heart was always in it,” Berry said.

Comedy, for both Snair and Berry, is more significant than a monthly gig.

“The physical feeling of cracking up laughing is the most important thing in comedy,” Snair said. “I think it helps people deal with a lot of disturbing issues.”

The couple is currently searching for venues besides the Adrienne to perform their own comedy shows.

“I want us to be like the ‘George and Gracie’ of the 21st century,” Snair said, referring to a comedy duo that had an Emmy-nominated comedy TV series on CBS in the 1950’s. “I want to be famous. I think I’m good enough for it.”

Berry, however, is content with her current success as a comedian.

“If I never get any further [in my career] than I am right now in Philadelphia with small clubs and the Adrienne, I am more than satisfied. It’s more than I ever thought I’d have,” she said.

When asked how long they’d like to continue comedy, they agreed retiring is not a goal.

“Forever,” Snair said.

“Yeah, until we drop over,” Berry agreed.

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