I witnessed the drunken tour of Charlotte’s history. It was as wild as you would expect.
Let me set the stage for you: So there I was, the only Gen Z on a bus full of millennials and Gen Xers — and I was about to get roasted. Oh, did I mention it was Charlotte’s Funny Bus Comedy City Tours, known for drunken history tours on wheels?
Since the popular Funny Bus had recently expanded to seven days a week, I decided it was about time to catch a ride. I’ll admit, I came on board as a local with virtually no knowledge of Charlotte, my hometown.
The Funny Bus is, in fact, funny: J.D. Colwell, the comedian on the bus, had the crowd in stitches the whole 90 minutes.
Here’s what it’s like to ride on the Funny Bus:
FIRST, BOOK YOUR TICKET: Click on either the “Buy Rated R Tickets” or the “Buy PG-13 Tickets” on its website and select a date, time and number of tickets.
NEXT, CHOOSE YOUR RIDE: I decided to hop on the regular Rated R ride. If you’re bringing little ones, you should select the PG-13 tour on Sundays at 1 p.m.
LAST, ENJOY THE SHOW: I selected a mid-day tour on a recent Thursday. My 40-passenger bus was filled to the brim, mostly with tourists from all over. Each excursion is 90 minutes, so buckle up and enjoy the ride.
About the generational jokes
No one was safe from getting roasted. As an “equal opportunity offender,” Colwell took jabs at each generation. I managed to evade his attention for a while, since he forgot for a moment that Gen Z exists. Finally, he asked if Gen Z was on the bus and I was the only one with my hand raised while hooting and hollering. (Can you tell I’m Southern?)
If it felt like we were celebrating — well, in a way, we were. For a time, the tour had been shut down completely due to the pandemic. “We were just slowly building and building, and now we’re back to seven days a week,” owner Lisa Schnurr told CharlotteFive.
Schnurr said the tour was created in 2015 as a fun way to show people the city by having a comedian perform and allowing guests to bring their own booze. “It took off better than we expected,” she said.
About 30 minutes into the excursion, there was a 10-minute break at the FreeMoreWest Rhino Market and Deli for everyone to stretch their legs and stock up on beverages. While my busmates stayed refreshed with alcoholic beverages, I kept cool with a peach-flavored Arizona iced tea (wanting to keep my job)!
Colwell gave a “PowerPoint” presentation using poster boards with photos of different statues. He took multiple digs at her majesty Queen Charlotte, as seen on “Bridgerton,” the reason we are named “Charlotte” and given the nickname “The Queen City.”
[RELATED: Was Queen Charlotte Black? How ‘Bridgerton’ restarted buzz about her ancestry.]
After the break, the bus took us around the Plaza Midwood area, where Colwell highlighted the Harris Teeter on Central Avenue (or “The T” as he called it) and Midwood Smokehouse. We made a brief stop on the Central Avenue bridge to get a clear view of the Charlotte skyline.
At the end of the tour, there is an option to give tips that are split between the comedian and the driver. Guests can give tips in the tip jar on the bus or through Venmo or CashApp.
The tour came to an end, and I had gotten a nice ab workout from laughing so much. This tour allows locals and tourists alike to learn about the city in a non-boring way. Add it to your list of places to bring your out-of-town guests. No boring history lessons here!
Funny Bus
Location: First Ward Park
Neighborhood: Uptown Charlotte
Tickets: $30 per guest
Instagram: @funnybus
This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
