Bert Kreischer, Tiffany Haddish, more: Fully Loaded Comedy Festival comes to Memphis

Eighteen years ago this week, on July 1, 2005, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson played at AutoZone Park, in what was not just a musical double-header but the baseball stadium's first on-field concert.

"Dylan bootleggers are going to love this date," wrote The Commercial Appeal's Bill Ellis, citing Dylan's "best version yet" of "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again."

In 2008, Nelson returned to AutoZone, as opening act for a the Dave Matthews Band, who delivered a "three-hour, jam-heavy show," according to the newspaper.

Ten years ago this week, on July 2, 2013, it was Dylan's turn to return, for a festival-type show that featured a remarkable array of supporting acts: Wilco, My Morning Jacket, Richard Thompson and unannounced guest star John Prine.

Since then, AutoZone Park has not hosted a non-sports event, according to Memphis Redbirds General Manager Craig Unger. The minor league ballpark, which opened in 2000 as a jewel of Downtown's renewal, has concentrated on Memphis Redbirds baseball and, since 2019, Memphis 901 FC professional soccer.

Unger said he always has hoped "to use this amazing facility more often, and in different ways," to attract people who aren't necessarily sports fans to different types of entertainment. But opportunities for shows that are good fits for the ballpark are limited, in part because of the Redbirds' busy schedule.

That changes at 7 p.m. Friday, July 8, when the "Fully Loaded Comedy Festival" takes the field at AutoZone Park, for a marathon showcase featuring nine performers.

In other words, the drought of non-sports entertainment at the ballpark will end with laughs and jokes, rather than with songs and guitars.

Here are 5 things to know about the Fully Loaded Comedy Festival:

Fully Loaded Comedy Festival's main act

The festival is headed by Bert Kreischer, nicknamed "The Machine," who is known for an unusual gimmick: He typically performs shirtless, showing off what might charitably be called a "dad bod." The star of a series of popular standup specials on Netflix, Showtime and Comedy Central, Kreischer first achieved fame (or infamy) in 1997, when he was an undergrad at Florida State and was described in a Rolling Stone magazine profile as "the top partyer at the Number One Party School in the country." (The article inspired the 2002 movie "National Lampoon's Van Wilder," starring Ryan Reynolds.) Kreischer became known as "The Machine" for his "incredible drinking prowess," according to a story in Variety; his nickname also served as the title for his first starring role in the action-comedy "The Machine," in which Mark Hamill — yes, Luke Skywalker — plays his father. The movie opened May 26 in 2,409 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, including nine in the Memphis area.

"The Machine" did not, however, open at the Malco Summer Quartet Drive-In. But Kreischer played there in person, on Aug. 12, 2020, when he brought his "Hot Summer Nights" tour to Memphis and set up a stage in front of one of the screens; audiences watched from their cars. The outdoor setting was motivated by the coronavirus pandemic, which had caused most indoor venues to close for much of that year; apparently, Kreischer enjoyed the novelty of a non-traditional venue, because the current "Fully Loaded" festival includes several ballparks along with the usual amphitheaters and indoor venues. In any case, expect a comedy set heavy on what Kreischer's publicists call "party-boy antics," interwoven with "humorous anecdotes about family and fatherhood."

Who is touring with Bert Kreischer?

Typical multi-comic tours present birds-of-a-feather-type performers: Think of Bernie Mac, Cedric the Entertainer and the other Black male comics on the "Kings of Comedy" tour, or Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy and their pals on the "Blue Collar Comedy" tour. But the Fully Loaded Comedy Festival is diverse. Perhaps the most familiar name on the bill is that of Tiffany Haddish, the standup comic who became a movie star with "Girls Trip" in 2017. Other on the tour include Rosebud Baker, Ralph Barbosa, Chad Daniels, Mark Normand and Big Jay Oakerson.

Who's the DJ for the Fully Loaded Tour?

Interspersed with the comedy will be DJ sets provided by Cipha Sounds (a former MTV "VJ") and Carter Cruise (a star of pornographic movies whose filmography includes "Slut Puppies 9").

What to expect for the stage

The stage for the show will be set up more or less at the second base position on the field, according to Unger. About 2,000 chairs will be placed on the field in front of the stage, on sheets of turf-protecting plastic Terraplas; both dugouts will transformed into bars, and "porta-potties" also will be available on the field, for those who don't want to trek back up into the concourse. Attendees also can buy tickets for most of the same seats they might choose for a Redbirds game, in the stands or suites.

Ticket prices for Fully Loaded Comedy Festival

Ticket prices range from $35 to $130. To buy tickets or for more information, visit milb.com/memphis.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Fully Loaded Comedy Festival in Memphis: Everything to know