Heywood Banks at the Rhythm City Casino Resort Rhythm Room -- October 12.
Thursday, October 12, 7 p.m.
Rhythm City Casino Resort Rhythm Room, 7077 Elmore Avenue, Davenport IA
Interspersing his humorous observations on life with twisted, inventive, bizarre songs sung and played in a variety of styles, the genre-defying entertainer Heywood Banks takes the stage at Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Rhythm Room on October 12, his standup earning the artist first place in the Johnnie Walker Comedy Search Contest and his musical genres ranging from folk, to country to rock and beyond.
Currently touring at age 73, Banks performed as a singer/guitarist and standup comedian under his birth name Stuart Mitchell In the 1970s and 1980s. His wife, however, suggested that he develop a few comedic characters after they noticed other standups doing so during a 1987 trip to Los Angeles, and after developing the signature personality of "Heywood Banks," the touring artist started officially performing as him later that year. In 1988, Banks won the Johnnie Walker Comedy Search national finals, which resulted in a television appearance on A&E's An Evening at the Improv that aired that October. Later the same year, he won the Miller Lite Comedy Search regional finals held in Clinton Township, Michigan.
To date, Banks has released seven albums of comedy and music: If Pigs Had Wings & Other Favorite Songs (1990); Treated & Released (1992); Picky Picky Picky (1998); difErnt (1999); Pretending I'm Not Home (2003); Big Butter (2006); and Heywood Banks Live! Never Trust a Puppet (2012). Among his most noted and requested songs are "Fly's Eyes," "Wiper Blades," "Pancreas," "Big Butter Jesus" (a Banks' song about the King of Kings statue), "18 Wheels (on a Big Rig)," "The One Eye Love," and "The Cat Got Dead." But his most popular and widely known song is called "Toast," which is played on a toaster with a pair of forks. Banks had made frequent appearances on the nationally syndicated radio program The Bob and Tom Show, and his songs have also been frequently played on The Dr. Demento Show. Additional credits, meanwhile, include Banks playing himself in the 1993 TV pilot The Heywood Banks Show, and having his original tune "The Revenge Song" (also known as "You Can Be Mean to Me") performed on American Idol in 2007,
Heywood Banks performs his Rhythm Room engagement on October 12, admission to the 7 p.m. event is $25, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)328-8000 and visiting RhythmCityCasino.com.
