Opie and Anthony's Traveling Virus was a stand-up comedy tour hosted by American radio personalities

Gregg "Opie" Hughes Gregg Hughes, better known by his air name Opie, is an American radio personality and podcast host best known as the former co-host of the ''Opie and Anthony'' radio show that aired from 1995 to 2014 with Anthony Cumia and comedian Jim Norton. ...

and Anthony Cumia that featured a roster of comedians from their radio show, ''

Opie and Anthony ''Opie and Anthony'' was an American radio show hosted by Gregg Hughes, Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia that aired from March 1995 to July 2014, with comedian Jim Norton (comedian), Jim Norton serving as third mic from 2001. The show origina ...

''. There were three editions of the tour between 2006 and 2008; the first consisted of 4 dates, the second had 8 dates, and the third consisted of a single show.Exclusive: Dates for Opie and Anthony Travelling Virus Comedy Tour leak
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History

By 2006, Hughes and Cumia, plus comedian Jim Norton on third mic, had been hosting ''Opie and Anthony'' on the uncensored subscription-based

satellite radio Satellite radio is defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s ITU Radio Regulations (RR) as a ''broadcasting-satellite service''. The satellite's signals are broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than ter ...

service XM for over a year, from New York City. In April 2006, following the cancellation of '' The David Lee Roth Show'', the pair signed a deal with

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

to simulcast the first half of the show on several of its terrestrial radio stations. Their deal with CBS allowed them to receive the green-light for the tour, ideas for which took shape in the following weeks and artist representative Peter Pappalardo was hired as the tour's organiser. Hughes and Cumia originally envisaged a package comedy tour with several comedians that were regular guests on the radio show, plus theatrical elements. Pappalardo tried to incorporate as many suggestions that the hosts and local promoters had come up with, and sold the tour as "an anything goes type of atmosphere" while adhering to local laws. Each stop on the tour featured the O&A Village, a series of exhibits and attractions including women giving back rubs while dressed in nurse outfits, booths designed by fans of the show, and a "petting zoo" featuring show regulars such as Twitchels and Stalker Patty. ''The Boston Globe'' described the tour as "a moving festival more comparable to

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

Ozzfest Ozzfest is an annual music festival tour of the United States and sometimes Europe and later Japan, featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Sharon Osbourne and her husband Ozzy Osbourne, both ...

than a typical stand-up event."

Tours

2006

The first ran for four dates in August and September 2006, and was billed as The Comedy Event of 2006. The second date, held on August 26 at the

PNC Bank Arts Center The PNC Bank Arts Center (originally the Garden State Arts Center) is an amphitheatre in Holmdel, New Jersey. About 17,500 people can occupy the venue; there are 7,000 seats and the grass area can hold about 10,500 people. Concerts are from May t ...

Holmdel, New Jersey Holmdel Township (usually shortened to Holmdel) is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The township is centrally located in the Raritan Valley region, being within the regional and cultural influence of the Raritan Baysh ...

, broke the record for the best selling comedy show at the venue previously held by

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...

. The tour is noted for the show in Philadelphia, where

Bill Burr William Frederick Burr (born June 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, filmmaker, and podcaster. He has released multiple stand-up comedy specials, most notably ''Why Do I Do This?'' (2008), ''Let It Go'' (2010), '' You People Are ...

went on a 12-minute tirade attacking the audience after the previous comedian,

Dom Irrera Domenick Jack Irrera (born November 18, 1948) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Much of his material is in the form of stories about his life, especially his childhood years and growing up in an Italian-American family. Irrera went to ...

, was heckled heavily by the crowd. Video of the rant was filmed by an audience member and was subsequently posted on various platforms, including YouTube. The video was a bonus feature on Burr's comedy special ''Why Do I Do This?'', released on DVD in 2008.

2007

The 2007 tour kicked off with one show in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 14. An additional seven shows were announced for the summer, which started on June 16, one day following the show's month-long suspension from XM Satellite Radio for the Homeless Charlie incident. Burr turned down an invitation to perform on the 2007 tour due to the relentless booing, saying "I earned my

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

" on the last one.

2008

In 2008, plans to stage a full tour were cancelled in favor of a single show at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey, on August 2, 2008. Two days later, Hughes and Cumia announced on the air that the tour would no longer continue, due to the booing that newcomer

Mike Birbiglia Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

received when he appeared on stage. Hughes revealed that

Dave Attell David Attell (born January 18, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer best known as the host of Comedy Central's ''Insomniac with Dave Attell'', which earned him a cult following. His work has drawn admiration from many comedi ...

and

Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an American comedian, television host, actor, and writer. He is known for his work in television as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' and as the host of the late-night talk show ''The Ton ...

turned down an offer to perform due to the hostile crowds.

Tour dates and line-ups

Dates

*Show 1 — August 5, 2006 —

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

–

DCU Center The DCU Center (originally Centrum in Worcester, formerly Worcester's Centrum Centre and commonly Worcester Centrum) is an indoor arena and convention center complex in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts. The facility hosts a variety of events, ...

Barenaked Ladies are making 16 multi-track studio recordings for their new single, "Easy," available for paid download from their...
/ref> *Show 2 — August 26, 2006 —

–

*Show 3 — September 9, 2006 —

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

– Tweeter Center *Show 4 — September 23, 2006 —

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

– Tower City Amphitheatre *Show 5 — April 14, 2007 —

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

– The Joint at

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and ro ...

*Show 6 — June 16, 2007 —

Wantagh, New York Wantagh ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, New York, United States. The population was 18,871 at the time of the 2010 census. Wantagh is known as "The Gateway to Jones Be ...

– Jones Beach Amphitheater *Show 7 — June 30, 2007 —

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is an area in the New England town, town of Montville, Connecticut, Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a Administrative divisions of Connecticut#Village, neighborhood, section of town, village in southeastern Montville, at the ...

–

Mohegan Sun Arena The Mohegan Sun Arena is a 10,000 seat multi-purpose arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, located inside the Mohegan Sun casino resort. The arena facility features of configurable exhibition space and a clear span. It was built by the Perini Buil ...

*Show 8 — July 21, 2007 —

Mansfield, Massachusetts Mansfield is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the United States 2020 Census, the town population is 23,860. Mansfield is in the south-southwest suburbs of Boston and is also close to Providence, Rhode Island. The vill ...

– Tweeter Center *Show 9 — August 4, 2007 —

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

–

DTE Energy Music Theatre Pine Knob Music Theatre (formerly DTE Energy Music Theatre) is an outdoor amphitheater located in Independence Township, Michigan, approximately northwest of Detroit (it has a Clarkston, Michigan mailing address). Built by the Nederlander Organi ...

*Show 10 — August 18, 2007 —

Bristow, Virginia Bristow is an unincorporated community of Prince William County in Northern Virginia about from Washington, D.C. In 2014, Bristow's postal area population was 29,346, a 287% increase since 2000; however, the Bristow community is formally inclu ...

–

Nissan Pavilion Jiffy Lube Live (originally known as the Nissan Pavilion) in Bristow, Virginia, is an outdoor amphitheater in suburban Prince William County, about 35 miles west of Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by Live Nation, the amphitheater can seat 25,2 ...

*Show 11 — August 25, 2007 — Holmdel, New Jersey – PNC Bank Arts Center *Show 12 — September 15, 2007 — Camden, New Jersey – Tweeter Center *Show 13 — August 2, 2008 — Holmdel, New Jersey – PNC Bank Arts CenterSummer concert schedule for PNC Bank Arts Center announced
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Line-up

References

{{Opie and Anthony Comedy tours