KB New Year’s Eve Joke Show Marks 10th Anniversary, Raises Spirits

The tenth annual KB New Year’s Eve Joke Show took place Wednesday evening at K’s Creek Golf Club, drawing local families for an hour of jokes and songs. Doors opened at 4 p.m. and the performance ran from 5 to 6 p.m. General admission was $10. Performers included Craig Albers, Keith Bradbury, Tammy Guthrie, Katie McDannald, Zach Pickens, Gary Scott, Stephanie Soltermann and Sherie Trace.

Organizers said the show grew steadily since its debut in 2015, requiring moves to larger venues before returning to K’s Creek this year because it "worked out really well last year." Maryjane Bradbury, a board member of the Ken Bradbury Foundation, said the venue has space to expand and the team added more chairs to accommodate demand. "We hope it makes a lot of people end the year with some laughter and joy," she said.

The program followed the traditional KB format developed by the late Ken Bradbury and maintained by a rotating cast. The night combined updated jokes with three musical numbers. One new song features lyrics by Keith Bradbury set to the tune of Baby Face, a Tin Pan Alley jazz standard from 1926. Maryjane Bradbury said the song had been written and kept as a surprise for the audience. Another song revived a piece Ken Bradbury wrote for the Passavant Follies and which returned earlier this year during anniversary celebrations for what is now Jacksonville Memorial Hospital. "We wanted to close out Jacksonville’s 200th year with a Ken Bradbury song," Maryjane Bradbury said.

Proceeds from the show benefit the Ken Bradbury Foundation, which supports youth music and theater in the county. The event functions both as entertainment and as a small scale fundraiser that channels ticket revenue and donations back into local cultural programs. For community members the show has become a year end tradition that sustains local performing talent and keeps funds flowing to youth arts initiatives.

With Ken Bradbury having died in 2018, the annual show serves as a living legacy and a modest economic and cultural anchor for Morgan County as it heads into the new year. Organizers said they will evaluate venue needs and audience size as they plan future editions of the show.