Playing tourist on Charlotte's Funny Bus

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by Ashley Fahey

We’re rolling down The Plaza, windows down, serenading joggers and dog walkers with “Don’t Stop Believing.” Some voices (mine) are more off-key than others.

It didn’t quite have the vibes of the iconic “Tiny Dancer” scene from the 2000 film “Almost Famous,” but one more IPA and it could have come close.

The Funny Bus has been rolling through uptown, South End, NoDa and Plaza Midwood for more than 10 years now, entertaining locals and out-of-towners alike with Charlotte history and fascinating tidbits about its neighborhoods.

I’ve lived in Charlotte for nearly that long — The Funny Bus was born about six months before I moved here — and have seen (and heard) the open-air crimson bus around town. I always wondered what the deal was with it, so I booked a ticket for $35 on board earlier this month to find out.

The Funny Bus is a 90-minute sightseeing tour led by a local comedian, who tells the history of Charlotte in their own unique way. Beer and wine are allowed on board, and you’ll probably get (lightly) roasted at some point, so pack a sense of humor in your cooler, too.

Lisa Schnurr, co-owner of The Funny Bus with her husband, Kevin Anderson, said that tours are usually a 50-50 split between locals and out-of-towners. Coincidentally, the mix of people on board my tour was about that, too — they included a family from New York, a group of girlfriends from New England, a young man who lived in Charlotte with his dad visiting from out of town, and a couple from Lake Norman (because of I-77 traffic, I’m counting this as out of town).

Schnurr said the five comedians who lead the 15 to 20 tours per week around Charlotte “make fun of everything a little bit,” but the goal is to highlight Charlotte and share history and stories that everyone might not know.

For example, in South End, you might know that there’s a ton of development going on, but that's displaced beloved institutions Uptown Cabaret (missed for its breakfast buffet, of course!) and Adam & Eve. The local culture, including fashion trends favored by finance bros, was also highlighted.

The Thirsty Beaver was brought up on the Plaza Midwood leg of the tour, for the now-legendary story in Charlotte of the dive bar that refused to sell its land to an apartment developer, which then just built around it anyway. (“Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5 was blasting as we drove past it, for reasons that’ll be obvious — Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger famously visited the bar in 2021.)

I can’t say I learned anything new about Charlotte on the tour, although I’m in a unique position of having closely covered Charlotte for the majority of my time here. I took the tour during the Taste of Charlotte festival in uptown, so we didn’t go down Tryon Street, which seems like a key component of the tour. But The Funny Bus was a fun way to spend an hour and a half playing tourist and drinking a couple of local beers in my city.

The Funny Bus also includes a good deal of audience and passerby participation: It might play the “Rocky” theme when it drives past someone on a run and “Bad Boys” if a police officer is spotted. (There’s also a bit of a game around churches during the tour, but I won’t spoil the details.)

Schnurr and her husband have expanded The Funny Bus to other cities, including Cleveland, Ohio, and Atlanta, and are searching for opportunities elsewhere. I asked if any other region of Charlotte would be a good fit for The Funny Bus model — surely there’s a lot of humor to be had about south Charlotte, perhaps, or the Lake Norman region — and she said cities tend to make the most sense because there’s enough stuff to show in 90 minutes.

Most of the comedians who’ve been on The Funny Bus in Charlotte have been with the company for years, including one who’s been doing tours for 9.5 years. Being able to entertain a crowd for 90 minutes presents a longer-than-usual opportunity for comedians, as they normally are given a 15-minute-or-shorter set if they’re doing stand-up at a club.

The hardest part? “Standing up and balancing on a bus,” Schnurr said. “It’s more complicated than it sounds.”

Ashley Fahey is The Ledger’s managing editor. Reach her at [email protected].

And speaking of playing tourist in your own town …

Today's supporting sponsor is Advocate Health. Atrium Health, part of Advocate Health, is redefining care for all by delivering nationally recognized specialty and virtual care for patients in over 1,000 care locations across seven states.

Crystal Hill, Rob Harrington and LaMelo Ball — all were in the headlines of Charlotte news for one reason or another the past couple of weeks.

Hear from Tony Mecia, Ashley Fahey and Lindsey Banks of The Ledger about the stories behind the headlines in our most recent Reporters’ Roundtable yesterday.

On Saturdays, The Ledger sifts through the local news of the week and links to the top articles — even if they appeared somewhere else. We’ll help you get caught up. That’s what Saturdays are for.