Rated G for All Ages | A comedic musical experience
“800 Years Young” follows the story of Dandy, a bard, who’s lived on earth for the last 800 years. We meet him on his 800th birthday, wherein audiences are his birthday party attendees and must complete 10 tasks with him . . . or else he dies by the end of the show.
“800 Years Young” sparked from Luke “Skippy” Harbur attending his first Renaissance Fair in 2023. He became enamored by bards, their garbs, and their ballads. However, he felt a wall of separation between him and the actors preserving the Medieval facade, so “800 Years Young” is his answer to bridge the past to present.
Artists affecting his inspiration include Hildegard Von Blingin’, Jaskier in the Netflix series Witcher, the comedic styles of Bo Burnham, and the autobiographical, historical storytelling style of Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Doors open at 4:30 pm. The show starts at 5:00 pm and runs approximately 75 minutes with a 10-minute intermission. The end time (around 6:15 pm) accommodates travel and social plans for folks to start or end their Sunday night accordingly.
Tell me about the artist, musicbyskippy
Performer, producer, and beatboxing specialist Luke “Skippy” Harbur is a vivacious artist known for his cross-pollinated brand of alternative music touching on hip hop, Broadway, EDM, and singer-songwriter influences. His project musicbyskippy lives among music, theater, and poetry; shows are similar to attending live comedy and musicals, focusing on identity and community building. There are different live experiences all built for multigenerational audiences.
The Overland Park, Kansas native is based out of Kansas City, Missouri, developing songwriting, beatboxing, singing, beat production, rapping, & looping skills to express his mission: performances promote safe havens for authenticity. Since 2022 he’s written, produced, and published over 60 songs and sold almost 1,000 tickets to 9 original productions. He is a 2024 Librettist Fellow for Lyric Opera of Kansas City & No Divide KC, writing an operetta alongside a composer, as well as a 2024 Heartland Arts Fellow for Starlight Theatre & Heartland Arts KC, writing scenes and lyrics about restorative justice alongside seven other artists. Other commissions include music festival Boulevardia, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, and Quixotic.
His motivation comes from receiving a life-saving liver transplant at the age of 11 months, making performances testaments to sharing his life and near-death experiences.
Tell me about the venue, The Bird Comedy Theater
The Bird Comedy Theater is Kansas City’s Best Comedy Club. Featuring Improv, Sketch, Stand-Up & More every week, in the Crossroads Arts District! Street parking available. Located a block and a half west from the 19th Street Streetcar Stop!
All performances recommended for ages 18+ unless otherwise noted. 800 Years Young is rated G for All Ages.
