Chattanooga area comedian co-authors 'The Liberal Redneck Manifesto'

The book is a mostly funny look at why certain clichés about the South exist and why they don't tell the whole story.
The book is a mostly funny look at why certain clichés about the South exist and why they don't tell the whole story.
photo Comedian Corey Forrester, who grew up in Chickamauga, Ga., co-authored the book "Liberal Redneck Manifesto: Draggin' Dixie Outta the Dark," with fellow comics Trae Crowder and Drew Morgan.

About the book

“Liberal Redneck Manifesto: Draggin’ Dixie Outta the Dark,” Atria Books, 256 pages, $25.

What people are saying

“Being from the South, it’s refreshing to know that I’m not alone in thinking like this. These are the kind of guys I’d be happy to debate them on politics OR college football OR drinking OR foreign policy, they’re well versed in all.”– Roy Wood, Jr., correspondent “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”“It’s become so convenient to label places ‘Blue States’ and ‘Red States’. Those terms ignore millions of folks who live in these places, people like Trae, Drew and Corey. Don’t get me wrong, these boys are country as hell, but they step to the table with fresh voices and challenge stereotypes at every turn.”– George Wallace, comedian“For anyone who wants new perspectives on some old held beliefs about what it means to be redneck, read this book and enjoy the laugh-out-loud journey.”– Jim Rich, Editor-in-Chief, NY Daily News“Biting satire and rib-splitting mockery.”– Daily Kos website“Loud … hilarious … profane.”– Mediaite website

About a year ago, Corey Forrester was a struggling comedian trying to figure out two things: how to buy food and why in the world his girlfriend, "a teacher and a very pretty one," didn't just pack up and leave.

Forward to today. His girlfriend is still around; he has a house in Chickamauga (where he basically stores stuff and does his laundry); and the credit cards he'd maxed out are paid off. His touring schedule is just about full and he's getting paid more than he ever has.

The changes can, in part, be attributed to a book released Oct. 4 called "The Liberal Redneck Manifesto: Draggin' Dixie Outta the Dark." Forrester is co-author of the book, published by Atria, a division of Simon & Schuster, with fellow comics Trae Crowder and Drew Morgan.

You might be familiar with Crowder via his "Liberal Redneck" videos on Facebook that get as many as 50 million views. Crowder conceived of the video idea a couple of years ago, but it was a recent car ride home with Forrester from a show in Atlanta that made him finally do one. The show in Atlanta last spring drew a crowd of eight people, by the way.

"And they paid us through PayPal so we were going to have to wait a week to get paid," Forrester says.

On the ride home, however, the two comedians were "talking about what are we going to do with our careers," Forrester says. "He started talking about this video idea. He did the first one when we got home, and it got 70,000 views on Facebook. He was ecstatic."

The second video dealt with North Carolina's "bathroom bill" and transgender issues. It got 25 million views. In vulgarity-laced rants by Crowder, the one- to three-minute videos take to task stereotypical right-wing Southern attitudes about race, gender equity, religion, whatever.

Their popularity led Crowder and Forrester to get with fellow comedian and comedy writer Morgan to come up with the idea for the book. Atria liked it a lot, so much so it fast-tracked the book's publication and paid the guys a lot of advance money.

"People say, 'Act like you've been there before,' but it's a good thing they told us the number over the phone because we were jumping around like crazy," Forrester says. "It would have been embarrassing in person.

"Our agent said it was one of the quickest turnarounds he's ever seen. They told us on June 25 that they wanted the book by Aug. 1 for an Oct. 4 release."

Atria Vice President and Publicity Director Paul Olsewski says it was all about timing.

"It just seemed with the election and their extensive tour that it was the right time to put the book out," he says.

"We have high expectations for it. ABC's 'Nightline' will be doing a profile on the guys, and they are taping in the next two weeks."

Forrester and Crowder are currently on a sold-out 18-city tour, thanks to the videos and the impending book release.

"It's changed my entire life," Forrester says.

A native from Chickamauga, Ga., Forrester cut his comedy teeth at the Comedy Catch while it was located in Brainerd, and he still hangs out at the new Choo Choo location. Crowder and Morgan are from East Tennessee.

The three have known each other for six years and have written together for five. Their comedy has always had a focus on Southern humor, something they talk about onstage and among themselves. It seemed natural that the conversations would eventually turn to all the clichés about the South and Southerners.

They decided to write the book about those clichés and the fact that, while there are often some truth behind many of them, including those that paint the South in unfavorable terms, there are also a lot of great things about this part of the country.

"We have the best food, the best music, the prettiest women, the best weather, all kinds of things," Forrester says.

Too often, people outside of the South base their impressions on one or two things such as reality TV shows like "Honey Boo Boo," he says.

In the book, the three comics tackle everything from religion to LGBT rights to gun control to racism. Forrester concedes racism exists in the South, but he points out that it exists everywhere.

"It must be exhausting to be a racist in New York City," he says. "There's like 45 different races there. You'd have to go home at lunch because you are so worn out. Down here there are just Hispanics and blacks."

With the book, the videos and his rapidly expanding profile in the comedy-club circuit, Forrester is ready to see what happens next.

"A year ago I was spray painting Yeti cups in Ooltewah and stressing about money," he says. "Today, my bills are paid, I have a TV to watch, a roof over my head and a pretty girlfriend who likes me. I went from 'I don't think I deserve my girlfriend' to 'This is going to be OK.'"

The one negative in the past year was the loss of his grandmother, Edna Bain, who died at age 96 in June. Since he was a small child, Thursdays meant visits with his "Granny" to the beauty shop then grilled cheese sandwiches made by her.

"She went every week. She could be sick and miss church, but not the beauty shop," Forrester says.

"I used to tell people, 'Granny is the last person on earth who thinks I'm perfect. When she dies, it's going to be tough.' She lived to be 96 and waited for me to have a good career and for everything to be OK."

Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.

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