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From Southern clubs to Netflix: How clean comic Derrick Stroup is stopping audiences in their tracks
Comedian Derrick Stroup knows he’s a fish out of water in New York City. He can tell by how his accent “stops traffic in a bodega.” But the Alabama native isn’t changing who he is for the Big Apple. Instead, he’s bringing the “playing in the dirt” toughness of his 1990s upbringing to the comedy world.
His latest Netflix special, “Nostalgic,” serves as a high-energy wake-up call for a generation of kids he says aren’t built for the playground games of his youth. “Some of the games we played, you could not bring back,” Stroup told Fox News Digital.
“I mean, you couldn’t bring back the purple nurple. These kids aren’t built for it,” he said. “‘Safe space, safe space!’ They’d be in a panic.”
The comic said his stand-up style has been described as “Bill Burr raised in the woods,” and noted his special is a tribute to something that most people can relate to: growing up. It’s a perspective that’s resonated with audiences across the country, landing his special in the Netflix Top 10.
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While he’s living in New York now, Stroup said he remains a Southerner at heart who continues to experience the culture shock of living in the North. He noted that something as simple as communication is different. Whereas in New York a horn is a way to say hello, in Alabama it could quickly “turn into an altercation.”
He also admits he hasn’t found a local diner that can match the grit and charm of a Waffle House. “I miss a sweet woman with red lipstick on that smells like cigarettes that’s refilling my sweet tea,” Stroup said. “That’s hard to find up North.”
But Stroup’s rise to the Netflix stage wasn’t an overnight success. He spent a decade in retail management, working overnights and selling furniture to keep the pressure on himself. He said he purposefully didn’t want a “Plan B” that ever felt too comfortable.
“I can promise you, as a manager in Big Lots, I was not like, ‘This is my end game,’” he said jokingly, adding that there were times when he went without healthcare. “I always made sure that I kind of positioned myself in the room to where comedy was my only way out.”
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Stroup practices clean comedy, meaning he keeps the language toned down and topics lighthearted. But his delivery is anything but quiet. He described himself as an “observational, ranty type of comedian” who gets worked up over the smallest inconveniences.
“I’m naturally an emotional man. I run hot,” Stroup said. “I can get just as fired up about a plate of tater tots as I can my shirt getting caught on a doorknob in a hallway.”
Staying clean while making people laugh is a skill Stroup said he picked up while working as the opener for Christian comic John Crist for several years. He explained he learned how to “walk that line” between getting a laugh, and not “punching down.”
That aspect of his comedy led him to also work with one of comedy’s biggest names, Nate Bargatze, another clean comic who also happens to hail from the South.
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“Me and Nate are naturally kind of similar people. We grew up 90 miles from each other,” Stroup explained.
It’s a connection he’s fostered, having gone on tour with Bargatze, being part of his Christmas special produced by “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels, and now starring in Bargatze’s upcoming film “The Breadwinner.” Stroup said Bargatze’s “right down the middle” style means everyone can enjoy a laugh.
Stroup’s special taps into the rage of Americans today, but over everyday occurrences — not bigger existential or divisive topics. Rather, he answers the burning question of whether the middle-seat person on planes deserves armrests, and recalls having to call the girl he liked on a landline and the panic surrounding what to do if her dad picked up.
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“If somebody was really mad about something, like I was on a soap box all the time, or I was really trying to change your mind, that’s not a fun conversation,” Stroup said.
“When somebody’s unraveling over something that truly doesn’t matter, it’s pure entertainment,” he added.
Stroup’s special “Nostalgic” is now airing on Netflix. You can also catch him on the road this year on his “Running Hot Tour.”
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Ex-NYPD inspector warns social media likely helped political violence ‘metastasize’ into WHCD scare
A lone gunman’s alleged attempt to storm the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday is the latest sign of a “metastasizing” wave of political violence fueled by social media, retired NYPD inspector Paul Mauro warned Sunday.
“This reminds me a bit of what it was like at the height of the [post-9/11] ‘age of terrorism’, or ‘age of counterterrorism…'” Mauro told “Fox & Friends Weekend.”
“As it began to metastasize [beyond Afghanistan]… it began to permeate the internet, and that’s the great common denominator here, is the rise of the internet, and the rise of social media specifically, has allowed this ideology to disseminate into corners where previously it would not have found so much support,” he added.
Mauro’s remarks came after authorities said 31-year-old suspect Cole Thomas Allen allegedly rushed a Secret Service checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner armed with multiple weapons.
Allen then allegedly opened fire on a Secret Service officer, who was taken to the hospital after he was shot in his ballistic vest.
Agents reportedly fired back at Allen, who was not struck. He was also taken to the hospital.
Senior federal law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation told Fox News that Allen told law enforcement after his arrest that he was targeting Trump administration officials.
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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche did not specify which officials were Allen’s intended targets during a Sunday NBC News appearance.
Lawmakers and authorities have since condemned the suspect’s actions and have called for rhetoric to be toned down to prevent similar incidents.
“Almost any [person] these days can find some place, some niche on the internet that will support your position,” Mauro said.
“And I think once the search warrants are completed and the computers and phones are scrubbed, etc., we are almost certainly going to see that the accused here, Cole Allen, was probably imbibing that kind of ideology online, and he decided to act on it because people were telling him it’s the right thing to do.”
Similar warnings followed the 2024 assassination attempts against President Donald Trump and the Sept. 2025 assassination of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk on a Utah college campus.
Trump and all other administration officials present at Saturday’s dinner were safely ushered out of the venue.
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Kimmel calls Melania Trump an ‘expectant widow’ before White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel mocked President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump in a White House Correspondents’ Dinner parody this week, calling her “an expectant widow” and joking about her marriage, just days before the dinner was disrupted by a shooting.
“Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,” Kimmel said in his parody of the event on Thursday.
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is an annual gathering hosted by the White House Correspondents’ Association to honor journalism and fund scholarships. This year’s event, which took place on Saturday in Washington D.C., drew outsized attention because Trump attended in person for the first time while in office, though the evening was later overshadowed by violence.
Kimmel also used the parody to mock the Trumps’ relationship, portraying distance between the president and the first lady.
“Oh, by the way, Melania, this is Donald. Donald, this is Melania,” Kimmel said.
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The comedian pivoted to the first lady’s April 26 birthday and imagined how she would mark the occasion.
“She’s planning to celebrate at home the same way she always does, looking out a window and whispering, ‘What have I done?’” Kimmel said.
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Kimmel’s segment aired just days before the annual Correspondents’ Dinner was thrown into chaos when authorities said 31-year-old Cole Allen of Torrance, Calif., rushed a Secret Service checkpoint at the Washington Hilton armed with multiple weapons and opened fire on an officer.
Fox News Digital reported the officer was struck in a ballistic vest and taken to a hospital, while agents returned fire and detained Allen, who was also transported for treatment. Trump, first lady Melania Trump and senior administration officials were then rushed from the venue by Secret Service agents.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and ABC for comment but did not immediately hear back.
MLB teams have been trying out uniforms across the league labeled as the “City Connect” collection. Some are cool, some are lame and some are… the Cincinnati Reds.
Full disclosure: I am a Reds fan. It’s a painful existence, to be certain (Cincinnati hasn’t won a playoff series since 1995 when I was 6 years old). But I’m not sure that I’ve seen anything as disgusting on the field as the uniforms the Reds wore on Saturday night against the Detroit Tigers.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Prior to the game, the Reds welcomed the team’s 2026 Reds Hall of Fame Class, including Brandon Phillips, Lou Piniella, Aaron Harang and Reggie Sanders. And then they subjected those team legends to the worst uniforms in franchise history. A history that also includes many sleeveless jerseys, by the way.
For the squeamish among us, I’d encourage you now to either shield your eyes or go read another story (preferably not that one, retention time is important for me).
Seriously, what the heck are these uniforms? The all-red is atrocious. The logo is huge and ugly. And, you might not be able to tell, but there are also faint pinstripes on the jersey, the pants and the helmet. Why? It’s as if the designer’s direction was “Hey, can you make the ugliest uniforms in Reds history?”
“Done and done.”
And just to be clear, this is the actual plan: an all-red City Connect 2.0 set with faint pinstripes and a darker red sleeve. It’s not a one-off mistake.
For the record, here’s what the Reds official website says about the uniforms:
“A perennial favorite of both Reds fans and players alike, pinstripes have been featured on various Reds uniforms throughout history. City Connect 2.0 brings back this classic element to a new generation, but in a modernized tone-on-tone style. The sleeve is a darker shade of red and the jersey’s pinstripes [are] intentionally cut off at the shoulder, a nod to the popular vest-style uniforms last worn two decades ago.”
Why in the world are they reminding people about the “vest-style” uniforms? Those were terrible too!
With all the discussions about the New York Yankees looking to finally add an alternate uniform, I think it’s time the Reds went the opposite direction. Cincinnati is the oldest franchise in MLB history. They should have simple, classic uniforms. I get it, I sound like a mid-30-year-old trapped in the mind of an 80-year-old. Fine.
Give me the classic Reds uniforms all day over this “modern” abomination.
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