Danville entertainment group hosts variety show

‘It’s Showtime at the Apollo’
• Saturday at the Danville City Auditorium, 125 Floyd St.
• Doors open at 6 p.m.
• Tickets $10 at the door

Danville has a chance to catch a variety show featuring 20 acts, ranging from comedy to hip hop. But there are a few things the audience won’t be seeing or hearing: profanity or sexual themes of any kind.

Danville native Carey Allen is CEO and founder of HuHu Entertainment — “Help Us Help You” — a Danville-based entertainment management company made up of six people that hosts positive events for adults, kids and families. The umbrella company comprises Bboy Productions, Nema Inc. Records, GS 800 Entertainment and Phish Out The Water.

“HuHu is designed within our community,” Allen said, “and we strive for positivity in our community.”

Allen and others auditioned more than 50 acts for the variety show, which they are calling “It’s Showtime at the Apollo.” Only 20 made the cut, and Allen told them they had to clean up their acts before Saturday’s show. The performers had six weeks to make the edits and if they slip up, “The Sandman” will run them off the stage.

“If you don’t have the guts, don’t call us,” Allen said. “…This show is to create a laugh, create humor so that we in HuHu Entertainment can strive to make a positive difference in our community.”

HuHu hosted a similar show in January, and Allen said several hundred people came and the large crowd never presented a safety issue. He said the goal of the show was to highlight local performers from around the Dan River Region in a family setting.

The variety show will include actors, singers, poets, dancers and more, competing for a $500 prize. It will also include Allen as the headliner.

Allen, also known as “CaRoc,” along with Greg Link, or “G Rugged,” will perform their song, “Monkey and Bananas,” a rap song about a dance craze that the pair performed on the 2009 Russ Parr Bus Tour. The video, available online at http://www.monkeyandbananas.com, was shot in Danville outside The Teen Zone on South Union Street and features the pair’s mascot, a man in a gorilla costume.

“It’s a positive dance song that the teenagers are dancing to as we speak,” Allen said. “Even my grandmother can do the dance. We have a mascot of two gorillas and a banana that will be a part of our show (Saturday) as well.

“It’s a positive song with positive lyrics. We do not do music that creates violence; we do music that creates a smile.”