Whitmer Thomas Makes HBO Special at Flora-Bama

Mark Hoppus • April 27, 2020

ALABAMA NATIVE BRINGS HIS COMEDY BACK TO HIS ORGINS

Earlier this year, Whitmer Thomas crossed the rubicon every young comedian strives for. After years of grinding it out in Los Angeles and New York’s comedy club circuits, the 30-year-old Alabama native released his very own HBO special, The Golden One, in February. A disarming blend of music, comedy, and personal documentary, the hour-long special is an often funny, sometimes sad, and always engaging excavation of his personal history and hangups, with the traumatic loss of his mother functioning as its beating heart. Thomas’s mother, a musician whose success never equaled her ambition, passed away from alcoholism shortly after Thomas moved to L.A. to pursue a career in show business when he was just 18 years old. The trauma led him to shun alcohol and drugs for most of his adult life, which Thomas addresses in the song “Partied to Death,” the show’s cathartic highlight. 


Filmed at the Flora-Bama Lounge, the Pensacola bar where his mother performed with her twin sister as Syn Twister, and directed by his best friend and longtime collaborator Clay Tatum, Thomas fills the special with tales that border on the horrific, like the time Thomas’s dad saved him from being abducted by a stranger. But through a warm delivery and non-threatening approach, Thomas manages to walk the line between tragedy and comedy with grace. Having honed his craft as a member of the skate-punk comedy group Power Violence, Thomas, who self-identifies as an “aging emo kid,” grew up idolizing Blink-182, which he once called “the ultimate parody band.” It made sense, then, to connect him with Blink bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus, for a conversation about comedy, creative catharsis, and finally making it. —BEN BARNA


You might also like

FLORA-BAMA HEY Y'ALL

Flora Bama Mullet Toss
By Marketing April 10, 2025
The greatest weekend of the year is nearing, the iconic, the one and only, the Gulf coast's greatest beach party...MULLET TOSS! Always the last full weekend of April, this event brings in thousands of people to celebrate together and that's right, toss fish. Patrons gather around a 200 foot long course to watch participants sign up to grab a mullet and throw it as far as you can. The contest is simple, but the weekend is anything but..... think a three day long party filled with sunshine, sand, cocktails (bushwackers of course), live music, bikini and hot body contests, debauchery and oh the lifelong memories you'll never forget, or maybe you will.
Craig Campbell St. Jude FloraBama Concert
By Marketing April 7, 2025
95KSJ presented another St. Jude concert with country artist Craig Campbell on the Flora-Bama Tent Stage, Saturday, April 5th! What an incredible night of live music, while supporting a great cause. With 100% of ticket sales going directly to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, we raised a little over $7000 for the kids of St. Jude, helping aid in the cure of childhood cancer.
FloraBama Orange Beach Alabama Wharf Amphitheater
By Marketing March 18, 2025
Looking for live music on the Gulf Coast? Flora-Bama is the mother church of live entertainment on the beach year round, boasting 3500 performances a year. With 6 stages across the properties, 4 at the main Flora-Bama, including one right on the sand!, and one each at both of their sit down waterfront restaurants Flora-Bama Yacht Club and Flora-Bama Ole River Grill, it's your go to spot for live music. Another venue just up the road, The Wharf Ampitheater in Orange Beach, Alabama has announced it's line up for this concert season giving everyone another reason to visit the Gulf Coast.
More Posts

Book a Service Today