The Hole Hecklers are Making Funny Money

“We’re just another hazard,” laughs Hole Hecklers founder Jon Chambers, a Colorado comic known as J Marc.

For a charity golf event at City Park in 2015, a sponsor asked Chambers and fellow funnyman David “Deacon” Gray to roast players on the eighth tee. “Hecklers are the bane of every comedian,” says Gray, “and golf tournaments rank pretty high on the list of events you shouldn’t heckle.” But with lines like “the doctor who birthed me had a better backswing than you,” they were a hit.

“We have 45 years of combined experience at reading an audience,” says Chambers. “We’re appropriate. With us, you’re not getting a Pinto; you’re getting a Porsche.” 

Chambers drove the business plan, registered the trademark, created different packages and, he says, “built it with a bigger purpose—helping charities raise money.” At shotguns, he and an associate set up at a tee, introduce themselves to each foursome and start the banter. They take donations—as well as cash to shut up or amp up the gibes—in a tamperproof box, which gets ceremoniously opened after the round.

Hole Hecklers also emcee après-golf receptions. Last fall, the two did their schtick at a Make-A-Wish event at Topgolf. “We interviewed the kids and it went over really well,” says Chambers, who has just published the motivational book, BE #alive.

As business grows, Chambers may enlist peers in Denver’s tight-knit comedy community. In the best possible sense, he’s proving that fundraising can be a laughing matter.

holehecklers.com

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