Reviewed by: Pat Byington
How Danae Hays went from softball national champion to rising comedy star
Reading time: 4 minutes
Being a good storyteller is the cornerstone to success in stand-up comedy, and Danae Hays has mastered the art of storytelling. The Morris, Alabama, native is making a huge splash on the national comedy scene gaining a massive following on social media.
Fun fact: She also was a member of the University of Alabama’s national championship softball team in 2012, playing shortstop for the Crimson Tide for four years under coach Pat Murphy.
Now, she is touring the country with her popular stand-up act, and is making a stop in Huntsville this weekend.
Get to know Danae Hays
Hays recently wrapped up her debut comedy tour, which sold out so quickly that the tour has been extended through the end of the year, transitioning to larger venues.
To date, Hays has sold more than 40,000 tickets in her first year of touring. She combines sketch comedy with stand-up storytelling and musical parody. In fact, her parody country music songs have pushed her to the top of the Spotify and Apple Music charts, earning her a cumulative following of more than 4 million followers and over 2 billion views.
One might wonder how a D-1 college athlete becomes a professional comedian, given the serious nature of sports and the competitive drive she needed to have to win at the highest level of her sport.
“Well when you bat .260, you kind of need to have a sense of humor. I come from a southern family of great storytellers, and a lot of my teammates were not from the South, and they always laughed at my southern accent and how I told stories. So I think (comedy) kind of fits me.
Being an athlete also helped me with competitiveness and pushing past hard time, staying focused. There are more similarities than you think.”
Danae Hays
Although based in Nashville, Hays says her roots in Alabama make stopping in the state on her tour much better.
“Alabama is my favorite place in the world. I love it so much. My grandparents are here, my parents are here, It is home to me.”
Danae Hays
Her music has sparked much of her growing popularity, but she says she does not come by musical ability naturally. Quite the opposite, really.
“I have never been a musician. Nobody in my family is musical at all. I grew up in the Pentecostal church and my family loved to sing in the choir and we always sang together. But all in a different key and it never sounded good. So, no, I never had a lot of confidence in my music ability. But now, music is my favorite part of what i do. It makes me feel like a kid again.”
Danae Hays
Check out her YouTube channel here.
What’s next?
Hays said her career is moving along with good momentum, and despite the travel and demands of the gig, her “work” hardly feels like work at all.
“I actually forgot I was coming to Huntsville as part of my job. My dad used to always say, ‘Find something you love to do and you’ll never work a day in your life.’ At the time I was like, ‘I have no idea what the heck that means.’ But now I do.
Danae Hays
So what’s in the future for Danae Hays?
She said she has always wanted to get into television and film, and that is where she would like to see her career head. She said she is working on a southern sitcom with a friend of hers that features two sisters who have inherited a trailer park, with a host of characters and story lines stemming from that premise.
“It allows for so many unusual characters that are intertwined and are true to the South. It’s not mocking the South or making fun of the South at all. It’s giving those gritty people of the South an opportunity to see themselves on screen. It’s full of compassion and integrity and a lot of laughter.”
Danae Hays
Hays is performing her show this weekend at Levity Live in Huntsville Friday at 7PM and 9:15PM; and Saturday at 6:30PM.
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