Doors 6:30 / Show 7:30

$15 General Admission

Johnny Showcase is an electrifying experience. This 10-piece Philadelphia-based group is an innovative, joyful tour-de-force that blissfully toes the line between performance art and a psychedelic soul revival. Carrying the torch of funk-rock pioneers like Funkadelic and Frank Zappa, their ecstatic live shows have gained a massive following and propelled Johnny to something that of a funky Philly folk hero legend.

The brain-child of actor/ musician David Sweeny, Johnny Showcase is a sweaty, charismatic showman from Rhode Island who is equal parts Andy Kaufman and Prince. Surrounding him is a rag tag group of performers, including a spiritual adviser named Rumi Kitchen, two vacuous vocalists collectively named The Truth, and the knife sharp backing band the Mystic Ticket.

Beginning as a bizarro cabaret act, Johnny Showcase first made a splash with The Lefty Lucy Cabaret, a catapult for the blossoming talent that was rising up in the Philly theatre scene. In 2009 Showcase staged a sold-out run of a fantastical, unauthorized Prince-inspired odyssey Purr, Pull, Reign as part of the 2009 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

With one foot in the theatre and the other in the sweaty music clubs of Philly, Johnny took his music into the studio. 2011 saw the release of their debut album LOVE IS THE MESSAGE, co-produced with Henry Hirsch (Lenny Kravitz, Madonna), followed up in 2012 with the self-produced EP, MYSTIC TICKET I: THE PUMP FAKE Their extraordinary live show began to travel to other cities, and find opening slots for their heroes, including George Clinton himself.

Their 2015 album THE OCTOPUS! was hailed by Philadelphia Magazine as a "thick, sweaty psychedelic masterpiece".

After writing and producing for others (Martha Graham Cracker' LASHED BUT NOT LEASHED) and recording IT'S THE JOHNNY SHORTCAKE SHOW, a funky kids album coupled with a stage show commissioned by The Kimmel Center, Johnny returned in 2019 with HIPS & the LIPS Vol 1, the first of a series of releases in collaboration with Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo (Co-founder of Ruffhouse Records).

And finally, in summer 2021 Johnny auditioned for America's Got Talent, which was hailed by Simon Cowell as “…Brilliant. One of my favorite acts..this year”, and garnering 2.4 million views on YouTube. Johnny Showcase has kicked down America's door. Philadelphia's best kept secret is a secret no longer.