Otis Lee Crenshaw

Otis Lee Crenshaw

Otis Lee Crenshaw is the country-comedy alter ego of Rich Hall, created in 1998. The character is presented as a redneck jailbird from Tennessee with a history of seven marriages, all to women called Brenda. Crenshaw performs as a singer-songwriter, combining country material with spoken banter to create a mix of music and comedy.

Releases and writing

Several albums and a concert film are released under the Otis Lee Crenshaw name. A memoir in book form, Otis Lee Crenshaw: I Blame Society, is published in 2004. Hall also finishes a screenplay in 2007 for a film based on the book, written for director Mel Smith.

Live work and band members

In 2008, Hall tours the UK with both his stand-up show and an Otis Lee Crenshaw set, billed as Otis Lee Crenshaw and Band. He later tours a version of the show across the UK and Ireland in 2009. Performances at the 2009 Adelaide Fringe, the Sydney Opera House and the 2009 Melbourne Comedy Festival feature longtime sidekick Myron T. Buttram, played by Rob Childs on guitar and pedal steel, and Lonesome Dave, played by David Lindsay on banjo and guitar. When the group is renamed The Honky Tonk A**holes, the line-up also includes Horst Furst II, played by Nigel Portman Smith on bass, and drummer Mark Hewitt. An autumn 2009 performance at London’s Hammersmith Apollo is recorded and released as a live DVD.