Blue Streaking

There were almost as many recognizable faces in the crowd at Side Splitters as there were on stage Sunday night. Nine local media personalities competed in the second annual Host with the Most Fun’raiser. My wife and I bought tickets to support my Smoky Mountain Television co-host Taz Cable. Brittany Bailey and John Martin had a front row seat to support their WBIR colleague Erin Donovan.

As I looked around the showroom, I saw Cynthia Moxley, Alan Carmichael and Scott Bird of Moxley Carmichael Public Relations. Cynthia writes a popular party-hopping blog called the Blue Streak. In it, she posts photos that she takes at many charity events around town. As a result, she’s not in the pictures. Seeing her gave me the idea to turn the tables on her and to snap a few pictures of the audience in the few moments left before showtime.

Michele Silva was there to root for Taz and for her WVLT colleague Whitney Kent. Michele was seated with WVLT’s Lorena Estrada. I especially enjoyed Whitney’s Shirley Nash Pitts impersonation. Tonya Cinnamon posted a photo on Facebook of Whitney imitating Shirley’s “Clean It Up” facial expression.

Mayoral candidate Mark Padgett and local attorney Stephen A. Burroughs were seated on opposite sides of the room. They both got countless mentions from the comedians, especially Burroughs who is known for his billboards, his Facebook memes and his recent Swagfest.