The bit came at the end of Cayton-Holland's ten-minute set, part of the pre-film entertainment helmed by fellow comic Chuck Roy. After seven minutes of comedy, Cayton-Holland switched modes, telling the crowd about his wonderful girlfriend Lizzy, who was apparently somewhere in the audience. As he waxed poetic, the packed house started to figure out what was coming. So, when Cayton-Holland got down on one knee and pulled out a ring box, folks went nuts. The dramatic weather forming overhead made the moment even more momentous.
"It was epic," Cayton-Holland says now of the monsoon-like phenomena that developed in the bit. "I wish I really was getting engaged."
Too bad he wasn't, a fact that Roy revealed to the crowd when he got up on stage and told Cayton-Holland, "You don't have a girlfriend!" Funny stuff ensued -- with part of the crowd clearly dismayed by the letdown and the other part cracking up. Finally, Cayton-Holland wrapped up his set by telling his audience he'll be hanging out at the side of the stage for a bit: "If anyone wants to get married, I'm pretty lonely." Ba-dum-dum-tish.
What Cayton-Holland didn't know at the time was how close he came to getting ushered away mid-bit. As it turns out, Red Rocks personnel had already decided to pull the plug on the show because of the weather and wanted the comedian off the stage pronto -- something Roy, ever the consummate performer, refused to allow. "We gotta do a bit!" he reportedly told the staff.
Talk about a commitment to comedy. And as the video below demonstrates, the life-threatening theatrics were worth it.
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