Taylor Calmus has built an internet empire mocking Colorado, and it continues to earn him fans among “Greenie” bashers in Wyoming.
The Fort Collins content creator, known online as Dude Dad, has amassed nearly a million YouTube subscribers and millions more followers across social media with videos skewering Front Range culture — the moms who name their kids Aspen and River, the newcomers who mangle local pronunciations, the endless reminders to hydrate and apply sunscreen.
In one video, he walks Colorado transplants through the minefield of place names. His advice on the eternal "Colorahdo" versus "Coloraydo" debate: "Keep Colorado rad. Always say 'rad.'”
This kind of material has made Calmus a hit in Wyoming, where the green Colorado license plate inspired the “Greenie” nickname.
The Colorado-border communities of Cheyenne and Laramie are especially predisposed to enjoy jokes made at Colorado's expense.
Now, Calmus and his wife Heidi are bringing their live show — “Dude Dad’s Parents Night Out” — to audiences they hope will relate to their spunky ribbing of modern domestic bliss and suburban living.
"It's not a normal standup show," Calmus told Cowboy State Daily. "There's a lot of different elements that we incorporate into it. It just kind of gives the audience a different experience that they might not have had before."
The show draws on the same territory as his videos — marriage, parenthood, awkward adulting.
"We want our content to feel like we're holding up a mirror and you're looking at the mirror and you can either see yourself or your spouse or your dad," he said.
The shows are rated for ages 18 and up. Calmus describes the material as "not raunchy, but we push the envelope here and there."
That includes his bit arguing that vasectomies are truly an act of chivalry.
"Getting a vasectomy is the most manly thing that you can do," Calmus says in the bit. "If you and your wife decided that you were done having kids, for you to go out and get a ten-minute operation so that she never has to endure the pain and suffering of labor ever again — that's pretty dang manly."
Where It Started
Taylor and Heidi met on stage at the University of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, while performing in a student play. They would eventually get married on the same stage.
While pursuing opportunities in Los Angeles, Taylor was a recurring bit-part actor on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, with multiple appearances in roles such as Uber Passenger, Gamer Watcher and RadioShack Employee over several episodes between 2015–2016.
"I was there (LA) for 10 years, and I think it was about year eight when we had our first kid and I started the channel just as a way to stay creative in case we had to leave,” he said. “Because we were doing OK. I had some success here and there, but it wasn't enough to really sustain a family."
Taylor spotted an opportunity in the emerging world of short-form social media entertainment, with lots of producers talking about motherhood.
“But there really wasn't anything for dads at the time,” he said. Taylor would later go on to create “The Husbands of Target” series about men bonding while waiting for their wives while they shop at Target.
"I was a video creator that became a dad, not a dad who became a video creator," Calmus said. "So I already kind of had the skills of storytelling."
He and Heidi eventually settled in Fort Collins, traveling to Wyoming occasionally to snowboard at Snowy Range Ski Area and to purchase fireworks for the Fourth of July.
In one Dude Dad video, Taylor points out the differences between a Colorado dad and a Wyoming dad when it comes to recreational explosives.
Taylor’s stereotypical Colorado dad asks, “Willow, Chaco, do you want to try a sparkler?” while presenting his vision of a fireworks-crazed Wyoming father who tells his children to fire Roman candles at each other.
Comedy That Cares
The upcoming Dude Dad shows are part of Comedy That Cares, a new monthly touring series organized by Cheyenne comedian Dominic Syracuse. Starting in January, Syracuse will bring comedians from around the country to perform in Cheyenne, Laramie and Casper, with each show benefiting a different local nonprofit.
Syracuse, who runs a business called Cognitive Behavioral Theater, has spent five years crisscrossing Wyoming doing mental health workshops for nonprofit employees.
He kept hearing the same complaint.
"For nonprofits, the biggest stressor they're always facing is money," Syracuse said. "I think the hardest part about being a nonprofit is you have a really good goal in mind. You have something that you want to use to change the world or to change your community, and then you start doing it and you realize, oh dear, I need funds."
When multiple organizations approached him last year asking for help organizing comedy fundraisers, Syracuse saw an opportunity. He remembered a monthly comedy show at the Metropolitan in Cheyenne that was discontinued around 2021 and wondered if he could revive it with a charitable mission.
"I don't think any city in Wyoming has the population to support a comedy club where you're doing more comedy shows," Syracuse said. "But I did think there's enough people who love comedy that would be interested in having a different comedy show once a month."
The concept grew into a three-city tour: Casper on Thursdays, Cheyenne on Fridays, and Laramie on Saturdays, with a different nonprofit beneficiary in each city each month.
"Coming to the Civic Center January 16th is Dude Dad live!" Syracuse announced on social media this week.
"I know a lot of people are experiencing stress and depression and anxiety in these times," Syracuse told Cowboy State Daily. “And in a lot of ways we've sort of replaced entertainment with just getting really, really mad at social media and the news. I think people have forgotten that it's still OK to laugh, and it's still OK to come together and have joy."
L.A. Refugees
Both Calmus and Syracuse took similar paths to end up in Wyoming's orbit.
Syracuse spent his L.A. years doing an unusual double duty: stand-up comedy and working behind bars with prisoners.
"I'm an actor and stand-up comedian first and foremost," Syracuse said. "But because life is really interesting, I started teaching acting in the prison system of Los Angeles, and I got certified to teach cognitive behavioral therapy in the prisons. I started using acting and improv techniques to teach behavioral therapy."
He now describes himself as "50% actor entertainer and 50% cognitive behavioral specialist."
He recently returned from a tour through Indiana and Illinois, performing at Ivy Tech College while recording content for a mental health app with his partner Salish Jajuan, a hypnotherapist.
Jajuan also runs Metropolis Management, which represents a variety of entertainers, including Syracuse.
"Being a part of Metropolis Management is kind of like being a part of those traveling shows,” said Syracuse during an interview while driving from the Indiana college to another event in Chicago. “You know, where they would have the caravan in the back and they'd unfold it and they'd say, ‘Come on, come on. We've got everything for you.'
"There would be clowns and there'd be people doing plays and there'd be musicians and magicians and all sorts of stuff. I mean, we're really the modern version of that."
Laughter And Giving
After the January kickoff with Dude Dad, Comedy That Cares will settle into a monthly rhythm starting in February. The regular Cheyenne shows will move to the Metropolitan Downtown, with Syracuse and his team bringing in different comedians each month.
The series will take the summer off to avoid competing with Cheyenne's Fridays on the Plaza, then resume in September.
For Syracuse, it's a chance to address both the entertainment gap that comes with being an isolated state and the funding challenges faced by nonprofits everywhere.
"(Dude Dad) is going to be the headliner. He's going to be the opening. He's going to kick off the whole series at the Cheyenne Civic Center and at the Gryphon Theatre in Laramie,” said Syracuse, whose social media posts describe the “Dude Dad’s Parents Night Out” show as, “relatable, hilarious and mostly clean."
When describing his act to Cowboy State Daily, Dude Dad said, “We found that those more rural communities are where our show really shines. Just giving those parents something to go out and do together."
“Dude Dad's Parents Night Out” plays the Cheyenne Civic Center on Jan. 16 and the Gryphon Theatre in Laramie on Jan. 17. Tickets are $45.
Contact David Madison at david@cowboystatedaily.com
David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
