In the summer of 2018, comedian John Crist sat in his Los Angeles apartment googling, “What are the closest apartments to Zanies in Nashville?” A few weeks later, he was moving into his new apartment sight-unseen at The Octave on 8th Avenue—walking distance to Nashville’s most famous comedy club.
Nearly 8 years later, Crist still calls Nashville home—and is even still close to Zanies, though now in a home he picked out in person rather than an apartment with a lease signed over the phone.
“Everywhere in Nashville, every restaurant I walk into, every time I go into the airport, every time I’m downtown on Broadway… this city has embraced me so kindly,” Crist said when explaining what he loves about living here. “Everybody treats me dang near close to family in this city.”
Crist first moved to the city in a couch-surfing capacity, staying with friends in between comedy runs on his tour bus to cities all around the country. He was touring with the Christian music festival called Winter Jam and learned quickly that the easiest way to be on the road was to be based in Nashville.
“Nashville is within an overnight bus drive of 75% of the population of America,” Crist said. “You can get all the way down to Florida, all the way up to Chicago, and over to New York City in a night—you can pretty much tour the whole country living in Nashville.”
Crist credits much of his success to Nashville, not just because of its idyllic location for touring, but because of how the comedy scene and local community have welcomed him so warmly.
Zanies was the only anchor Crist had when he moved to the city, he said. “Every dollar I’ve ever made is because of that club and its influence on me.”
The comedy club was also a big part of what made Crist fall in love with Nashville and its scene of creatives. “Zanies was the first club that ever let me host, the first club that ever let me feature, and the first place I ever headlined.” To this day, he loves to hang out there, eat a cheeseburger, and see the up-and-coming comics in the scene.
He fondly remembered his early years performing there and learning from the other performers—comics who were willing to riff with him, help him work out jokes, and suggest new material and angles he could try. “And now, I’ve been able to do the same for other new comics that are coming through,” he reflects fondly.
In 2025, Crist made his late-night debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and released his comedy special, John Crist: Emotional Support.
Crist wasn’t the only one who fell in love with the city; his fiancée, Lydia Fielder, saw the same warmth and community in Nashville that kept Crist here all these years. The couple got engaged in the summer of 2025 and will wed this coming fall.
The couple was long distance at the beginning of their relationship, but Crist said it didn’t take much convincing for her to make the big move. “Every time she came to Nashville, we’d go down to Broadway, or we’d walk across the bridge to Nissan Stadium for a Titans game, or we’d drive to Radnor Lake for a hike or to see the Christmas lights in Franklin, and she’d say, ‘Man, this city has opened its arms to us.’”
Together, Fielder and Crist have turned Nashville into the backdrop for their own personal fairy tale. Whenever the pair find themselves downtown, that fairytale finds itself at Robert’s Western World.
“Every time I go in there, I request ‘One More Last Chance’ by Vince Gill. I pay the band $20 and request that song,” he laughs. “Every time we’re down on Broadway, we stop through, have a dance, maybe a Red Bull, and go home. It’s beautiful.”
Crist will ring in a career highlight in Nashville with two headlining nights at the Opry House, one of the biggest venues he has ever performed for, on January 25 and February 19. These performances are a part of his latest tour, John Crist Live!, with dates across the country throughout the year.
“It’s an honor that the most tickets I’ve ever sold for an event are in my hometown of Nashville,” Crist said. “The kindness of the people in this city has been overwhelming.”
"...this city has embraced me so kindly. Everybody treats me dang near close to family...”
Title: John Crist on the Rise
John Crist is a fast-rising stand-up comedian with over one billion video views and more than seven million social media followers. He has sold out shows nationwide, earning a spot on Pollstar’s Top 100 Global Tours in 2019 with over 197,000 tickets sold. Crist is widely recognized for viral sketches such as Honest Football Coach, Every Parent at Disney, and Brands that Need to Be Cancelled. He has appeared on major outlets including ESPN, CBS Sports, Good Morning America, Fox & Friends, SEC Nation, and Barstool Sports. In 2022, he released his second comedy special, What Are We Doing?, on YouTube and published the bestselling book Delete That. Crist hosts the weekly podcast Net Positive and has appeared on shows like This Past Weekend, Nateland, and Kill Tony. His specials are available on Amazon Prime, Hulu, Apple TV, and YouTube.
Book tickets for upcoming shows at johncristcomedy.com and stay up to date with John Crist by following @johnbcrist.