84-year-old lives his dream as a stand-up comedian

It’s the late show at McCurdy's Comedy Theatre. Weekend shows are filled with a much younger crowd, which is usually not the target audience for the guest comedian of the night.

Cliff Hornsby, 84, slowly walks up the stairs, holding onto the railing. Then he grabs his walker and finally makes it to center stage.

Faces in the audience fall a bit. They don’t know what to expect from Hornsby. He's not the typical comedian you see on stage. 

“My name is Cliff Hornsby,” he starts. “Please do not make a Silver Alert call. I left a note on my bed at the nursing home saying that I would be home late.”

Audience members of all ages start laughing. Then Hornsby unzips the vest he is wearing. He throws it across the stage to reveal a T-shirt with his stage name written in big letters.

Welcome to the stage, perhaps Longboat's most relatable comedian: "Gerry Atric."

Dream delayed

Longboat resident Hornsby has always met stress with laughter. 

Originally from Atlanta, he has been making people laugh since childhood. His philosophy is that for every negative in life, a positive can always be found. 

Now, he is finally accomplishing his dream of making people laugh for a living and excelling at it.

Courtesy image

Even with his gift to make people laugh, he didn’t think it was possible to make comedy his career until his 80s. Hornsby pursued many other jobs throughout his life, including banking, developing houses and cemeteries, working in the Southern Gospel music industry and real estate.

“Now I’m a full-time comedian,” said Hornsby. “I wish I would have done it 40 years ago. I might have starved, but it would have been worth it.”

Hornsby moved to Longboat Key 38 years ago. In 2022, he and his wife were hosting family at their home. He couldn’t stop himself from cracking jokes and telling funny stories. His company laughed for 30 minutes straight. 

After his first unofficial comedy set, his family members told him that he should consider going into comedy. This encouraged him to sign up for courses at McCurdy’s Humor Institute to pursue his dream. 

His first classes ended with a showcase on the last day. This is when he became Cliff “The Geezer” Hornsby. 

He said he was nervous for his first official set. But once he got his first laughs, nothing could stop him from continuing.

Double act

Hornsby said that his favorite part about doing comedy is the people he has met. He was introduced to his mentor, Al Ernst, through a fellow comedian at McCurdy's. Ernst has been a comedian for 35 years and has done shows all over the world. 

Ernst’s mentorship has helped form Hornsby into the comedian that he is today. Ernst started by watching Hornsby's shows and giving him pointers based on his own experiences.

Photo by Petra Rivera

Ernst emphasized the importance of on-stage presence and delivery. He said you can have the best jokes ever, but if you don’t deliver properly, you won’t get the same reaction from the audience.

Hornsby retired the “Geezer” after he noticed that his main audience was older adults. 

“I looked out into the audience, and I just saw a bunch of old people,” said Hornsby. This is where “Gerry Atric” was born. 

With Ernst’s help, Hornsby perfected his “Gerry Atric” character and set based on his life experiences and relatable situations. 

Ernst said that it is now hard to book a show without Hornsby because of how much people love him. Along with being mentor and mentee, the two have become close friends.

Laughs on Longboat

After two years of perfecting his sets, Hornsby has now performed all over Florida as well as in Atlanta. He has won multiple audience-choice awards for his comedy sets.

With the help of Ernst, Hornsby wants to put his performances on streaming services to reach people outside Florida. The two have also been working on upgrading their social media presence.

Hornsby’s other goal is to have a show on Longboat Key. He wants to perform at the Town Center Green to bring stand-up comedy to the island and give the proceeds to a Longboat nonprofit. 

“The thing about Cliff is that he is always coming up with jokes throughout any conversation you are having with him,” said Ernst. “His superpower is that he has a super unique style of comedy. He made up this great character and learned to develop and deliver it so well that people just love him. He is the person that, at first, younger audiences or any audiences are quiet about, but later on, they decide this old guy is cool.”