from tiktok to SXSW

TikTok foodie and Dallasite Keith Lee will be featured speaker at SXSW

Keith Lee is adding onto his entrepreneurship empire with a featured session at SXSW.

Keith Lee - Facebook

Viral TikTok sensation Keith Lee is beefing up his entrepreneurship empire with a featured session at Austin's South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in March.

SXSW is already several announcements deep into its conference lineup, which includes regular sessions called featured sessions, as well as daily keynotes that usually feature especially influential speakers in larger formats.

But Lee's promises to be a standout. His featured session, called "Mastering the Art of Influencer Entrepreneurship," will give an inside look at how everyday media is no longer primarily being produced by "powerful entities," but by thousands of regular people thanks to the rise of the "Creator Economy."

And who better to demonstrate that than Lee, who has built his social media empire based off his 16-million-follower TikTok account where he gives honest reviews of small local restaurants in food-scene-driven cities all over the country. His reviews have resulted in surges of customer traffic, which is known as the "Keith Lee Effect."

According to the session description, Lee will join UK-based Digital Voices founder and CEO Jennifer Quigley-Jones to discuss the many ways content creators "can strategically use customer insights, innovative marketing techniques, and AI technology to fuel business growth."

This is a big achievement for Lee, who has come a long way from reviewing local Dallas-Fort Worth restaurants and buzzy Texas State Fair food. In fact, he enjoyed Texas foodie culture so much, he packed up and relocated from Las Vegas to Dallas.

He has previously touted the benefits of artificial intelligence with a Microsoft partnership to show how the tech company's AI products could help small Black-owned restaurants deal with business surges.

Keith Lee's "Mastering the Art of Influencer Entrepreneurship" featured session will take place on March 7 from 2:30 to 3:30 pm.

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The Joke Has Landed

New comedy club at Toyota Music Factory in Irving gets set for laughs

Photo by Anna Dolmany

This is the fifth Punch Line location.

It's almost time for Punch Line Irving to open its doors, and Dave Chappelle is at the ready. The famous comedian will christen the new comedy club with four sold-out shows on December 17 and 18, but there's plenty more funny business in store for 2026.

First announced in November, this is Punch Line's fifth location — and second in Texas, the first opened in Houston in 2024 — and it's taking up residence at the Toyota Music Factory. The 240-seat club plans to host more than 350 shows and private events annually, featuring a blend of high-wattage celebrity and homegrown talent.

Its decor nods to the brand's belief that comedy is a sport, with feature wall showcasing punching bags and boxing bells signed by "heavy hitter" performers.

The menu also echoes the theme, with such cocktails as the Bellringer (bourbon, lemonade, and Liquid Death half-and-half iced tea), Ringside Ranch Water (blanco tequila, hibiscus, lime, and soda), and the Espresso All-Star, their take on the espresso martini. Food includes Punch Line favorites like the Mic Drop Burger, Punch Line Nachos, and Homemade Punch Pop Tarts in bourbon apple or strawberry cream.

There is also a second, more flexible space outside the main showroom called The Callback Bar that's designed to host smaller performances, as well as a furnished patio.

Punch Line Irving The Callback Bar.Photo by Anna Dolmany

Photo by Anna Dolmany

This is the fifth Punch Line location.

The talent gets treated as well as the audience, with a private comics lounge in place of a traditional dressing room. Designed as a shared gathering space, it sports a custom media wall showing the live-show feed, a dressing table, a private ensuite restroom, and a hospitality station.

Punch Line makes it a point to support the local comedy scene, and its Irving location will be no exception. Twenty-five cents from each ticket at participating shows benefits Comedy Gives Back, a nonprofit organization providing financial grants and resources to stand-up comedians in need. The club also hosted its first open mic on December 9 to welcome the community, with participating comics donating nonperishable items to the North Texas Food Bank.

Don't fret if you didn't snag tickets to Dave Chappelle — big names like Leslie Jones, Tone Bell, Pete Holmes, and Christina P. all have shows scheduled in the first few months of 2026 and tickets are on sale now.

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