Items tagged with 'comedy'
A bunch of comedy shows coming up
A series of people will be coming to the Capital Region over the next few months and they're hoping will you give them money. In return, you'll be hoping they make you laugh.
And here's a rundown of a bunch of those shows...
Here's that SNL skit that referenced Albany
A Saturday Night Live skit this past weekend referenced Albany (mostly visually). It's embedded above.
The skit is more a spoof of local TV news and cringe-inducing public marriage proposals. The fake local TV news program open and set background include a pic of the Albany skyline. That's about the extent of the reference.
Lewis Black at Troy Music Hall
Comedian Lewis Black will be back in town for a stand-up show at the Troy Music Hall March 16. Tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday, October 26 -- they're $38 and up.
The promo blurbage for Black's tour -- "The Jokes On US Tour" -- touts "a cathartic release of anger and disillusionment for his audience."
Black has performed here a bunch of times, often at The Palace. This might be the first time his rants will enjoy the famed acoustics of the hall.
Troy Music Hall advertises on AOA.
Steve Martin + Martin Short at Proctors
Humorous people Steve Martin and Martin Short will be at Proctors February 17 for a show together. Tickets go on sale this Friday, October 19 -- they're $75.50 and up.
Show blurbage:
In Now You See Them, Soon You Won't, comedy legends Steve Martin and Martin Short present new material in a variety of musical sketches and conversations about their iconic careers, most memorable encounters, and, of course, their legendary lives in show business. Grammy Award®-winning bluegrass band The Steep Canyon Rangers will join the duo on stage. The tour also features renowned pianist and Jimmy Kimmel Live band member Jeff Babko.
Martin and Short also teamed up for a Netflix special earlier this year, and also performed at Tanglewood in September.
Presumably Steve Martin's banjo will also be making an appearance.
photo: Anna Webber
Jim Gaffigan at The Palace
Comedian Jim Gaffigan is set for a stand-up show at The Palace March 2. Tickets go on sale this Friday, October 5 -- they're $39.75 and up.
Gaffigan's comedy tends to be observational stuff about everyday things. He's appeared on pretty much every TV talk show, along with almost every other type of show. He's got a role in a dozen different shows or films this year and in the future, according to IMDB. And he released a new comedy special earlier this year.
Back in 2016 he played a show at TU Center, and a few years before that a sold-out show at Proctors. So it would be surprising if tickets for this Palace show sell out or come close.
Michelle Wolf at Albany Funny Bone
Comedian Michelle Wolf will be at the Albany Funny Bone for a two stand-up shows this Sunday, September 2. The shows are at 7 pm (sold out) and 9:45 pm -- tickets are $35.
Wolf got a lot of attention earlier this year for her performance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in which she set pretty much everyone on blast, especially the Trump administration.
The former Daily Show contributor also hosted a show at Netflix this year. And she has an HBO comedy special premiering in December.
Aziz Ansari
Aziz Ansari is also playing a handful of shows at the Albany Funny Bone Tuesday and Wednesday -- but they're all sold out.
photo: Mindy Tucker
Amy Schumer at The Palace
Amy Schumer will be at The Palace November 8 for a stand-up show. Tickets go on sale this Monday, August 27 -- they're $32.
The Palace stop is part of a fall tour that, according to the press materials, will include all new material.
Of course, Schumer made a pop-up appearance at MopCo in Schenectady earlier this summer where she worked some material. Maybe some of that will end up in the new tour.
Schumer has sold out shows here before, so if you'd like to go to this show and have your pick of seats, getting tickets sooner rather than later isn't a bad idea.
Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show: Chris Lamberth
The Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show series is bringing Chris Lamberth back to Proctors August 25. Tickets are $15 ahead / $20 at the door and available now.
Lamberth was a previously a headliner for the series back in 2016. Bio blurbage:
[Lamberth] has toured nationally with Chris Hardwick and shared the stage with notable comedians Maria Bamford, Bill Burr, D.L. Hughley, Marc Maron, Trevor Noah and Craig Robinson. He has been featured on AXS TV's Gotham Comedy Live, the webseries Co-Operation, MTV's prank show Bugging Out and the critically acclaimed podcast 2 Dope Queens. ...
His other television and film credits include High Maintenance (HBO), Jessica Jones (Netflix), The Last O.G. (TBS), Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix) and the upcoming film Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Fox Searchlight) starring Melissa McCarthy. He also serves as host of The Mundane Festival--a weekly podcast...
The show's at 8 pm. And with all Pretty Much shows, there will be a host and opener.
Four years of Pretty Much The Best Comedy Show
The show this August will mark the fourth-year anniversary of the Pretty Much The Best Comedy Show series, which has consistently brought interesting, rising comics through town, among them Aparna Nancherla and Josh Gondelman.
Follow up: The Mop & Bucket Improv Theater
AOA is on summer break. So we'll have new follow-ups with people we've met and covered during the last year (or so).
Just over a year ago, The Mop & Bucket Company -- the Capital Region's longest running improv troupe -- took a leap of faith. Troupe founder Michael Burns and his wife and partner Kat Koppett purchased an abandoned firehouse on North Jay Street in Schenectady, renovated it, and created the MopCo Improv Theater.
They had hopes of creating not just a place for improv performance, but a community space for all sorts of performance, classes, and a hub for creativity. A year later they're creating new improv formats, playing to sold-out houses, expanding their repertoire of classes, and hosting a wide variety of performers from improv to storytellers to sketch comedy.
Oh, and last week, Amy Schumer paid them a visit for a sold out pop-up show.
Michael Burns, who's also MopCo's artistic director, talked with us about this last year of making things up.
Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show: Abbi Crutchfield + Luke Thayer
The Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show series will be back at Proctors this Saturday, July 28 with two headliners on the bill: Abbi Crutchfield and Luke Thayer.
Show blurbage:
Abbi Crutchfield - As seen on Comedy Central's "Broad City," NBC's "The Mysteries of Laura," and current co-host of TruTV's "You Can Do Better", Abbi Crutchfield is a comedian named one of the 18 Funny Women You Should Be Following on Twitter by Huffington Post Comedy. She is a UCB alum and is a longtime producer of the acclaimed live comedy show The Living Room Show.
Luke Thayer - luke was just names Sirius XM's "Comedian Of The Month"! Luke has appeared at comedy festivals, clubs, and colleges across the country and internationally. His TV appearances include Fox's "Laughs," "Brain Games" on Nat Geo, Tyra, Food Network, and "All Night with Joey Reynolds" on NBC. Luke's also been a guest in Funny Or Die Originals and College Humor videos and listed in the NY Post's Comics' Favorite Jokes.
And, as it happens, they're married. (To each other.)
Show's at 8 pm. Tickets are $15 ahead / $20 at the door.
photos: Abbi Crutchfield via her Twitter account | Luke Thayer via his Facebook
Tracy Morgan at Rivers Casino
Comedian Tracy Morgan is set play a stand-up show at the Rivers Casino event center in Schenectady November 9. Tickets go on sale this Friday, June 15 -- they're $55.
Of course, Morgan is famous for his role on 30 Rock and time on Saturday Night Live. He has a new show, The Last O.G..
Morgan's made a handful of stops here in recent years, including a string of warm-up shows at the Albany Funny Bone last summer.
photo: Paul Mobley
Miranda Sings at The Egg
The comedy act Miranda Sings will be at The Egg July 13. Tickets are on sale now -- they're $39.50 and up.
The title for the show is "Miranda Sings Live... No Offense with special guest Colleen Ballinger." Miranda Sings is the YouTube-famous act -- Colleen Ballinger is the comedian / actor who plays her. Blurbage:
The character Miranda was created in 2008 and became mainstream when Colleen received a personal call from Jerry Seinfeld to appear on his series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, and subsequently The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. 'Miranda's' origins were intended as a parody of the young, self-absorbed singers with more far more confidence (and vibrato) than talent which Colleen saw uploading videos to YouTube. Miranda is known for her overdrawn red lips, questionable advice about singing and life, a deluded self-confidence, and over-the-top rants about her family and personal problems.
"Miranda" is also the basis for the Netflix series Haters Back Off!
More recently-announced comedy shows
+ March 31: Pretty Much The Best Comedy Show: Julie Kottakis at Proctors
+ April 7: Cuzin Maine at Troy Music Hall
+ May 18: Nick Swardson at The Egg
Andy Borowitz at Proctors
Writer/comedian Andy Borowitz will be at Proctors July 13. Tickets go on sale this Friday, February 9.
Borowitz is most famous of late for his satirical pieces at The New Yorker. But back in the day he was chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool as one of the creators of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air
The show is part of Borowitz's "Make America Less Embarrassing Again" tour. He'll be talking with WAMC's Joe Donahue on stage.
photo via Andy Borowitz Facebook
Kevin Hart at SPAC
Comedian Kevin Hart is set for a stand-up show at SPAC May 25. Tickets go on sale this Wednesday, January 31 -- they're $45 (lawn) and up.
Hart is one of the most famous and successful comedians in the game right now -- regularly ranking among the top-10 highest earning comedians -- based on his stand-up act and frequents appearances in movies and other media.
Hart's last two stops here have been at the TU Center, in 2015 and 2012. (We were just trying to think about the last stand-up act to play a show at SPAC... and drawing a blank. Maybe you know.)
photo via Kevin Hart Facebook
Kate Welshofer is leaving for a job in Buffalo
Updated Thursday at 3:20 pm.
Kate Welshofer announced on her Facebook page Thursday that she's leaving Spectrum News for a job in Buffalo with WGRZ. From her post (link added):
Plain and simple--my YouTube channel got me this job.
So, after 20 years in the business, I am being given the chance to be able do what I have always wanted to do on television on a consistent basis and that is: give people a reason to smile. ...
To anyone not sure if they should do something weird, do it. Not everybody's going to get it but, when you least expect it, somebody will....and it will change your life.
Her last night on Spectrum is Thursday.
Speaking of rolling the credits
Kate recently teamed up with Greg Aidala for a series of super short comedy bits, called Credits...
Liz Miele returns to the Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show series
The Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show series is returning to Capital Rep in Albany December 31 -- and it's bringing headliner Liz Miele back to town. Tickets are $15 ahead / $20 day of.
Miele as the headliner for a Pretty Much show at Proctors last year. A clip from a Paste profile:
Her ability to zero in on the feelings behind her feelings evokes Chris Gethard: even when the material is dark, it is affably so; when it is light, there is darkness woven into the fabric. (I'm fond of a bit in her recent set at the Paste Studio in which she considers pregnancy as a means of treating hormonal acne). "I really do think how reflective you have to be in comedy and how reflective you have to be in therapy really came together to give me a little more understanding of who I am as a person, which helped me have more of an understanding of who I am as a comic," she said. This was not an easy process--"There were like three years of finding out everything that sucks about me"--but it seems to have proven crucial to her work. "We all go into comedy as a defense mechanism," she speculated. "I think a lot of us feel ostracized by whatever community we grew up in, so then we start to build our own community. It's weird."
As with other Pretty Much shows, the night also includes an opener and a host. Show starts at 8 pm.
More New Year's Eve comedy
There are a bunch of comedy shows around the area that night...
+ The First Night of Funny series will be at multiple venues around the greater Capital Region.
+ Impression comic Frank Caliendo is at the Rivers Casino in Schenectady.
+ And there are shows at the clubs -- the Comedy Works in Saratoga and Funny Bone in Albany.
High Mud Comedy Festival 2018
The High Mud Comedy Festival is set to return to MASS MoCA March 16-17. Tickets go on sale this Friday, December 15. (The museum's website doesn't list the price, but a two-day pass was $42 last year.)
This year's headliner is Mike Birbiglia, of My Girlfriend's Boyfriend, Sleepwalk With Me, Don't Think Twice, and This American Life fame. He's made multiple stops in the area in the past, many of which have sold out.
Also announced for the festival: singer/songwriter/comedian Nellie McKay. More acts will be announced later.
The festival is, according to the blurbage, "stacked with comedy-club kings and queens, funny film, uncommon workshops, half-brewed beer tastings, mocking museum tours (and whatever else we can think to poke fun at)."
photo: Brian Friedman
Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show: Erik Bergstrom
The Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show series at Proctors brings Erik Bergstrom back for a stand-up show Saturday, October 28. Tickets are $15 ahead / $20 day of.
Show blurbage:
Bergstrom's hilariously dark comedy is a fitting match for Halloween weekend, as an illustrator and author, he published his first book, "Grimmer Tales" (Penguin Books) in 2009 and has had his illustrations repeatedly appear in the New Yorker and other publications. Last year, after finessing his set right here at Pretty Much The Best Comedy Show, Comedy Central picked Bergstrom to record and produce his first Half-Hour on their network, which aired in September of 2016.
Bergstrom also survived a bout with cancer during the last few years. As he told Splitsider: "Cancer is the best agent I've ever had. When I got this special I got emails from agents wanting to know if I wanted to sign with them, but I was like, 'If I want another TV spot I'll just have more cancer.'"
The show starts at 8 pm.
photo via Erik Bergstrom Facebook
Trevor Noah at The Palace
Daily Show host Trevor Noah will be at The Palace December 9 for a stand-up show. Tickets go on sale this Friday, September 15 -- they're $39.50 and up.
The Palace date is toward the end of a national tour for Noah this fall. Many of the shows have already sold out. So if you're interested in going, it's a good idea to get tickets sooner rather than later.
More comedy at the Palace
+ October 6: Mike Epps
+ October 7: Ron White
+ November 3: Lewis Black
Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show: Casey James Salengo
The Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show series at Proctors has Casey James Salengo lined up for this Saturday. Tickets are $15 ahead / $20 day of.
Salengo was on Jimmy Kimmel earlier this month. And he has a half-hour Comedy Central special coming out this fall. And he's originally from Middleburgh. As he posted on Facebook this week: "My entire extended family and many childhood friends will be seeing me for the first time so come on out if you want to witness an actual nightmare I've had come to life."
The bill also includes Courtney Maginnis. Earlier this year she was on Studio 360 talking about balancing her stand-up comedy with her day job as a lingerie designer.
The show starts at 8 pm on Saturday, August 26 in the Proctors education center space.
Tracy Morgan will be back at the Funny Bone at Crossgates
Comedian Tracy Morgan is set to play a handful of standup shows at the Funny Bone at Crossgates August 11 and 12. Tickets are $35 and up.
It looks like the shows might be a warm up before he heads out on tour. The Crossgates dates aren't listed on his website, and they're followed on his schedule by a string of club dates in NYC.
Noted from the Funny Bone event page: "NO cell phones are aloud in the showroom during the show. There will be a cell phone case provided at the show if you need to have your phone on you. If you need to use your phone during the show you will have to exit the showroom and use it in the bar area."
photo: Paul Mobley
Lewis Black at The Palace
Comedian Lewis Black is set to return to The Palace for stand-up show November 3. Tickets go on sale this Friday, May 19 -- they're $29.50 and up. (There's also a fan club pre-sale starting May 16.)
Black's new tour is the "Rant, White & Blue" tour. There are a probably a few recent events about which he's upset.
He's played a bunch of shows here in recent years, including a date at The Palace last year.
More comedy
+ Sinbad is at Troy Music Hall June 4.
+ Kevin James at The Egg June 23.
+ This year's comedy lineup for the Solid Sound Festival at MASS MoCA June 23-25 includes: John Hodgman (of course), Michael Ian Black, Eugene Mirman, Phoebe Robinson*, Nick Offerman, and Jean Grae's The Show Show with DJ Quelle Chris. (It looks like Robinson has replaced Aparna Nancherla in the lineup.)
+ That John Mulaney show July 27 that was originally scheduled for The Egg, but moved to The Palace because of demand has added a second show that same night at 9:30 pm.
+ Demetri Martin is returning to The Egg October 6.
Kevin James at The Egg
Comedian/actor Kevin James will be at The Egg June 23 for a stand-up show. Tickets are on sale now -- they're $55 and up.
James, of course, starred on The King of Queens for many years, as well as appearing in movies. And he now has a new sitcom.
He's made a couple of stops here in recent years at The Palace. This show at The Egg is in the 982-seat Hart Theatre.
More comedy
+ That John Mulaney show July 27 that was originally scheduled for The Egg, but moved to The Palace because of demand has added a second show that same night at 9:30 pm.
+ Demetri Martin is returning to The Egg October 6.
+ And this year's comedy lineup for the Solid Sound Festival at MASS MoCA June 23-25 includes: John Hodgman (of course), Michael Ian Black, Eugene Mirman, Phoebe Robinson*, Nick Offerman, and Jean Grae's The Show Show with DJ Quelle Chris. (It looks like Robinson has replaced Aparna Nancherla in the lineup.)
photo via Kevin James Facebook.
Demetri Martin returning to The Egg
Comedian/actor Demetri Martin is returning to The Egg October 6 for a stand-up show. Tickets go on sale this Friday, April 21 -- they're $35 and up.
Martin's style is understated and observational, with a lot of one-liners (also: diagrams). From his Facebook page yesterday: "If they could read, I think wolves would be very offended by most fairy tales." He also has a film -- Dean, which he wrote and directed -- coming out in June.
He's made stops in this area a few times, the last at The Egg in 2015.
John Mulaney at The Egg -- now at The Palace
Update: This show has been moved to The Palace.
Comedian John Mulaney is set for a stand-up show at The Egg July 27. Tickets went on sale today (March 22) -- they're $29 and up.
Blurbage:
He most recently starred in the Broadway hit, "Oh, Hello on Broadway" alongside Nick Kroll. In 2015 Mulaney released his 3rd hour stand up special a Netflix Original titled "THE COMEBACK KID" which the AV Club called "his best hour of his career." He began his career in New York's East Village and has since toured around the world. In 2008, he began writing at "Saturday Night Live" where he appeared as a "Weekend Update" correspondent and co-created characters such as "Stefon" with Bill Hader. He currently writes for IFC's "Documentary Now" and for Netflix's "Big Mouth" on which he voices the character of Andrew.
The show at The Egg is in the 982-seat Hart Theater.
A handful of other comedy shows coming up...
... said KGB about Drawing: What's something that brought you joy this year?