Terry Fator: Who’s the Dummy Now?, Monday, April 10, 2023
Making a soft constructed muppety puppet act upon your will and say clean-to-mean comedy rhetoric. Sure, why not. Fator is mostly family friendly and is good too for a song and celebrity impersonations. But stay for the lovable puppets. It’s a nice way to start your stand-up comedy week.
New York New York Hotel & Casino, 3790 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, NV 89109-4338
Judy Gold, Yes, I can Say That!, Tuesday, April 11, 2023
What does it mean to have and to use what the NY Times called “The Freedom to Offend?” That is the agenda behind veteran stand-up comedian and author turned one-woman show person Judy Gold who wrote the wise (assed) “Yes, I Can Say That: When They Come for the Comedians, We Are All in Trouble,” in 2020, and has turned it into a live staged sensation under the guidance of actor-director BD Wong. The guiding principle of Gold’s program is provocation – telling “fascists and crybabies” alike to “shove their hate and political correctness up their respective asses.” Truth, justice and the American Way of offensive stand-up comedy – Judy Gold is Superwoman.
Primary Stages/59E59 Theaters, Theater A, 59 East 59th Street (btw Park and Madison Avenues), New York, NY
Rhys Darby’s Saying Funny Things Society, Tuesday, April 11, 2023
New Zealand’s favorite stand-up comedian, monologist and actor (or America’s idea of what might be New Zealand’s favorite stand-up comedian, etc.) Rhys Montague Darby is an engagingly absurd, frenetically energetic being whose wealth of physical comedy bits, mime and sound FX too often seem contained in HBO series such as Flight of the Concords and Our Flag Means Death. A Rhys Darby unleashed live, on the stage, is the best thing.
Largo at the Coronet, 366 N La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90048
The Rich Guzzi Comedy Hypnosis Experience, Wednesday April 12, 2023
I know that Guzzi has been all over television and newspapers – even the family friendly Parade Magazine – using his powers of deep hypnosis and his displays of stand-up comedy “to empower people’s lives.” Sounds righteous. But do I absolutely trust Guzzi to not make me do something stupid, while under hypnosis, in the name of a good laugh at my expense. I mean, he even encourages people to brig their cameras, and witness the ridiculousness. I’ll go. But I’ll volunteer a friend to go under his gaze.
Funny Bone Comedy Club & Restaurant, 11800 West Broad Street, Suite 1090,
Richmond, VA 23233
Michael Blackson, Thursday, April 13, 2023
It is time for Michael Blackson, “the African King of Comedy,” to come out of the shadows. Known for everything from early appearances in commercials for “The Chappelle Show” on Comedy Central, a guest starring role in Ice Cube’s Next Friday, “Wild N’ Out,” and VH1’s “Couples Retreat,” Blackson is a wickedly humorous stand-up comedian with an eye and ear for cutting world politic social commentary with a playful edginess to sweeten the medicine.
Helium Comedy Club, 1510 SE 9th Avenue, Portland, OR 97214
BRUCE-O-RAMA Starring Bruce Campbell, Friday, April 14, 2023
Why does a live appearance from kitschy horror-core thespian Bruce Campbell work as stand-up comedy? Because that’s how the caustically humorous Campbell makes it when he stages his own live screenings – two events in one night. First, you get to play a game with Bruce as host, LAST FAN STANDING, an interactive game show directed to the holy grail of geekdom – Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi, Superheroes, Gaming. After that, Campbell chooses one of his own many cult fave movies in which he’s appeared (too many, go to IMDB), screens it, and takes questions, offers “anecdotes, insults and random cash giveaways” and , for VIP tix holders, brings custom, autographed posters of the event and a “portrait-grade photo with the man himself.” A bargain at twice the price.
Keswick Theatre, 291 N Keswick Avenue, Glenside, PA 19038
Brendan Schaub, Saturday, April 15, 2023
Will he punch you in the face or tell you a hurtful joke? That’s the big question when one-time Ultimate Fighting Championship champion Brendan Schaub takes the stage in Atlanta. And is the UFC ever really out of you? Along with a muscular stand-up comedy act, Schaub is a podcaster with programs such as The Fighter and the Kid under his broadcasting (championship) belt.
The Atlanta Punchline, 3652 Roswell Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30342
Steve Rannazzisi, Saturday, April 15, 2023
A racy favorite from FXX’s “The League” and a stoner alpha of the highest order, surely stand-up comedian Steve Rannazzisi is just your man for a Saturday night in New Jersey. Woof.
Bananas Comedy Club Renaissance Hotel, 801 Rutherford Avenue, Rutherford, NJ 07070
Napoleon Dynamite Live: A Conversation with Jon Heder, Efren Ramirez, and Jon Gries, Sunday, April 16, 2023
One of the early 2000s strangest indie comedies tells a goofy tale of an awkward, yet confident nerdy high-school student hanging out with a young immigrant who wants to be class president and awkwardly pursuing teen romance. For some, Napoleon Dynamite is a quote fest in the vein of The Big Lebowski and a wonder to ponder. So, a talk with Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite), Efren Ramirez (Pedro) and Jon Gries (Uncle Rico) followed by its film screening is provocative. Bonus points if you come armed with questions for Gries about what he knew regarding the plan to kill off Jennifer Coolidge during the second season of HBO’s The White Lotus.
Keswick Theatre, 291 N Keswick Avenue, Glenside, PA 19038
