Look, But Don’t Touch Comedy Show, Monday, March 13, 2023
Why does a stand-up comedy show begin at 3:00 pm? Because it’s Austin, TX’s South by Southwest (SXSW) music and film festival time, and this year, they started the fest with a celebration of stand-up comedy courtesy Variety magazine, and awards for Patton Oswalt, Phoebe Robinson, Chelsea Handler and others at The Creek and The Cave. (It’s true – The Creek and The Cave moved from its original digs in New York City to Austin). So, yes, a whole lot of live showcases and panels (to say nothing of the strong tequila drinks) will start early in the day in Austin, including host-producer Rachel McMillen’s event with a local artist who’ll “create a piece of art” on the spot. And what do we, the audience, do about that? Critique? Ogle? Find out, and start your drinking early. Besides, if you want to see any other stand-up and sketch comedy this week in Austin, the clubs are closed for SXSW, so enjoy C+C.
The Creek and The Cave, 611 E 7th Street, Austin, TX 78701
NICE TRY with Michael Kosta, Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Dry icy Daily Show correspondent Michael Kosta – often the butt of jokes when Trevor Noah was its host, yawn – does his own thing, smartly, with his stand-up comic host event. Gus Constantellis, Brittany Carney and Dave Ross join in on the fun.
New York Comedy Club East Village, 85 East 4th Street, New York, NY 10003
Natasha Leggero and Friends with Megan Stalter, Moshe Kasher, Caleb Hearon and Very Special Guest, Wednesday, March 15, 2023
The husband-and-wife, stand-up comic and podcasting team of Natasha Leggero and Moshe Kasher have been at this for a while, so the emphasis, then, is on Hacks co-star and character-essaying comedian Megan Stalter and Chicago-born, LGBTQ+ wrier and comic Caleb Hearon. The lone Very Special Guest then? Let’s take bets that it’s Leggero and Kasher’s new-born. That kid has got to be caustically funny with parents such as they.
Largo at The Coronet, 366 N La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90048-1949
Kerwin Claiborne, Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Mississippi-born, Tyler Perry-inspired stand-up comedian and host Kerwin Claiborne takes a tip from his greatest influence with the creation of internet videos filled with varied personalities (Ms. Mary, Uncle Leroy and Miss Keisha) in their own universe, and, the production of his own live showcase, “Thees W@#$ Folks Crazy.” Looking at how much money Tyler Perry has made from all this, Kerwin Claiborne is on a great trajectory.
Helium Comedy Club, 2031 Sansom Street, Philadelphia PA 19103
Second City Swipes Right: The Incomplete Guide to the Ultimate Date Night, Thursday, March 16, 2023
The currently country touring sketch comedy spectacular from the Chicago-based company that all but birthed the comic format touches on portable romance and interactive crowd work improvisationally and with gusto. And though I’m certain that its touring actors and improvisational transients are cool, I always root for the Second City home team.
Up Comedy Club, 230 W North Avenue, Chicago IL, 60614
The Legendary Wid and John Kensil, Friday, March 17, 2023
Most East Coasters don’t think of the legendary Bucks County Playhouse as a place for comedy. But after a great mill fire and near-demolition, the New Hope property in the 1930s was purchased and maintained by a group including playwrights Moss Hart and Kenyon Nicholson with genius comic author George S. Kauffman as one of the Bucks’ principles. So, the BCP starts a stand-up comedy Spring season with epic, New Jersey punster and prop comic (the registered Prince of Props and Puns) The Legendary Wid, and joke writer/Dean Martin fan (you ask him) John Kensil.
Bucks County Playhouse, 70 S. Main Street, New Hope, PA 18938
Jerry Seinfeld, Friday, March 17, 2023
Between a still fresh book and special, Is This Anything, his Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee Netflix series and that long-rumored Pop Tarts film of his, the billion-dollar man, Jerry Seinfeld, still does daily routine-based observational stand-up comedy better than anyone.
Dreyfoos Hall, Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Okeechobee Boulevard, West Palm Beach, FL 33401
Anthony Rodia, Saturday, March 18, 2023
What does Road Rage Wednesdays and Hardcore Italians have to do with anything comic? That doesn’t sound vaguely funny. Apparently, those things are part of West Chester, NY stand-up comedian Anthony Rodia’s schtick, the likes of which has won him social media followers and nearly 25 million YouTube video views. A lot of ranting is what he’s famous for. I’m in.
Bananas Comedy Club at the Renaissance Hotel, 801 Rutherford Avenue, Rutherford, NJ 07070
The Mixtape Comedy Show with Royale Watkins, Sunday, March 19, 2023
Producer and remixer D-Nice is a co-signer of this Mixtape Comedy Show, co-produced and hosted by stand-up comic vet Royale Watkins, and their Mixtape Comedy Show is a non-stop party as its rolls with a live band, a DJ and a diverse mix of comics from across the United States – now, going on ten years. Yes, it is mostly young, fresh-faced comedians and rappers taking the stage with Watkins, but, know that the likes of Kevin Hart and Chris Rock to Doug E Fresh and Naughty by Nature have made pit stops at the Gotham. A stone soul groove this is.
The Gotham Comedy Club, 208 W 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011
