In-person comedy shows?

 
People I've seen:

Preacher Lawson at Toledo Funny Bone - 12/3/17
Drew Lynch at Toledo Funny Bone - 12/14/17
The Tenderloins (Impractical Jokers) at University of Cincinnati - 11/14/18
Sal Vulcano at Columbus Funny Bone - 11/29/18
Jake "The Snake" Roberts at Dayton Funny Bone - 3/18/19
Dolph Ziggler at Toledo Funny Bone - 3/21/19
Samuel J. Comroe at Toledo Funny Bone - 5/12/19
Preacher Lawson at Toledo Funny Bone - 5/12/21
James "Murr" Murray at Toledo Funny Bone - 3/27/22
Jake "The Snake" Roberts at Columbus Funny Bone - 6/28/23
 
Last edited:
Took my dad to see Kevin Nealon at the funny bone and he was way funnier than I could’ve imagined. Saw Seinfeld twice at the Aranoff and thought his openers were funnier both times. He does the same situational stuff and it’s funny but it’s not belly laugh funny. Saw Nate Bartgatze and he was hilarious.
 
It's been a while, but I've seen Jim Gaffigan in person twice. But my favorite is Frank Caliendo, have been to three or four of his shows.
 
Been to a variety, some are good and some not so good. Smaller Comedy Club shows can be very uneven too with some of the initial amateurs really rough and open to hecklers, it can get very uncomfortable. Saw a couple in big theaters like Jerry Seinfeld and George Carlin, both were almost like rock shows in that they opened with some of there more well known material than worked in the new stuff which was hit or miss only to finish up with an update of their biggest stuff.

Now does anyone remember comedy albums from back in the day? Those were huge and my first exposure to George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Steve Martin.
 
Been to a variety, some are good and some not so good. Smaller Comedy Club shows can be very uneven too with some of the initial amateurs really rough and open to hecklers, it can get very uncomfortable. Saw a couple in big theaters like Jerry Seinfeld and George Carlin, both were almost like rock shows in that they opened with some of there more well known material than worked in the new stuff which was hit or miss only to finish up with an update of their biggest stuff.

Now does anyone remember comedy albums from back in the day? Those were huge and my first exposure to George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Steve Martin.
Bill Cosby Is a Very Funny Fellow ... Right!
 
Been to a variety, some are good and some not so good. Smaller Comedy Club shows can be very uneven too with some of the initial amateurs really rough and open to hecklers, it can get very uncomfortable. Saw a couple in big theaters like Jerry Seinfeld and George Carlin, both were almost like rock shows in that they opened with some of there more well known material than worked in the new stuff which was hit or miss only to finish up with an update of their biggest stuff.

Now does anyone remember comedy albums from back in the day? Those were huge and my first exposure to George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Steve Martin.

Agree.

One modern-day version of comedy albums is Sirius XM Radio, which has 11 different comedy channels, with short bits from a variety of comics. I listen often in my car on longer trips as a change of pace from the usual music.

 
During Covid Bert Kreischer came to the local drive-in theatre. Was the last comedy show I saw. Used to head to the local comedy club years ago. Have not been in years.
 
In college Chris Rock came to campus. There was always a big comedy show during homecoming week, but I am drawing a blank on those shows now, but trust me they were great.

Recently went to Kings of Comedy tour with Cedric the Entertainer, Steve Harvey, DL Hugely, Mike Epps, George Lopez, and Eddie Griffin
 
I've seen:
Mick Foley
John Crist a couple times
The Amazing Jonathan

Missed out on:
Carlin
Mitch Hedberg

Would like to see:
Nate Bargatze
Jimmy Carr
Chappelle
Anthony Jeselnik
 
The "name" comedians I've seen include Daniel Tosh, Amy Schumer, DL Hughley, Iliza Schlesinger, Mark Curry, Aisha Tyler and they may only be names in the comedy circle, but I've also seen Greg Fitzsimmons and Judy Gold.

Tosh was clearly the best of that group. His delivery is so well-rehearsed that it's rapid-fire with almost no time to breathe.

I saw Schlesinger in December at the Taft Theater. She was eight months pregnant and still incorporated a lot of physical movement around the stage, like pantomiming Jim Carrey's Grinch character and an angry gorilla. She had a great joke about her due date being January 6th.

I saw Schumer at Rupp Arena and... eesh, the arena is not the place for her kind of comedy. She'd kill if the same act were at a small club. I liked her sitcom a lot, but she just couldn't reach it in the arena. Her opening act was better.

I saw Hughley, Tyler, Fitzsimmons at the Funny Bone. They were alright, though I cringed hard when Hughley used one of the same jokes Mencia got in trouble for stealing, AFTER all that stuff went down with Mencia ("yeah you can say you want a wall, but WHO'S going to build it?").

Saw Gold perform at Mom's Weekend at OU. Her material was very crass, and I loved it, but it was clearly an uptight crowd which made for a very awkward show.

Curry, the star of "Hanging with Mr. Cooper", was an outright bomb. He clearly wanted to be any place other than Parents Weekend at OU. Not one joke hit. Limped through a truly painful hour.

The most I've ever laughed though was this guy Ian Bagg whom I've seen twice at the Funny Bone. His set is 99% roasting the crowd, and he killed both times.

 
Last edited:
Not as much in recent years, but I went to a lot of these especially when Joker's was open near the Dayton Mall. I'd say I've seen 50-100 comedians overall but only a few that were really memorable.
Rodney Carrington at Dayton Hara Arena in the late 90's
Tommy Davidson from In Living Color and few movie roles at Joker's
Jonathon Witherspoon of Friday fame at The Funny Bone in Newport
One of may all-time favorites was a guy named Lavell Crawford, big, heavy set black dude that had me rolling from the minute he hit the stage.
I've watched for him to pop up locally and the few times he's been around I had other stuff going on. I would love to see him again.
 
Not as much in recent years, but I went to a lot of these especially when Joker's was open near the Dayton Mall. I'd say I've seen 50-100 comedians overall but only a few that were really memorable.
Rodney Carrington at Dayton Hara Arena in the late 90's
Tommy Davidson from In Living Color and few movie roles at Joker's
Jonathon Witherspoon of Friday fame at The Funny Bone in Newport
One of may all-time favorites was a guy named Lavell Crawford, big, heavy set black dude that had me rolling from the minute he hit the stage.
I've watched for him to pop up locally and the few times he's been around I had other stuff going on. I would love to see him again.
Lavell Crawford was the guy from Breaking Bad right? He got skinny.
 
In college Chris Rock came to campus. There was always a big comedy show during homecoming week, but I am drawing a blank on those shows now, but trust me they were great.

Recently went to Kings of Comedy tour with Cedric the Entertainer, Steve Harvey, DL Hugely, Mike Epps, George Lopez, and Eddie Griffin
So you don’t go to white people comedy acts ??
 
Top