Tag archives: comedy

Recovery from the pandemic is still a part of our world, and if there’s anything that hasn’t fully come back, it might be our shared experiences of humor and magic. Combining those two for an immersive weekend is the point behind the first annual Comedy & Magic Festival at the Alcazar Theatre in Carpinteria. Fourteen […]

Brian Regan has been doing comedy for decades, dating back to The Tonight Show in the last month of Johnny Carson’s tenure (when he “got the couch” as they used to say) to regular appearances with Jimmy Fallon. He’s put out several popular albums, made eight stand-up specials for major streamers and, most recently, co-starred […]

The current local comedy cavalcade continues this week at the Arlington, leaving behind the Lobero in favor of the much larger venue, where Kevin Hart, one of the most popular stand-up comedians on the touring circuit, will perform on January 27. Hart has appeared in dozens of films and TV shows, receiving two Primetime Emmys […]

Comedian Brad Williams has fond memories of his first appearance at the Lobero Theatre almost a decade ago, when he recorded Fun Size, his first one-hour special, at the venue. Things were a bit different then: Williams wasn’t yet all that well-known and the show wasn’t even close to sold out. “When you see the […]

This past year has seen the revival of Santa Barbara Comedy Hideaway, the erstwhile series that imported comics from major venues and streaming services on a weekly basis at several different locations in town. While weekly shows are at 1203 State Street, the Hideaway steps it up to hang out at the New Vic Theatre […]

Santa Barbara Comedy Hideaway – which went on hiatus even before the pandemic after a decade of delivering funny stuff despite having to periodically de-camp for different digs – is back in action. Hideaway begins hunkering down adjacent to new partner Benchmark Eatery on State Street with a preview show on Friday, July 14, featuring […]

Please bear with us as we share about the multi-date month of funny shows during the merry month of May from Bear Cave Comedy, the folks who feature titanically talented comics on the tiniest stages. Samantha Bearman, aka Sam Bear, hosts the Not So Secret Comedy show on May 4 at McConnell’s Ice Cream’s downtown […]

“What they want to do with this place is the same vision I have, which is make it a community space!” That’s Kimmie Dee “talking,” which has never been an accurate description of her communication style. Kimmie is Santa Barbara’s longtime standup comedy impresario, a casually foul-mouthed tornado of benevolent energy. Should you suddenly hear […]

Fresh from the over-the-top antics, physical pratfalls, and intentionally terrible timing of The Play That Goes Wrong, which pulled out the stops – and mantle pieces and body parts, but no punches on closing night last weekend – SBCC Theatre Group segues into a student production of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, one […]

Chris Shurland, one of the improv instructors and company members at both Santa Barbara Improv and the recently revived Carpinteria Improv at the Alcazar Theatre, has a confession. He really doesn’t like doing musical improv. Or, it turns out, singing at all.  “I’ve done karaoke one time in my life, and that was literally the […]

The concept behind Almost, Maine, written by Tony-nominated actor John Cariani best known for playing forensic expert Julian Beck on Law & Order, is very simple on the surface, according to Stephanie Coltrin, Rubicon Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director, who is helming RTC’s production this month. The play is composed of nine vignettes featuring nine different […]

One line I remember from the many years I spent listening to radio comedy was this: “You know I think the world of you . . . And you know what everybody thinks of the world these days.” Be that as it may, we can probably agree that, if anything is certain about what we […]

In recent years, Santa Barbara Improv (SBI) has added long-form format opportunities, in both workshops and performance, to its longstanding tradition of hosting weekly short-form classes and a monthly performance of the format most folks might be more familiar with via Whose Line Is It Anyway?  Now, SBI is trying something brand new for the […]

Samantha Bearman, the owner of Bear Cave Productions, LLC, is single handedly bringing comedy back to the Santa Barbara community. Bearman has established Bear Cave Comedy shows at several thriving locations from Goleta through downtown Santa Barbara. The goal behind Bear Cave Comedy is to lift up voices that are often marginalized in the comedy […]

What’s the point of growing up as the daughter of a world-famous, pioneering legend of comedy if you can’t make fun of him in public? That’s part of the premise behind the stage appearances featuring Monty Python co-creator John Cleese and his half-his-age daughter Camilla, the latest of which happens at the Granada Theatre on […]

Interviewing Paula Poundstone is a little like binge watching a comedy series on Netflix: you hit the start button once and autoplay keeps the episodes rolling, and everything is interesting enough that you don’t really want to hit pause.  Poundstone’s tendency toward stream-of-consciousness rants and musings is a big part of her appeal, of course, […]

John Cleese Presents “An Evening of Exceptional Silliness” on May 25 at the Granada Theatre. John Cleese has revealed his upcoming tour stop in Santa Barbara, May 25, at the Granada Theatre. In our exclusive interview, he gives an affectionate nod to Montecito, his former home for himself and his daughter Camilla, along with a […]

You can count on one finger the people who have shifted from a soaring career in comedy to a pinnacle of political power, and somehow, shockingly, back again. Maybe Ukrainian president Zelenskyy, although the former comic is a bit busy fending off the Russian invasion to find anything funny these days – So that leaves […]

Joel Murray has been in the “bullpen” for the long-running improv TV series Whose Line Is It Anyway? for almost a decade, but the actor and youngest brother of Bill Murray and Brian Doyle-Murray has never actually appeared on an episode.  But Murray has had many memorable moments elsewhere on television, including on Mad Men […]