Editor’s Note: The leaves on the trees may start changing soon, but was hasn’t changed as we cruise full speed through the final third of the year is the top-tier selection of comedy shows to check out around Boston. With homegrown talent, national headliners, and open mics galore highlighting the calendar, the the plethora of comedy talent in and around the city continues to pour out as richly as that $8 Pumpkin Spice Latte you yearn for every morning. Live entertainment continues to make its way back into our social lives — mask up! stay safe! — and so we always want to make sure you know about cool stuff going on in the world of comedy. Enter Mic’d Up, our ongoing weekly series that details the best live comedy shows to consider as you head out and about. Below find our rundown for this week, through Sunday (September 11).
Neil Hamburger at The Crystal Ballroom
It’s off balance, messy, and you never really know what direction the night will take. Long story short, that’s what makes Neil Hamburger a whopper of a comedian, in that the chaos is the art, and the unkempt comedy persona of Gregg Turkington largely a masterclass in oddball, off-pace anti-humor that is sure to be as mesmerizing as it is hilarious.
Friday, September 9 at The Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square in Somerville, MA :: 7:30 p.m. :: Tickets are $25
Valerie Tosi at Off Cabot Comedy Club
With a full arsenal of new material and the lingering power of her album Beach Trash in her corner, Valerie Tosi brings the celebratory occasion of a homecoming to the Commonwealth’s newest and most intimate comedy hangout to further polish new jokes and stories delivered with that good ol’ top-notch observation and ferocious sense of introspection and vulnerability that she has continuously bulked up on as she works her way through the ranks of the comedy game.
Friday, September 9 and Saturday, September 10 at Off Cabot Comedy Club, 9 Wallis St. in Beverly, MA :: Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 6:30 & 9:30 p.m. :: Tickets are $25
James Austin Johnson at The Crystal Ballroom
Critics and the Twittersphere haven’t exactly been kind to the more recent years of SNL, but make no mistake about it, James Austin Johnson is an absolute joy to watch operate both on screen and on stage. As he makes his way to Somerville, come see for yourself exactly how, as the professional sketch comic and impressionist portrays the power of his own comedic voice in a setting away from Studio 8H.
Saturday, September 10 at The Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square in Somerville, MA :: 7:30 p.m. :: Tickets are $26