Auggie Smith, a perennially popular headliner at Laff’s Comedy Caffe returns there this weekend. He’s missed us, he said, but it’s not like he’s been idle. He’s been mastering Zoom.
“Boy, do I love Zoom comedy,” he said. “I got really, really good at it. I would set up in my backyard, so my background looked like I was a war correspondent. My neighbors would set off fireworks. I set up my tripod and stood screaming into my phone on a table.”
Like everyone else’s, Smith’s standup trade was broken in the pandemic, along with the whole economic model of live comedy. But unlike some other kinds of live artists, comedians could work solo out of their homes. Savvy producers and promoters all over the world generated loads of opportunities for them. The pay wasn’t comparable, but there were no travel expenses, and they could expand their audiences for future shows anywhere in the world.
From all this, Smith also scored a half-hour special on a legacy streaming comedy show, “Dry Bar Comedy.” Dry Bar was on the leading edge of what Smith sees as a different understanding, lately, about what constitutes comedy. “The things that we can talk about have definitely changed,” he said, “but personally I think it’s gotten much better.
He noted, positively, that certain topics are now off limits. “The only thing that’s really left is stuff that’s truly personal to you, truly your life and your feelings, and your emotions and your vulnerabilities.”
Smith said that, in a way, he hopes streaming services “will be the future of comedy.”
“It worked out good for a lot of people,” he said, “because one of the reasons some people don’t go out is they just don’t want to go out. They don’t like putting on pants. They don’t like getting into traffic. They don’t like parking. So, if they can watch a live comedy show from their couch, why wouldn’t they?”
There is one, incontrovertible reason they might not, and that’s the fundamental human drive for community.
Smith put his finger on it. “I believe that standup comedy is the purest art form because it’s just a human being talking. It’s something that’s been going on for 100,000 years — people gathering around the fire and telling a tale of the day and entertaining people only with their words and their cadence and taking over a room only with the way you’re able to put together syllables in an interesting manner.
“I don’t think that’s ever going to get old to people. I truly believe that when people can no longer gather and watch their fellow humans talk, that is the end of polite society.”
George Lopez is ‘Alllriiiighhttt!’
Fans of George Lopez, who are legion, might have a better chance than usual to see him at AVA Amphitheater on June 17. He’s bringing an all-new show created since he toured in the wake of his 2022 Netflix special, “We’ll Do It for Half.”
Lopez has been leveraging humor around his native culture for cross-cultural laughs since Sandra Bullock plucked him from obscurity more than 20 years ago to make him the star of a TV series. Now his resume includes almost annual arena tours, including one that recently generated a scripted comedy series on BET.
Lopez has been featured in four HBO specials and has made comedy albums that generated multiple Grammy nominations. He’s also hosted a nightly talk show and has performed both dramatic and comic characters in movies. He’s voiced many popular animated films, too, including all three of the “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” movies.
In 2006, he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was named in the Harris Poll as one of the Top Ten Favorite Television Personalities.
We are barely scratching the surface here, but impressive as all this is, any Lopez fan will tell you that you just have to see him perform. Through the magic of streaming services, you can do that without even putting on pants.
SHOWS THIS WEEK
AVA Amphitheater, 5655 W. Valencia Road, 8 p.m. Saturday, June 17, casinodelsol.com, tickets start at $30, George Lopez: “Alllriiiighhttt!”
Chuckleheads, 41 Brewery Avenue, Bisbee, 8 p.m. Friday, June 16, chuckleheadsaz.com, $15 advance, $20 at the door, “Jeff Stonic Presents the Bi-Agena,” celebrating Pride month.
Club Congress, Hotel Congress, “The Switch,” Club Congress, 311 E. Congress Street, 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 19, free, Jacob Breckenridge, Joe Tullar, Jesus Otamendi, Zo, Chris Quinn, Anthony Jenkins and more, Matt Ziemak and Autumn Horvat host. Drop your name in the bucket if you want to try the game.
Laff’s Comedy Caffe, 2900 E. Broadway Boulevard, 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Friday, June 16, and 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, June 17, laffstucson.com, $15, $20 preferred seating, Auggie Smith
The Screening Room, 127 E. Congress Street, eventbrite.com, $15 to $40. 8 p.m. Friday, June 16, eventbrite.com, “Gateway Comedy Show.” Stand-up comedians tell their best jokes, then get as high as possible and tell them again. Billy Anderson hosts.
Unscrewed Theater, 4500 E. Speedway Boulevard, unscrewedtheatre.org, $8, live or remote, $5 kids. 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 16, Not Burnt Out Just Unscrewed (NBOJU family-friendly Improv); 6 p.m. Saturday, June 17, Unscrewed Family Hour; 7:30 p.m. NBOJU; 9 p.m. The Backyard, uncensored variety comedy
Vail Theatre of the Arts, 10701 E. Mary Ann Cleveland Way, vaillaughs.com, 7 p.m. Saturday, June 17, tickets start at $10, Ron Morey, Hollywood improviser and Las Vegas regular, known for anecdotes, characters, impressions and physicality.
