Looking for laughs. The High Plains Comedy Fest is an August highlight.
This is the big one, folks. While Denver can lay claim yearround to having one of the country’s most fertile standup scenes, August is the month where everything blooms.
That’s largely due to the High Plains Comedy Festival, an event cofounded by Grawlix troupe member and trutv’s “Those Who Can’t” costar Adam Caytonholland (who still lives here, incidentally). And while that fest will bring dozens of the finest working comics to the Mile High City this month, it’s far from the only funny thing happening.
Here’s the best of the best in the metro area.
Local boys, made better. Denver’s knack for exporting nationalquality comics will be on dis play as a pair of expats return to record their forthcoming albums. Ben Roy, also a costar of “Those Who Can’t” and a member of the Grawlix troupe, will stop by Comedy Works’ Larimer Square club on Aug. 5 to lay down his latest, while former “Too Much Fun” cohost Chris Charpentier, now in L.A. and appearing on shows like “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and at Montreal’s Just for Laughs festival, will re cord his debut album “Brain Thoughts” at the Bug Theatre on Aug. 19. (Charpentier will also appear on the High Plains Comedy Festival lineup, Aug. 2527.)
Ben Roy: 7 p.m. Aug. 5 at 1226 15th St. Tickets: $14, comedyworks.com; Chris Charpentier: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 19 at 3654 Navajo St. Tickets: $10$15, eventbrite.com Get Thee to a Nunnery. Although it’s an upstart showcase
in a town bursting with them, Get Thee to a Nunnery already has a head start. Cohosted by Denver comics Jodee Champion and Elise Kerns, it takes place in the fetching, comedyfriendly environs of Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox, and its booking betrays
Champion and Kerns’ longtime connections to (and work inside) the Mile High City scene. This month’s lineup, including headliner Cayton-holland and rising locals Cody Spyker and David Rodriguez, follows on the heels of a debut that included Josh Blue and John Novosad (a.k.a. Hippieman). Not too shabby.
8 p.m. Aug. 15 at 1215 20th St. Tickets: $7-$11, ticketfly.com
Paul Reiser. Reiser’s quasi-comeback in Season 2 of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” belies his recent embrace of touring — which he finally got back to in 2013 after an extended visit to sitcom- and cameo-land. The former “Mad About You” co-star and New York native is getting academic in Colorado, too: After his Aug. 17 appearance at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, he’ll headline June Swaner Gates Concert Hall at the Newman Center, situated on the University of Denver campus. Mortarboards optional.
7:30 p.m. Aug. 17 and 18 at 30 W. Dale St. in Colorado Springs and 2344 E. Iliff Ave. in Denver, respectively. Tickets: $29-$49, coloradocollege.edu/ fac or newmantix.com
Kathy Griff in. What a difference a year makes — give or take a few months. Griffin, who was pilloried for her 2017 photo holding the fake severed head of President Donald Trump, was recently thought to be permanently blacklisted from comedy following the media uproar over the photo. Now she’s on the national “Laugh Your Head Off” tour that’s playing the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, while former stand-up legends like Louis C.K. hide in the wake of their careerhalting #Metoo revelations. You can read our interview with Griffin in the coming weeks, but suffice it to say: She’s eager to talk about everything that’s happened in the interim.
8 p.m. Aug. 22 at 1385 Curtis St. Tickets: $45.50-$125, axs.com
High Plains Comedy Festival. As a comedy fan, there’s no other place to be late August in Denver than High Plains. The festival returns for its sixth year to multiple venues with 40-plus national comics and a sampling of the best Colorado standups. In addition to headliners David Cross and a live “How Did This Get Made?” podcast taping with hosts Paul Scheer, Jason Mantzoukas and June Diane Raphael, there’s James Adomian, Emily Heller, Jackie Kashian, Baron Vaughn, Jonah Ray, Solomon Georgio, Jake Weisman, Eliza Skinner, Ian Karmel, Shane Torres, Byron Bowers, Amy Miller, Clare O’kane, Samantha Ruddy and many (many) more.
Various shows, Aug. 25-27. Tickets: $35-$45 for headlining shows at the Paramount Theatre, 1621 Glenarm Place, via altitudetickets.com; single-day and festival passes available soon at highplainscomedyfestival.com
The Oriental Theater.
With so much comedy on tap for August, this historic Highland neighborhood theater gets its own subheading in this column. “Bob’s Burgers” voice actor and longtime New York alt-comedy luminary Eugene Mirman headlines on Aug. 8 (the day after he plays Washington’s in Fort Collins); Lucha Libre & Laughs comedy-wrestling returns Aug. 10; the “Mortified Live” storytelling show visits Aug. 11 with Cayton-holland and Pussy Bros. member Christie Buchele, followed (in a separate show that night) by Anthony Crawford’s stacked “Birthday Bash” with the aforementioned Cayton-holland, Buchele and Novosad, plus Louis Johnson, Derrick Rush, Sam Tallent, Meghan DePonceau and many more. Finally, the national Blueberry Tour stops by Aug. 16 with buzzed-about comics Joe Pera, Jo Firestone and Conner O’malley.