By Peter Lindblad
Loveable goofball Pete Holmes is just begging to have his cheeks pinched by grandmotherly types.
In typically self-deprecating fashion, with no malicious intent and only love in his heart for the LGBQT community, he describes his appearance as “lesbian Val Kilmer.” He believes his looks are very Mormon-like. And, unabashedly, he can’t help but laugh at his own jokes, which only makes him more endearing, when it should be a serious character flaw.
Appearing at Comedy on State in Madison this past weekend, doing multiple sets, the amiable Holmes was in his element, turning on a firehose of funny material from the club’s small stage in a set that flew by and coaxing an endless cacophony of laughter from a sold-out crowd on Saturday.
There were moments that felt improvised, as if he’d just realized – completely out of the blue – that whatever passing thoughts he’d just had were funnier than anything he could have possibly written down.
Topics ranged from parenting, and how every child should be shown by ghosts how their mom and dad were raised, like Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol,” to how tiring it is to be in your mid-40s, and how he doesn’t like “Game of Thrones” because he’s not a fan of shows with “realms.” God came up, too, as it often does with Holmes, who compared the Almighty to an author like J.K. Rowling. You had to be there.
That’s just a small sampling of the good stuff, as Holmes was on fire. It was a good way to slide right into Madison Comedy Week, going on this week. Visit https://madisoncomedyweek.com/ for a list of all the happenings. There’ll be laughs aplenty.
Milwaukee Improv – Brookfield (https://improv.com/milwaukee/)
Ian Lara (Aug. 8-10) – Seven million views on Facebook and 10 million overall can’t be wrong. That’s how often people checked out his hilarious set on “Comedy Central’s StandUP Featuring.” 2022 was a big year for the fast-rising Lara, who appeared on the “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” for a second time and released his critically acclaimed HBOMax Special “Ian Lara: Romantic Comedy,” picked by Paste magazine as one of that year’s best. From Queens, the Dominican-American comic shares stories of his immigrant family, racial uncertainty, and his deeply religious father. His life is an open book that should be a best-seller. https://www.ianlaralive.com/
Comedy on State – Madison (https://www.madisoncomedy.com/)
Nimesh Patel (Aug. 11-12) – With Roast Battle Chicago and Standup Standouts happening on Thursday, plus the Best of the Fest on Friday and Saturday, there’s a lot to consume at Comedy on State this week. Save some room for Nimesh Patel, though, whose dates at the Madison club changed from Aug. 14-15 to Aug. 11-12. Patel is a joke-writing savant, an Emmy-nominated machine who’s a whiz at marketing, too. He somehow made having testicular cancer funny on his most recent special “Lucky Lefty,” and Variety pegged him as one of the “10 Comics to Watch” of 2023. Patel is moving up in the world. Chris Rock loved him so much he had him write for The Academy Awards show in 2016, and he was a producer for “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.” https://www.instagram.com/findingnimesh/?hl=en
Skyline Comedy Club – Appleton (https://www.skylinecomedy.com/)
Gabriel Rutledge (Aug. 8-10) – Author of the book, “Happiness Isn’t Funny: True Stories of a Road Comic,” the quick-witted Rutledge isn’t one to slow down to let everyone catch up. So, pay attention. The fast-talking son of a gun has five comedy albums under his belt, including “Good Luck in Court,” which debuted at No. 1 on iTunes comedy charts. His Dry Bar Comedy Special “A Third of the Room” has collected a million views. Do you have a million views? I didn’t think so. https://gabrielrutledge.com/