Best known for his memorable turn on the gone-but-not-forgotten SNL competitor MadTV, where he debuted memorable characters such as “Real ****ing Talk” host Dollar Bill Montgomery, Aries Spears has since built his reputation as an inveterate road comic. Spears has been bringing his wickedly funny impressions, punchy crowd work and playful observations about race to clubs across the country for decades, and still has plenty of red meat for nostalgic fans of his terrific impressions of the likes of Michael Jackson, Shaquille O’Neal and Mike Tyson.

Aries Spears
Fri-Sun, Various Times, $25+
The Improv, San Jose

The quote “not everything’s got to be fancy” can apply to so much these days—but it best describes comedian Nimesh Patel’s lackadaisical attitude. This coming Thursday, the late night standup and writer will bring his laid-back (albeit biting) observances to downtown San Jose, getting chuckles out of the most hardened of locals. Patel is a regular of New York’s famed Comedy Cellar, and has worked his comedy out on the road opening for household comedy names like Chris Rock and Aziz Ansari. While his quips may not be the fanciest out there, Patel’s stylings always elicit a good time.

Nimesh Patel
Thu, 8pm, Sold out
The Improv, San Jose

Late-night improv hit its mainstream stride in the late ‘90s, when a rotating panel of comedians joined in on the fun for the ABC show Whose Line is it Anyway? Now, over 20 years since its premiere, the gang is back on a live stage with all their improv skills in tow. Original and recurring cast members Ryan Stiles, Greg Proops, Jeff B. Davis and Joel Murray all bring their comedy chops to the stage for 90 minutes of pure fun, taking on audience suggestions for skits, songs and excitement. The spontaneous and nostalgia-filled night is sure to launch some belly laughs.

Whose Live Anyway
Sat, 8pm, $39.50+ 
San Jose Civic, San Jose

There may be nothing funnier than a man in a suit destroying his comedy audience with straightforward and honest one-liners. Ronny Chieng—perhaps best known for his role as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah—delivers that time and time again, and this Friday he brings his sharp comedic style to the San Jose Civic. The 36-year-old star will bring his experiences from renowned blockbusters (Crazy Rich Asians), comedy specials (Asian Comedian Destroys America), The Daily Show and more to his set, while getting audiences excited for all that’s to come from Chieng’s career.

Ronny Chieng
Fri, 7:30pm, $35+
San Jose Civic, San Jose

Artists in every realm had to find a way to adapt to life over the past two years. Filmmakers and musicians had ways to cope, but comedy as a genre has had to adapt the most. Luckily, the already emergent platform of TikTok was right there to give comedians new ways to reach us. The tiara-rocking Pinky Patel is a huge part of the new class of comedians to thrive in this ecosystem—her acerbic delivery is devastating and refreshingly off-hand. Patel’s online following skyrocketed into the millions almost effortlessly, and she kicks off her first ever on-stage tour in San Jose.

Pinky Patel
Thu, 8pm, $30
The Improv, San Jose
 

“People think the Earth is flat again,” Chris Porter begins one bit, before quickly losing his patience. “Have you ever seen a lunar eclipse? Has it ever just been a line across the moon?” This weekend, the Kansas-born comedian, best known as a finalist on season 4 of NBC’s Last Comic Standing, comes to the Improv for five shows. Since his stint on NBC, he’s appeared on Comedy Central Presents and released two specials on Amazon—Ugly and Angry and Man From Kansas—and has toured the country’s comedy club circuit. Now’s the chance to see what Porter’s been cooking up during the pandemic.

Chris Porter
Fri-Sun, Various Times, $20
The Improv, San Jose

There is a certain revelatory beauty in every open mic, in watching a rookie attempt their first public performance or a musician introducing you to their newest jam. In our area code, there is also a wealth of talent.

The 2010s were a golden era for open mics in the South Bay. Every week, one could attend several in downtown San Jose, along with a dozen more throughout the Valley. If things go according to plan, there will be even more of them this spring.

These days, Nirvana Soul Cafe aims to be the open mic lighthouse in downtown San Jose’s SoFA District. Starting this month, they offer a weekly line-up of open mic nights that will feel familiar to the former Caffe Frascati crowd. Beginning Jan. 12, local humorist Eli Schwartz will host the cafe’s comedy and poetry open mic nights (held on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively), while singer-songwriter Joy Hackett will host a music-based open mic on Fridays, with a showcase held each first Friday of the month.

Surely, at most open mics, you will hear something that you never want to hear again, but good hosts like Eli and Joy know how to move the show along. Comedian Ato Walker, meanwhile, is the kind of host who can also be the show.

Beginning in 2009, for four years Walker hosted his downtown weekly comedy open mic at Britannia Arms. He followed that with a weekly show at the Caravan Lounge in 2015, which he organized with comedian Rachel Warner (also Best Bartender, Metro’s Best of Silicon Valley 2021) and held right up to the shutdown.

There are few people in this scene more supremely comfortable on stage than Ato Walker. So it was a boon for the South Bay when David Williams, general manager of the San José Improv, connected with Mr. Walker to develop the first official comedy open mic to be held inside the historic theater. Being the boss of the largest comedy venue in a forty-mile radius, Williams eagerly explored the Bay Area comedy landscape, attending nearly every open mic from Sacramento to Santa Cruz. 

Ultimately, he felt the potential to grow comedy was strongest around San Jose. His dream was to finally bring an open mic to the 20-year-old Improv, and he knew that Walker was his emcee.

“I needed someone who truly represents the South Bay and Ato epitomizes that in every way,” Williams says.

On Dec. 8, the Open Mic at the San Jose Improv launched to a crowd of over 120 people. Williams and Walker hoped for 20-plus comics to sign up for a shot at a four-minute set on the historic stage, but their expectations were blown away when 65 comedians showed up from all over the Bay. The 18 comics who made the list were, in Walker’s words, “so good that they confirmed why it is so important to have an open mic at the Improv.”

The Improv’s next open mic will be held Jan. 12, but Williams says that if it gets any bigger, they may need to expand to twice a month.

Comedian Pete Munoz has been hosting the comedy open mic at Woodhams Lounge in Santa Clara every Monday for almost nine years. “We started on 408 [April 8th] in 2013,” Munoz says.

A San Jose comedy veteran, Munoz’s reputation as a quick-witted, no-holds-barred host has helped boost Woodhams as one of the most sought out and notorious comedy open mics in the Bay Area. Folks can sign up in person—show at 8pm.

Since May of 2021, Comedian Matthew McCarron has hosted an open mic at Off The Hook sports bar in Campbell. Like many hosts, McCarron was initially very concerned about the spread of infection, but performers have been good about masking, and none of the hosts interviewed for this piece were aware of anyone contracting the virus through open mics.

McCarron rotates hosting duties with other comics, like Mel Michelle, who hosts her own comedy open mic at Britannia Arms in Cupertino on Thursdays. Michelle has noticed that on the nights she hosts, there are more women comedians on the list—a trend she welcomes. Both shows begin at 8pm and folks can sign up in person.

Even with so many events mentioned, it is a pleasure to add the Caravan Lounge Comedy Show back to this list. Rachel Warner has confirmed that comedy will return to Wednesdays beginning Feb. 2 with a slate of rotating hosts—including Ato Walker.

If nothing else, there will be plenty of open mics to keep us all boosted this year.

After the ho-ho-hos have passed, many of us need some ha-ha-has. Lilly Mac’s Irish pub in Sunnyvale has just the cure for the holiday comedown: an excellent line-up of local comedians, comforting food and a few rounds of cheap drinks. This weekly event is hosted by Street Light Entertainment, whose comedy shows around the Bay and in LA have included “Sausage Fest Comedy: Secret Ladies Comedy Show” and “Ultimate Roasting Championship.” This is a night to say goodbye to Blue Mondays, sport a Guinness mustache and discover the next hottest headlining comic.

Comedy Monday
Mon, 7:45pm, $15
Lilly Mac’s, Sunnyvale

Pablo Francisco has achieved notoriety by hitting people with a whirlwind of comedy. After years of cutting his teeth on MadTV and Comedy Central specials, the man is a finely tuned engine of comedy who respects an audience’s time and knows people want to laugh beginning at minute one of a performance. Within that first minute he’s done an impersonation of a valley girl, a saxophone, Judge Judy and Jabba the Hutt. The many-faced master of the human speech mechanism is sure to leave the attendees in a comedic fervor with his rapid-fire delivery at his Sunday performance at the Improv.

Pablo Francisco
Sun, 7pm, $25+
The Improv, San Jose

This Thursday, the self-proclaimed “most famous half-Persian comedian in the world” Kevan K-Von Moezzi comes to the Improv for a single set. The comic from Reno, NV, found fame after taking a job on MTV’s Disaster Date—where unwitting contestants earned $1 for every minute spent on a horrible date—and has since appeared on Last Comic Standing, Dry Bar Comedy and more. His TedTalk on Persian New Year has also become a fan favorite, as have his podcast (The Right Show) and YouTube channel, where he skewers everything from workout plans to ’90s music.

K-Von
Thu, 8pm, $20+
The Improv, San Jose