Buffalo Comedy: Soresi, One Funny Lisa Marie and T. Murph among touring performers at Helium

By Jason Pomietlasz

October used to be the eighth month of the year before getting demoted. Learn from October’s mistakes and enjoy some different colored leaves on your way to see live comedy.

Thursday, Sept. 25

Buffalo Improv House, 255 Great Arrow Ave., Suite 207, Buffalo.
Improv Mixer, a relaxed environment to try out improv or just to watch. Sign-ups at 6:45 p.m., 7 start. $5 suggested or pay what you can. 

Mr. Goodbar, 1110 Elmwood Ave, Buffalo, 8 p.m.
Open mic comedy on the second floor. Sign-ups at 7 p.m,  Free.

Thursday – Saturday, Sept. 25 – 27

Helium Comedy Club, 30 Mississippi Street, Buffalo. Tickets $27.99 – 48.99.
Gianmarco Soresi will perform five times at Helium; two shows are sold out. Soresi made his late night debut on “The Late Late Show with James Corden,” and was selected as a JFL New Face in 2022. He can be seen on “Verified Standup” on Netflix and his podcast “The Downside with Gianmarco Soresi,” is well downloaded.

Friday, Sept. 26 

Buffalo Comedy Collective, 155 Chandler Street, Buffalo.  
Comedy Sportz match-up. Two teams “competitively” play short form improv games with suggestions from the audience, who also decides the winner. 7:30 p.m., tickets $18. 

Pitch A Friend. A different way to meet new people. Pitch-A-Friend Buffalo’s goal is to celebrate friendship and real-life connections, where people can talk-up their single friends to a crowd of fellow singles. If you want to just attend and low-key mingle, no problem, you can just watch. If you’re interested in pitching a friend, click here: https://www.pitch-a-friend.com/buffalo/signup?prefill=rectxnPCuVWfqci0W.                                        Folks presenting receive a complimentary drink, popcorn, or candy at the event. 9:30 p.m., free. 

Buffalo Improv House, 255 Great Arrow Ave., Suite 207, Buffalo. 
Improv Collider, several BIH house teams perform different long-form improv styles. 7 p.m., tickets $10 presale or $15 general admission. 

Given Half A Chance, pairs an actor, prepared with lines from a selected play, with a comic who  improvises their lines in response to the actor. 8 p.m., tickets $20 presale or $25 general admission.

The New Friday Mixer, same as Thursday’s mixer, just a later time. 9:30 p.m., tickets $5. 

Milkie’s Elmwood Lounge, 522 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo. 8 p.m., tickets $10.

“Jake’s Comedy Jukebox” is celebrating three years of combining comedy and music, by taking it back to the ’90s. A comic picks a song to base their set off, say from classic ’90s favorites like Soundgarden, The Backstreet Boys or Sublime, for example and after their set, they perform the song backed by house band Tacoma Meltdown. 

Revolver Records, 810 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo. 7 p.m., free.

Friday night comedy and music in the Elmwood Village. Along with comedians, there will be live DJs and the bar and store will be open. Hosted by Kevin Thomas Jr., Tyrone Maclin, Jameel Key and Phil Machemer.

Saturday, Sept. 27

Buffalo Comedy Collective, 155 Chandler Street, Buffalo. 
ComedySportz Saturday match-up. Two teams “competitively” play short form improv games with suggestions from the audience, who also decides the winner. 6 p.m., tickets $18. 

Dynamic Duos, six roster members from CSz Pros and BCC Shorties Program are paired up for two-person scenes. After each pair performs, the audience votes for their favorite scene and the pairs switch to do it all again, twice. The performer with the most points by the end wins. 8:30 p.m., tickets $18. 

Buffalo Improv House, 255 Great Arrow Ave., Suite 207, Buffalo. 
Given Half A Chance, pairs an actor, prepared with lines from a selected play, with a comic who  improvises their lines in response to the actor. 7 p.m., tickets $20 presale or $25 general admission.

**A bonus “Given Half A Chance,” with the same actors from Friday’s show but different improvisers.

“Partners in Crime” is a rotating group of our students and community members followed by Maximum ”Anneihilation” an improv duo featuring Annie Moor and Max Bolotin. 8 p.m., your ticket to Given Half a Chance gets you into the show for free. Or you can purchase a single $10 admission to this show.

Cagematch (New Night). Two teams perform for audience laughs and votes to be crowned winner for the night. Then the winning team returns the next week to defend their title against a new team. 10 p.m., tickets $8 presale, $10 general admission. 

Helium Comedy Club, 30 Mississippi Street, Buffalo. 4 p.m., tickets $43.99 – 63.99.
Lisa Marie Riley, or One Funny Lisa Maria as she is known online, will share funny stories and answer questions, all with her Brooklyn accent, which makes everything funnier. Riley started sharing content during the pandemic and continues to grow her internet presence. 

Sunday, Sept. 28

Helium Comedy Club, 30 Mississippi Street, Buffalo. 7 p.m., tickets $32.99 – 42.99.
T. Murph broke out of the Chicago comedy scene and currently stars in “Woke” on Hulu. T. Murph has a copious amount of online content to keep you entertained if you can’t make his show.

Center for the Arts, University at Buffalo, 100 Coventry Road, Buffalo. 8 p.m., tickets starting at $39.50.
Nurse Blake is back in Buffalo with all new content, sharing the wildest things patients and their families say and do, from self-diagnosing Stage 8 Cancer with WebMD to hitting the call light like they are on a game show. As a medical professional and a comic, he deserves to be thanked for his service, possibly twice.

Monday, Sept. 29

Tudor Lounge, 335 Franklin Street, Buffalo, 8 p.m. 
Comedy Open Mic Comedy. Start your week by hearing new premises and jokes. Hosted by wrestling enthusiast Andrew Joslyn. Sign-ups at 7. Free.

Tuesday, Sept. 30

Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen Street, Buffalo, 9 p.m. 
Rust Belt Comedy Showcase, Buffalo’s longest running comedy open mic, hosted by Jake Samson and Jake Piskor, also known as the two Jakes. Free. 

Matinee, 698 Main St., Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.

Train Stop Comedy, a new comedy open mic on Main Street with host Mamudu Kargbo. For all levels of comics and audiences. Free. 

Third Space Cafe & Entertainment, 777 Main St., Buffalo, 6:30 p.m.

The Early Bird Comedy Open Mic. Brand new open mic hosted by Brody Walsh and Connor Mink. Signups start at 5:30 p.m. Free.

Wednesday, Oct. 1

Road Less Traveled Productions, 456 Main St., Buffalo, 7:30 p.m., tickets $20.
An improvised two-act play with a cast of experienced improvisers and a special guest, usually a local actor, using the set of the current play running at the RLTP, ensuring the show is a blend of grounded theater and comedy. This week’s guest is Isaiah Brown  who joins the cast of Kevin Di Lucente, Todd Benzin, Don Gervasi, Meghan Joyce, Annie Moor, Jimmie Byrd and Caitlin Steitzer.

Milkie’s Elmwood Lounge, 522 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo. 
Comedy Open Mic Comedy. Sign-ups at 7 or online, show starts at 9ish p.m. Hosted by Jesse Winterhalter. Free. 

Helium Comedy Club, 30 Mississippi Street, Buffalo. 
Open Mic, where over 20 comics will perform their best 3 minutes, 7 p.m., free with two-item minimum.

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Have a comedy event you want to add? Email lakeeffectcomedy@gmail.com.