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The Open
Hey Zingers,
Stavros Halkias broke an arm, lost 70 pounds, and turned his own hometown into the backdrop for the most self-lacerating hour of his career — tonight's the special to watch. Also on deck: an Estonian ex-bucket-puller quietly becoming Kill Tony's most dangerous new voice, and three jokes ranked by how fast they'd get you walked to HR.
🎙️ Weekly Feature
Stavros Halkias's second Netflix hour, "Uncle Stav," dropped Tuesday, September 8, taped at the historic Lyric in his hometown of Baltimore with director Matt Johnson, who's also directing Halkias's upcoming A24 movie "Tony." The taping was supposed to happen three months earlier, but a broken arm on top of a back injury pushed it back, and Halkias used the delay to drop 70 pounds before he ever stepped onstage. The premise: fresh off becoming an actual uncle, self-described "dirtbag" Stav tries reverse-engineering himself into a role model and fails upward the entire way, riffing on the healthcare system, aging, and living your best life when that life still involves a lot of gas station food. "Every time I succeed, it's like I'm trading part of my life force for this success," Halkias told The Baltimore Banner going into the taping — as good a thesis statement for the hour as any.
Why it matters for this lane: Halkias built his career on being the most self-lacerating guy in the room, and turning a hometown victory lap into seventy minutes about how none of it feels like winning is the rawest version of that bit yet.
Hot take: losing 70 pounds for a special about how being a dirtbag never stops chasing you is either the most honest thing a comedian's done all year, or the funniest bit nobody's calling a bit.
📋 Open Mic Bites
Jeremiah Watkins released his third hour, "Crazy Pizza," on YouTube — premiered Thursday, September 10, taped at The Comedy Vault in Batavia, Illinois. An hour about parenting an "alleged serial killer toddler," a recent vasectomy, and everything else that goes on the pizza.
Ruby Karp's "I Don't Trust Adults" started streaming on Veeps — dropped Thursday, September 10, adapting her six-week Off-Broadway run at SoHo Playhouse into an hour about the six specific adults who taught a self-described "failed child star" to stop trusting grown-ups. Amy Poehler told her to try stand-up at eleven; she did, and spent the next decade finding out what the industry does to kids who take that advice. She's since written for After Midnight and played Gen Z Ruby on Roku's The Charlie Puth Show, but this is the first time she's turned the receipts into a set. Her pitch: it's for anyone healing from other adults — "and especially for the theater kids who never got cast."
Sam Morril's new Netflix hour, "Incorrect," got a premiere date — announced Thursday, September 10, dropping globally September 29. Morril's second Netflix special digs into a one-night stand gone wrong, an unorthodox war on rats, and the dark humor of infamous assassinations.
Saturday Night Live announced its first four Season 52 hosts — revealed Wednesday, September 9. Jalen Brunson opens the September 26 premiere, and Shane Gillis returns October 10 for his third hosting stint since getting fired from the show in 2019.
Quote of the week: "People just talk. You learn entertainment is a lot of people just saying words." — Ruby Karp, on what a childhood in the business teaches you
😂 The Joke Drawer
🍞 Dad Joke of the Week I asked the librarian if they had any books on paranoia. She leaned in and whispered, "They're right behind you."
🔥 Dirty Joke of the Week My ex said I was selfish in bed.
Meanwhile she just laid there like she was auditing me.
🚨 The One That'll Get You Fired My boss asked me to describe my ideal work-life balance. I said "on top." She said that wasn't what she meant. I said "then underneath, I'm flexible."
If HR asks, you read this on a competitor's newsletter.
🎙️ One to Watch
Ari Matti — an Estonian-born comic who spent over a decade building an act about growing up in Eastern Europe before Austin's comedy scene turned him into one of its most reliable weapons.
Ari is a paid regular at Joe Rogan's Comedy Mothership and a recurring guest on Kill Tony, where his bold, high-energy delivery and complete lack of a self-preservation instinct have made him one of the show's most requested panelists. He self-produced and sold out his hour "Imported Goods" at Vancouver's Rio Theater, and he's since taken that hour on the road through clubs from Denver to Providence. If you like your comedy loud, physical, and completely unbothered by whether the crowd is with him yet, this is the one to see live before he's playing rooms you need a presale code for.
Go see him: Houston Improv, Oct 2–3 (four shows) and Punch Line Sacramento, Oct 8. Austin — he's in the Mothership rotation most weeks; check the calendar. Everyone else, full tour dates here. Tickets start around $35.
🗺️ Comedy Mic Check
Each city: the big show to know about this weekend, plus the two clubs worth your time.
City | Big stage this weekend | Club pick 1 | Club pick 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
NYC | St. Marks Comedy Club — Gina Brillon, JJ Liberman & Alvin Kuai, Fri Sept 18, 6:30pm & 8:30pm | Greenwich Village Comedy Club — Danny Palmer, Allan Fuks, Adel Alizadeh & Don Jamieson, Fri Sept 18, 9:45pm | |
LA | The Comedy Store — "Best of the Store XL," Main Room, Fri Sept 18, 7:30pm | Hollywood Improv (The Lab) — Dean Stanfield, 7:30pm & Lewis Belt, 9:30pm, Fri Sept 18 | |
Nashville | No major-room comedy this weekend — checked the Ryman (Alison Krauss & Union Station, music), Bridgestone Arena (Disney On Ice) and the Grand Ole Opry (Opry 100 celebration, music) | Zanies Nashville — Sam Morril, Fri Sept 18, 7pm | The Lab at Zanies — Dark & Dirty Showcase, Sat Sept 19, 10:45pm |
Austin | Cap City Comedy Club — Maggie Hughes DePalo, Red Room, Fri–Sun Sept 18–20, 7:30pm | The Velveeta Room — "Straight Gonzo," featuring Kill Tony golden ticket winners, Sat Sept 19, 8pm | |
Boston | Laugh Boston — Jay Larson, Fri Sept 18, 7pm | Nick's Comedy Stop — no weekend lineup posted yet | |
DC | DC Improv — David Balagizi, Tim Smith, Joey Friedman, Chris Coccia & Apple Brown Betty, weekend showcase Sept 18–20 | Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse — Damien Lemon, Fri Sept 18, 7pm | |
Chicago | Comedy Bar Chicago — Corey O'Brien, Fri Sept 18, 9pm | Zanies Chicago — no weekend lineup posted yet |
💬 Crowd Work
Reply to this email with the most disrespectful thing a family member has ever said to you at a holiday dinner. Best one gets featured in a future issue.
📼 ICYMI
Five seasons doing the most-imitated impression on SNL, and when Johnson finally released his own hour — "He'll Yeah," out August 31 on Gorilla Comedy+, hitting YouTube September 22 — he built it without the voice that made him famous. Taped across three club rooms instead of a TV studio: The Den in Chicago, Cobb's in San Francisco, Zanies in Nashville. He could have stapled sixty minutes to the impression and let the internet clip it to death. Instead he bet that people would show up for the guy, not the bit. Roast comics live or die on whether the persona and the person are the same guy under different lighting — Johnson's arguing they don't have to be. Dropping it on a random Monday on a platform most people haven't heard of, instead of a Netflix push, is either the least ego-driven move in comedy this year or the most confident one.
RATE TONIGHT'S SET
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🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤 Absolute headliner 🎤🎤🎤🎤 Solid set 🎤🎤🎤 Decent open mic energy 🎤🎤 Needs work 🎤 Booed off stage
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