Best in Stand Up

Michelle Branch will add 17 new tour dates after her first leg sold out within a week, and confirmed Maren Morris will join her upcoming EP following a surprise Ryman Auditorium duet.

Michelle Branch and NEW RADICALS frontman Gregg Alexander appear together in a reimagined music video for The Game of Love, marking Alexander's first on-screen band appearance in decades.

FRIGID New York will present its 29th season, including the Days of the Dead Festival, Gotham Storytelling Festival, and The Fire This Time Festival, with performances at UNDER St. Marks.

Edy Modica, known for JURY DUTY, will release her debut comedy special through Irony Point, the production company behind I THINK YOU SHOULD LEAVE, for wide YouTube viewing.

Kelsea Feder's project Blums released its debut album, an eleven-track art-pop record exploring catharsis and cycles of destructive behavior, alongside a music video for the single Judy.

Ben LaMar Gay is set to join BIG THIEF for a twelve-show stretch of performances, according to a recent announcement from the band.

The punk-rock musical about choices, addiction, and the afterlife will receive its West-Coast premiere in Lynden, Washington, with direction by Andrew Cooper.

Festival of Cinema NYC will return to the Regal UA Midway in Forest Hills with a lineup of over 100 independent films, panels and special anniversary screenings marking its tenth year.

Michelle Wolf announced as headliner for the closing night of LAUGHTERAMA at Manchester's Castlefield Bowl, joining a bill that includes Jack Dee, Stewart Lee, Chris McCausland, Sara Pascoe, and more across five nights of open-air comedy.

See some of the biggest names with free outdoor concerts in NYC this summer including the rapper Common, singer-songwriter Andrew Bird, “human beatbox” Doug E. Fresh and more.

Sophie Duker, Taskmaster champion and Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nominee, announced a UK and international tour for her new show, HOT BEEF INJECTION, following a sold-out Melbourne International Comedy Festival run.

Three-time Best Show nominee Milo Edwards brings CATAMARAN to Monkey Barrel at the Edinburgh Fringe, a stand-up hour about discovering his late parents' love letters from the 1980s and the family secrets within.

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts will conclude its 2026 Summer Season on August 2 with the Orchestra of St. Luke's under the baton of Xian Zhang and violinist Gil Shaham, who returns to the festival for the first time in a decade to perform Barber's Violin Concerto.

Drag comedian Crudi Dench, star of award-winning fringe hits Drag Queens vs Zombies and Drag Queens vs Vampires, will make her solo debut at Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a celebrity-fuelled comedy show at Underbelly Cowgate.

Shakespeare's Globe announced the cast for AS YOU LIKE IT, co-directed by Sean Holmes and Charlie Josephine, who also stars as Orlando. Lola Shalam leads as Rosalind in the Globe Theatre production.

Here are a few top picks to consider this week including free outdoor concerts, Who’s the Boss and Taxi star Tony Danza celebrating Frank Sinatra, an improvised so with Chris Turner (Cirque du Soleil, America’s Got Talent, Stephen Colbert) and more.

BBC New Comedy Award winner Anna Thomas brings her debut hour, HOW TO JUGGLE A FERRET, to Edinburgh Festival Fringe, drawing on grief, loneliness, and a childhood bedroom converted into a rhubarb lab.

wild project will present the 10th Annual East Village Queer Film Festival, featuring LGBTQIA+ films, a retrospective honoring Lola Rock'N'Rolla hosted by Murray Hill, and shorts starring John Cameron Mitchell.

Comedian Ali Siddiq will bring ALI SIDDIQ: THE CUSTOM FIT TOUR to the UIS Performing Arts Center in Springfield, IL, following a NAACP Image Award win and three Webby Awards for his recent standup specials.

Comedian and human rights lawyer Sid Singh returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with LOVE BOMBING, a stand-up hour blending activism, politics, and his disastrous love life. Proceeds benefit the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies.

John-Luke Roberts brings his first new solo show in four years to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, drawing on a pulmonary embolism and mental health crisis to blend stand-up, storytelling, and absurdist poetry.

Comedian Ali Brice returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with THIS IS THE WAY WE BRUSH OUR TEETH, a new solo hour exploring midlife, sobriety, and contentment through crowd-work-fuelled stand-up at Wee Container 1, Hoots Potterow.

Tony and Emmy Award-winner Billy Crystal’s new one-man show, 860 will play a limited run at Broadway’s Imperial Theatre, beginning in October of 2026. The complete creative team will be announced in the coming weeks. 

Comedians Hasan Minhaj and Ronny Chieng will bring their head-to-head comedy tour to Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas for back-to-back performances during Labor Day Weekend.

Kids in the Hall founding member Kevin McDonald will perform stand-up and improv at Creative Alliance, presented by Highwire Improv. The show features behind-the-scenes KITH stories and a live improv set with Highwire community members.