Two Tucson comedy shows promise laughs

Two comedians who have gained popularity through their social media and podcasts are bringing their live shows to Tucson.

First up on Saturday, Dec. 17, is fast-rising comedian Steve Treviño, whose “America’s Favorite Husband” tour is at Leo Rich Theater, 260 S. Church Ave.

Treviño was originally set to do a single show on Saturday, but it sold out so quickly that he added a second at the 550-seat venue. Very few tickets ($43 through tucsonconventioncenter.com) remain for either the 7 or 9:30 p.m. shows.

There’s a good chance that many in the audience have seen Treviño’s self-produced comedy specials for Showtime, Netflix and Amazon, including “Relatable,” “My Life in Quarantine,” “’Til Death” and his latest, “I Speak Wife.”

His Facebook videos have garnered hundreds of millions of views and his social media following tops 2 million.

There also will be folks at Leo Rich who are weekly watchers of his podcast, “Steve Treviño & Captain Evil: The Podcast,” featuring his wife and chief comedy muse Renae Treviño. The podcast is an inside view of the couple’s everyday life, parenting their two children and putting up with one another.

On Monday, Dec. 19, writer, podcaster and political comedian Hari Kondabolu is at 191 Toole, 191 E. Toole Ave.

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Kondabolu’s comedy delves into topics we feel uncomfortable discussing publicly including racism, sexism, classism, colonialism and white privilege, but he delivers it in a way that turns “discomfort into laughter,” says Newsweek.

“Scary smart and scathingly funny, the charming Hari Kondabolu’s one of the best stand-up comedians working today. ...You will go to this and you will laugh and you will laugh some more and then you will think about it for days afterward,” opined the Portland (Oregon) Mercury.

Kondabolu has released a pair of comedy albums, “Waiting for 2042” and “Mainstream American Comic;” a Netflix special, 2018’s “Warn Your Relatives;” and the 2017 truTV documentary “The Problem with Apu,” which took critical aim at “The Simpsons.”

He also is a regular on the popular NPR game show “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me” and has co-hosted the popular “Politically Reactive” podcast with W. Kamau Bell. He also co-hosts a “pop up podcast” with his younger brother Ashok (“Dap” from HBO series “Chillin’ Island” and rap group Das Racist).

Tickets for his 8 p.m. show, presented by Phenomenon Concerts and the Rialto Theatre, are $20 to $25 through 191toole.com. This is a 21-and-older show.

Standup and sketch comedian Katie-Ellen Humphries will be the guest host.