Sometimes you just need to laugh.
Big, deep, belly-jiggling, side-hurting, jaws-frozen-from-prolonged-smiling kind of laughs.
The kind you get from back-to-back-to-back comedy shows.
Like this weekend: Three very different comedians at three venues, at three different times so there’s no conflict.
We’ve taken the liberty of mapping out your itinerary. You can thank us later.
- Politics and Southern charm: We just love Kathleen Madigan, the saucy, politically astute stand-up whose observational skills and quick wit have led to many a funny moment on stage. We were stalking her on Twitter (@kathleenmadigan) last week when she called out everyone from Donald Trump to Roseanne Barr and Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani: “I’m putting out a ‘silver alert’ for (Giuliani). Confused, incoherent, befuddled and may respond to ‘paw paw Rudy’. ” She kicks off our weekend of laughs at 8 p.m. Thursday, June 14, at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St. Tickets are $26 to $42 through ticketfly.com.
- Back to the club: It’s been awhile since we caught a show at Laffs Comedy Caffe, 2900 E. Broadway; this weekend is probably a good time to revisit Tucson’s lone full-time comedy club. Ian Harris, this straight-laced, shiny bald, suit-and-tie-wearing mixed martial arts dude from LA — he owns his own MMA club so he’s probably a much bigger deal that we’re making out here — poses such intriguing, beguiling questions as this one: If making a cake for a same-sex wedding is in some way participating in that wedding, isn’t selling a gun to a killer participation in a murder? Yes, let that one swirl around in your brain a bit. Or hear him untangle his logic at 8 or 10:30 p.m. Friday, June 15. Rich Slaton is the featured comedian. Tickets are $12.50, $17.50 for preferred seats, through laffstucson.com. Harris is performing again at 8 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday, June 16
- A little abracadabra anyone: Comic magicians are sort of in our DNA. Not so many years back, Tucson was a major breeding ground for magic, turning out performers who headlined prestigious venues in Los Angeles and Vegas, as well as cruise ship gigs. So we’re all down for Michael Carbonaro (“The Carbonaro Effect”) pulling the wool over our eyes at Desert Diamond Casino, 1100 W. Pima Mine Road, at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 16. Tickets start at $15 and top out at $47.50 through startickets.com.
