Comedian Kathleen Madigan returns to F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Oct. 8
From a press release:
Due to popular demand, award-winning comedian Kathleen Madigan announced 17 additional dates today for her Do You Have Any Ranch? Tour, including a stop at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, Oct. 8.
Doors at the Kirby Center (71 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre) open at 6:30 p.m., and the show starts at 8 p.m.
Tickets, which are $33.50, $43.50, and $53.50, plus applicable fees, go on sale this Friday, April 1 at 10 a.m. and will be available at the F.M. Kirby Center box office, online at kirbycenter.org and ticketmaster.com, and by phone at 570-826-1100. A Kirby Member pre-sale begins Thursday, March 31 at 10 a.m.
Madigan’s 32-year comedy career is showing no signs of slowing down. She tours 250 nights a year and has risen from performing in comedy clubs to marquee theaters with sold-out shows around the country. She previously appeared at the Kirby Center in 2019.
She has squeezed in over 40 appearances on late night talk shows and multiple comedy specials airing on Netflix, Comedy Central, and HBO. She also appeared on Jerry Seinfeld’s popular Netflix series “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” and made the most of the pandemic by launching a podcast, “Madigan’s Pubcast,” on all major streaming outlets.
Discussing her latest endeavor, Madigan explained, “During COVID, it was so strange to be home. I’ve haven’t been off and home for more than three weeks in 32 years, so it was odd. Once it was clear we weren’t going out on the road anytime soon, I decided a podcast would be a fun way to stay in touch with people. I’d have never had the time with the road being kind of all-consuming. I plan to keep doing it now just because it’s been so much fun and something different.”
Her most recent special, “Bothering Jesus,” is her fifth hour-long stand-up special and third special available on Netflix; it was also the highest-selling comedy album and most-played comedy album on streaming services since 2014.
“I love working with them. They’re the young people. Network TV will need to adapt quickly to even have a chance to stay in the game. Netflix gets it and makes it so easy for us. Instead of it being a battle of content and rules, it’s just fun – what it’s supposed to be,” she noted.
This year, Madigan will shoot her sixth stand-up special at the Paramount Theatre in Denver, Colorado on June 4, 2022.
“I just want to tell jokes. I didn’t start doing open mic to become an actor on a sitcom or in a TV commercial. Those things never ever crossed my mind,” she said.
“For a few of us working, telling jokes was our main goal. I don’t have any more goals. Can’t you ever have a goal, reach it, and enjoy it? Our society is being driven by Type A lunatics who say you have to set more goals. Well, maybe they do, but we all don’t. Have a seat, grab a drink, and enjoy the fact you achieved the goal. Maybe that’s the Irish in me talking, though.”
She has won the American Comedy Award for Best Female Comedian and the Phyllis Diller Award for Best Female Comedian. Additionally, she wrote and produced for Lewis Black’s “Root of All Evil” on Comedy Central and done multiple USO tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“The USO shows are the best. Trust me, no crowd is as appreciative and fired up to see any entertainer. I’m glad I have the chance because God knows I don’t want to have to do their job!”
Originally hailing from St. Louis, Missouri, Madigan has performed internationally at festivals and theaters in Ireland, England, Hong Kong, and Australia and has filmed seven Montreal Gala Shows at the Just for Laughs comedy festival for CBC-TV. She is an advocate and fundraiser for cystic fibrosis and autism.
When asked if her career was planned, she said, “No, like that guy in ‘The Joy of Painting’ used to say, it was a happy accident. This whole thing just started out as a reason to drink and, wow, what a great drinking accident.”
