Comedy Addiction Tour

Comedians and substance abuse: They go together like comedy clubs and faux brick backdrops. Just try imagining Richard Pryor without cocaine, or John Belushi and Mitch Hedberg without assorted narcotics. There's no denying it, drugs are frequently the bedrock of comedians' routines and lifestyles. And although good for a few laughs, the reality of drug use is often highly destructive to performers' lives, and in Hedberg's and Belushi's cases, fatal. The Comedy Addiction Tour brings together Mark Lundholm, Kurtis Matthews, Jesse Joyce, and Karin Babbitt, four comedians who were lucky enough to pull themselves out of addiction and talented enough to laugh at their past lives and draw important lessons from them. All four have tales of the moment they turned their life around, and countless hilarious bits from a life of addiction. Part standup, part rehab meeting, the tour features comics who manage to both amuse their audiences and raise valid points about alcohol and drug use in society. In addition to playing theaters, the troupe devotes dates to playing halfway houses and rehab clinics. Rarely is standup simultaneously so funny and inspiring.
Sat., May 3, 8 p.m., 2008