LIVERMORE — In her 25-year career, comedian Kathleen Madigan has performed on nearly every stand-up stage and late night television show an on Friday, Sept. 9, she will bring her “Mermaid Lady Tour” to the Bankhead Theater in Livermore.
The only comedian in the history of NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” to go unchallenged, Madigan brings her innate sense of humor and infectious sense of fun to politics, current events, family, and more. The evening with Kathleen Madigan marks the first event in LVPAC Presents’ Tenth Season and will be followed the next evening by the “Brilliance at the Bankhead” gala featuring legendary singer/songwriter Judy Collins.
Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Madigan fell into stand-up comedy accidentally after wandering into an open mic night at a bar next to the one where she was working. She decided to give it a try and has not stopped telling jokes ever since. That first night led to more than two decades of spending 300 nights a year on the road. According to Madigan, “We don’t get time off like a band. Our tours never end. That’s why it makes me laugh when people say ‘how long is your tour?’ Well so far, 25 years.”
Madigan has gone from one nighters, to club gigs, to theaters, to headlining the Mirage in Las Vegas. She has appeared countless times on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and many others. She has had her own hour-long specials on HBO and Comedy Central, and performed on two USO tours to Iraq and Afghanistan with fellow comedians Lewis Black, Robin Williams, and John Bowman, as well as musicians Kid Rock, Zac Brown, Kix Brooks and Kellie Pickler. Although she prefers to perform, Madigan has also worked for years as a comedy writer, contributing to Lewis Black’s “Root of All Evil” on Comedy Central and Gary Shandling’s Emmy Award monologues, among others. In the past two decades, she has released four comedy CDs and two DVDs.
Tickets for all shows in the LVPAC Presents Tenth Season are available now through the Bankhead Theater ticket office at 2400 First Street in Livermore, by calling (925) 373-6800, or online at www.lvpac.org