Standup comic Mike Armstrong will perform Sept. 1 at YES Cinema.
Whether he’s cracking wise about wife Petra or his former life as a cop, Mike Armstrong swears to one fact over his lengthy standup career, including major television appearances: He’s never written a single joke.
“I don’t tell jokes,” he once said in a Republic interview. “I tell stories.”
And he does it so successfully and smoothly that he has sold out a string of shows for years at places such as the 177-seat YES Cinema, 328 Jackson St. in downtown Columbus for years. He has a chance to do the same at 8 p.m. Sept. 1 when, courtesy of Ye Olde Fish House and Hotel Indigo, comedy returns to YES for the first time since Dec. 31, 2021, when Armstrong performed.
Matt “Blind” Stein will be the opener for the PG-rated show. Tickets are available for $25 at yescinema.org. Proceeds benefit the work of the nonprofit Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center, which helps some of the community’s most struggling residents.
YES audiences know Armstrong, who lives in Georgetown, Kentucky, quite well. They know that he greets most every ticket buyer at the door before every performance. They know that he performed a pair of New Year’s Eve shows there in 2015 when he had a flu bug so bad that he interspersed hurried and harried impromptu breaks into the acts so he could run to the lobby restroom to toss his cookies.
That also shows how Armstrong has long seen YES staff as family, as he has called them in the past. So much so that he didn’t want to be a no-show even due to real illness.
“Is there anybody in here that you DON’T know?” Petra asked him in 2017 when she accompanied him here.
Beer, wine, and concessions will be available for purchase.
After working as a police officer in Kentucky, Armstrong took the stage and has been entertaining audiences across the country with his family-friendly shows full of real-life stories of family life, police life, and just plain living. Because of his unique talent for improvisational comedy, he became a regular on “The Bob & Tom Show” in Indianapolis.
Armstrong has appeared on HBO, Comedy Central, Fox and CMT as well as opening for major musical acts such as Michael Buble, Alan Jackson, Tracy Lawrence and David Allan Coe.
In addition, Armstrong was a consultant and actor on the hit show, “America’s Dumbest Criminals,” and has made cameo appearances in shows such as “Xena, Warrior Princess” and “Vice.”
The next comedy show beyond Armstrong’s date will be Dec. 31 with singer and comedian Tim Cavanagh, also a longtime regular on “The Bob and Tom Show.”
Get tickets
at yescinema.org
