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With Seinfeld sold out, comedy fans have Mulaney, Josh Blue, Pete Holmes this week

 
John Mulaney
John Mulaney
Published April 29, 2015

All three of Jerry Seinfeld's shows at the Mahaffey Theater this weekend in St. Petersburg are sold out. But be grateful if you don't have tickets, comedy fans, because that frees you up to check out some truly great alternative and rising comics who are in Tampa Bay this week, from John Mulaney, a boy next door with a dark side, to cult favorites Josh Blue and Pete Holmes.

By Sharon Kennedy Wynne, Times staff writer

John Mulaney

The stand-up comedian and Saturday Night Live writer who helped Bill Hader create Saturday Night Live's Stefon club character is the second coming of Seinfeld. A brilliant young comic, his pleasant clean-cut charm allows him to go off on wonderfully weird tangents. He tells the story of the guy who once pushed him in the chest and said, "I am homeless. I am gay. I have AIDS. I'm new in town." To which Mulaney replies, "You're going to close with 'new in town' are you? That is not the most dramatic thing you just said." He performs at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Capitol Theatre, 405 Cleveland St., Clearwater. $35. (727) 791-7400. atthecap.com

Josh Blue

A winner of Last Comic Standing, Josh Blue mines the discomfort audiences might have with his cerebral palsy: "You better laugh, this is my Make a Wish." He's not only a popular comedian, he's a U.S. Paralympic soccer player. He has said the Paralympic team "opened my eyes" to what was possible. "I didn't even know there was a place for disabled people to play sports ... The realization that for a little time I was one of the best CP soccer players in the world was a release for me." He performs at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 and 10:15 Friday and 6, 8 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday at Side Splitters Comedy Club, 12938 N Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa. $16-$18 advance, $18-$20 day of show. (813) 960-1197. sidesplitterscomedy.com.

Pete Holmes and Rob Bell

Coming May 7, comedian Pete Holmes brings along one of his favorite guests from his popular podcast named You Made It Weird, where he interviews interesting people. Bestselling Christian hipster author Rob Bell is a former mega church pastor who famously decried the idea of hell, preferring instead to think of God as love. So the conversation between Holmes and Bell touches on just about everything: God, love, sex and why we are on this planet.

They are on stage next Thursday at 8 p.m. at Ferguson Hall at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 N MacInnes Place, Tampa $25-$30. (813) 229-7827; strazcenter.org.