Los Angeles-based comedian, writer and actor, Carmen Christopher, will perform Oct. 6 at the James Theater on his debut national tour. As a University of Iowa alum, Christopher’s visit to Iowa City will be a homecoming.
Christopher is a recurring character on FX’s “The Bear,” and he writes and acts for Peacock’s “Killing It.” His original special, “Carmen Christopher: Street Special,” is also on Peacock. He has appeared in several HBO programs and the Netflix feature “Otherhood” with Angela Bassett. In 2017, Christopher was named one of Comedy Central’s “Comics to Watch.”
At the UI, Christopher majored in business as an undergraduate. It wasn’t until later in his life that he pursued standup comedy.
“I would be terrified to even think about doing something like that in college,” Christopher said. “I signed up for the acting class in college, but then I dropped out because it was like a 9 a.m. class and it was across campus.”
After graduating from the UI in 2006 with a bachelor’s in marketing, Christopher started taking improv classes in Chicago, the city in which he grew up. He has lived in L.A. for the past few years.
“I’ve lived in cities my whole life and kind of did the grind and it’s nice to just be able to live in a city with some sunshine and be able to get some work done without as many city distractions,” Christopher said.
According to Christopher, he intends to use his debut tour to learn which of his material is best received by audiences wider than that of New York, where he typically performs. He will apply what he learns to a new comedy special in the works.
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Englert Theatre Programming Director Brian Johannesen knew Christopher’s agent, and the two connected about bringing Christopher to the James Theater.
“And it lined up perfectly because Carmen is a UIowa grad and it’s Homecoming, so all the stars just kind of aligned with this one,” Johannesen said.
Christopher noted that he has not visited Iowa City in four years, so he is interested to see what has changed. The venue in which he is performing Friday night is among recent changes to the city.
The Englert has been helping bring artists to the James Theater since the James opened in June 2022. Besides attracting a diverse multitude of local artists and hosting impressive stage productions, the James acts as a smaller venue to accommodate artists like Christopher, who will not need a stage as large as the Englert’s for a set.
“The James is kind of a really cool analog to the Englert in that it’s really like a performance theater where you sit down and you watch the art happen in a quiet, focused environment,” Johannesen said. “So, it was a natural fit for a lot of the stuff that we’re doing and a lot of the agents that we already work with.”
Johannesen said that he is excited for Christopher’s performance because of standup comedy’s ability to bring joy and make light of serious situations.
Christopher shares this sentiment, hoping that he can inspire laughter and make audiences happy.
“If you’re in a relationship and you are in a fight, I hope that you come to my show and then the laughter cures your issues and you guys don’t break up or something like that,” Christopher said.
