NEWS | FEATURES | PREVIEWS | EVENTS

SOPAC presents Comedian Paul Reiser

originally published: 08/28/2022

(SOUTH ORANGE, NJ) -- Comedian Paul Reiser is back on a stand-up comedy tour and will come to South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) on Sunday, October 9 at 7:30pm. Special guest Vance Gilbert will open the night.  

Comedian, actor and television writer Paul Reiser is one of Hollywood’s most prolific creatives. Reiser can currently be seen in Stranger Things and The Kominsky Method, for which he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. The multi-faceted actor also recently revived one of his most iconic roles in the highly-anticipated return of Mad About You, the long-running hit 90s comedy he co-created and starred in with Helen Hunt.

Tickets range from $38-$58 and are available for purchase online.

Reiser shows no signs of slowing down.  He is starring in two hit shows for Netflix: Stranger Things as Dr. Sam Owens, in a role created by the Duffer Brothers specifically for Reiser, and Chuck Lorre’s The Kominsky Method, for which he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Reiser received rave reviews for the latter, where he delivered a moving soliloquy on life and loss in a scene that MediaPost says “will stand… as one of the finest moments seen anywhere on television.” Reiser returned for the third and final season of The Kominsky Method, streaming now on Netflix. 

Reiser was also seen on Amazon’s Red Oaks for three seasons in a role singled out as “one of his absolute finest, not just of late, but of ever”—and in Mad Men creator Matt Weiner’s limited Amazon series The Romanoffs alongside Christina Hendricks and Isabelle Huppert. Additionally, Reiser joined Sam Rockwell, Michelle Williams and producers Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tommy Kale in FX’s Emmy-nominated Fosse/Verdon.

 

Advertise with New Jersey Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info

---

Throughout his prolific career, Reiser has worked with both independent and mainstream filmmakers. Reiser earned acclaim for his supporting roles in the Academy Award-winning film Whiplash, John McDonagh’s War on Everyone and frequent collaborator Jeff Baena’s The Little Hours and Horse Girl, which premiered at Sundance 2020 and is the fourth film the pair has worked on together. The veteran actor has garnered praise for notable performances in films such as Diner, Bye Bye Love, Aliens, One Night At McCool’s, Beverly Hills Cop I/II and The Thing About My Folks, which Reiser wrote for his co-star Peter Falk. Recently, Reiser starred alongside Kevin Hart in the touching comedy Fatherhood, out now on Netflix.

Reiser is a fixture behind the camera as well. He co-created and co-produced There’s Johnny!, a seven-episode series which originally streamed on Hulu and now streams on Peacock. The show, co-created with filmmaker David Steven Simon and co-produced with David Gordon Green in conjunction with The Carson Company, premiered to critical praise, with Decider saying There’s Johnny! is “a television experience unlike any I’ve seen on TV in recent years” and “unfolds like a dream, a memory fondly recalled.”

Reiser’s first book, Couplehood, sold over two million copies and reached the number one spot on The New York Times best sellers list. His subsequent books, Babyhood and Familyhood, were best sellers as well. Reiser regularly was voted one of the “Top 100 Comedians of All Time” by Comedy Central.

Reiser, a SUNY Binghamton graduate in the prestigious music program, co-wrote the theme song from Mad About You, “The Final Frontier,” with Grammy-winning producer Don Was. He released an album of original songs with British singer-songwriter Julia Fordham called Unusual Suspects. Over the course of his career, Reiser has received multiple Emmy, Golden Globe, American Comedy Award and Screen Actors Guild nominations.

---

Can something be wry, aching, hysterical, evocative, provocative, fun, beautifully sung, and consummately played all at once? That would be Vance Gilbert. With the generous assistance from a varied list of super-respected guests—including Celtic harpist/singer Aine Minogue, bluegrass boys Darol Anger and Joe Walsh Jr., jazz sax player Grace Kelly, country rock hero Roy Sludge, and guitar mainstay Kevin Barry—this talented man’s musical truth plays out shamelessly on BaD Dog Buffet.

Like all great artists, Vance truly happens live. In fact he developed his reputation with his jawdropping, diverse, funny, devastating, and gorgeous live performances. Arlo Guthrie, Anita Baker, the late George Carlin have all requested Vance to be added to their bills.

Vance exploded onto the scene in the early 90’s, with buzz spreading quickly. Who was this multicultural arts teacher knocking them dead at open mics? After opening Shawn Colvin’s 1992 Fat City tour, he took much of America by storm and by surprise. “With the voice of an angel, the wit of a devil, and the guitar playing of a god, it was enough to earn him that rarity: an encore for an opener,” wrote the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in its review of a show from the Colvin tour.

---

South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) is located at One SOPAC Way in South Orange, New Jersey. Since 2006, SOPAC has been serving as a premier performing arts center in the region. SOPAC offers innovative artistic and cultural experiences for diverse audiences in an intimate, inviting environment. The arts center hosts a variety of live performances, community events and education programs for all ages. SOPAC is home for Seton Hall University Arts Council’s performances, including the Classical Concert Series, Jazz ‘N the Hall performances and Seton Hall University Theatre productions. SOPAC programs are made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. The South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.