If your New Year’s resolution is lighten up a little, you don’t have to waste any time. In Connecticut, comedy events are almost as common for a New Year’s treat as a music concert. A lot of club parties feature comedy, too.
Connecticut is, after all, the state which can boast it’s the birthplace of Seth MacFarlane, Totie Fields, Richard Belzer, Lisa Lampanelli, Rosalind Russell, Rachel Sennott and comedy club pioneer Budd Friedman to name a few. David Alan Grier, Martin Mull, Demetri Martin and Kevin Nealon are also among those who went to high school or college in our state. Then there are the countless names who chose to make Connecticut their home after they established their comedy careers, from Denis Leary to Rodney Dangerfield.
So when you think of a new year dawning in Connecticut, think of comedy. Clubs and theaters throughout the state are ringing in 2026 with mirth and joy, plus some stinging satire and enlightening irony. Some of the events are long-held traditions that have lasted for decades. Others are stops on winter tours that happen to fall on New Year’s. Here are a bunch of comedy treats happening on New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day or New Year’s weekend.
One of CT’s largest New Year’s Eve festivities releases schedule. A longtime tradition also returns
The most comedy happening in a single place on New Year’s Eve is at Sea Tea Comedy Theater, where there are six improv shows at 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 and 10 p.m. Admission is $15, unless you have a First Night Hartford button, in which case the button gets you in. There’s a whole other show on New Year’s Day: Show Lab’s Experimental Jam with Jambassador Jam Jar, part of a “Jamuary” series of comedy jams at the theater, with tickets just $5. The weekend brings the usual Sea Tea improv “Deep End” Friday night show at 7 p.m. ($10) and “Family Show” Sunday at 2 p.m. ($10, $5 children).
Mohegan Sun has its own comedy club, the Comix Roadhouse, and two of its regular events are getting special New Year’s Eve editions on Dec. 31. At 4 p.m. there’s Spinnato’s Comedy Magic with Jim Spinnato ($20-$40) and at 10 p.m. there’s the long-running drag show “Lipstick Lashes” ($25-$45.). In between, stand-up comedian Greg Stone does two sets at 6 and 8 p.m. ($25-$65) and there’s a set by the band Thirty 6 Red at 9:15 p.m. ($40-$80). There’s more Spinnato on Thursday and Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m. ($15-$35). There’s another “Lipstick Lashes” on Jan. 3 at 10 p.m. ($15-$35). The weekend stand-up comedy at Comix Roadhouse is Brian Beaudoin, Jan. 2-4 at 8 p.m. ($20-$45).
Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury underwent its first major change in leadership this year, 35 years after it was founded. One thing that’s stayed in place is the annual Dec. 31 “Stand Up Countdown” show featuring comedy talent from New York and New England. This year Tom Whiteley hosts, Mike Burton is the headliner and Marion Grodin and Kevin Bartini are also on the bill. There are two complete shows, at 5 and 8 p.m., and neither one means you’ll be in the theater at midnight — you’ll have time to drive home safely and celebrate there. $53.
Jim McCue has several shows in Connecticut in the next few days: on Dec. 30 and 31 at The Kate as art of the Boston Comedy Festival and Jan. 3 at Playhouse on Park. (Courtesy of The Kate)
Another comedy tradition this time of year is the Best of Boston Comedy Festival coming to the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook. This year the three comics are Jim McCue, Joey Carroll and Rhonda Corey, and there are two shows: Dec. 30 and 31 at 7:30 p.m. $34.
The Brew HaHa comedy series at the River, a waterfront restaurant in Wethersfield, has a special New Year’s Eve night with comic Darren Rivera. The 7 p.m. show has a dinner and dessert buffet and costs $100. The 10 p.m. show has more of a snacks menu and is $60.
The New York Comedy Club in Stamford has a multi-comic bill at 5 p.m. on Dec. 31 with KP Anderson, Colin Pasquarella, Dan Kalwhite and Michele Traina for $10-$35, then later the same night there two shows with national headliner Nimesh Patel plus special guests at 8 and 10:30 p.m. for $45. On the weekend, there is former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Chris Redd on Jan. 2 at 7 and 9:30 p.m. and Jan. 3 at 4:30, 7 and 9:30 p.m. $29-$39 plus a $20 minimum per person in the showroom, which includes drinks and snacks.
The Stress Factory in Bridgeport has Daphnique Springs doing two shows at 7 and 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 31. $31 plus a two-item minimum. Tables can be arranged in two, four or six seats. The weekend entertainment at Stress Factory is Jamie Wolf, Jan. 2 and 3 at both 7 and 9:30 p.m. Those tickets are $25-$31.
The Funny Bone Comedy Club in Manchester doesn’t have a New Year’s Eve show on its schedule, or a New Year’s Day one for that matter. But two veterans of MTV’s “Wild’N Out,” Big JJ and Mope Williams, are on their “We Ain’t Done Yet” tour, doing three shows Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. and Jan. 3 at 6:30 and 9 p.m. $27.
Playhouse on Park’s monthly Comedy Night falls on Jan. 3. The 8 p.m. show features Jim McCue and Maya Manion. The theater seats some audience members right on the stage near the performers, but you can also sit in the auditorium. $20.
The Garde Arts Center in New London is another theater with an ongoing standup comedy series, every week in the Garde’s intimate Oasis Room. On Jan. 3 at 8 p.m., the attraction is Adam Mamawala. $30.
The Elbow Room in West Hartford, which has a comedy room downstairs from the main restaurant, is waiting a while for its New Year celebration but makes this list because it’s titling its Jan. 10 event “New Year, New Laughs.” There are more comics in one place, and better female representation, than any of the other New Year’s shows: Zoe Levy, Katy Coughlin, Ben Chadwick, Sonya Priest, Cliff Mula and Charity Gregory. Show is at 7 p.m. $9.85-$17.85.