Keith Alberstadt considers himself a guy next door with a slightly sarcastic edge. And like most guys next door, he’s a big sports buff.
“You have to have to have a thick skin being named Prince,” Alberstadt says of the Detroit Tigers’ newest addition, Prince Fielder. “What do you say? ‘Hi, my name is Duran Duran and these are my friends, REO Speedwagon.’”
Having spent just over 10 years on the road doing stand-up comedy, Alberstadt makes his first visit to Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle Feb. 2-4.
But sports aren’t the only things he touches on in his act.
“Traveling, dating, family – there’s humor in absolutely everything in life,” says the Tennessee native who now calls Queens, N.Y., his home base. “We live in a world of channel surfers. People want variety.”
Although his act is PG-rated, he insists that his comedy is for adults.
“I like to appeal to a broad range of people, and I find it more challenging not to drop the F-bombs,” Alberstadt says. “And when it comes to talking about sports, I try to keep it lighthearted. People get so intense about their sports teams. And the same thing goes for politics. I’m not opinionated on stage. It’s clean comedy, but it’s nothing you’d take your 13-year-old nephew to see. I keep it simple; I keep it lighthearted.”
That approach to comedy is also what his kept him on board as a contributing writer for Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update, penning the faux news for Seth Meyers for the past four years.
“The way he sets up his jokes is so similar to the way I do,” Alberstadt says.
Alberstadt has also performed for military troops in Iraq and Afghanistan with Comics on Duty.
With credits that include an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, Mark Ridley says, “I try to introduce 15-20 new people each year, and he’s been on my radar for a couple of years. I’m looking forward to seeing him.
Alberstadt performs at Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle on Feb. 2, at 8 p.m. and on Feb. 3 and 4 at 8 and 10 p.m. Advance purchase tickets for the Thursday show are half off by mentioning Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle’s Twitter handle, @ComedyCastle, when reserving tickets.
Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle is located at 310 S. Troy Street in Downtown Royal Oak.
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