Cool Comic Relief

Four funny shows of note

By ROB TURBOVSKY

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Summer ... is there any better season to spend entirely indoors? Well, winter, I guess. Maybe spring and fall, too. But soon they'll all be one magical season, filled with heat waves and blizzards and zombies and the evolution of human consciousness. And you know what you'll want then? Live comedy, motherfuckers. But, it'll be too late. Demand will outpace supply and all the comedy will be controlled by robber barons and guarded by undead pythons with three heads and talking testicles. But now? We just need to be willing to occasionally tackle a two-drink minimum.

The thing about the spin-cycle of the media now is that it's impossible to remember what got someone famous in the first place. Was Hal Sparks hatched in a snark lab by Talk Soup? Is Queer as Folk a spin-off of I Love The '80s? What would Marshall McLuhan make of Celebracadabra? Clearly, Sparks is some kind of pop culture two-sport athlete.

[Fri.-Sat., 5.30-5.31. Comedy Connection. Faneuil Hall, 2nd Fl. Quincy Market Building., Boston. 8pm&10:15pm/21+/$25-$27. comedyconnectionboston.com]

One of the main differences between music and stand-up is that when a bunch of musicians get together to do a charity single or show, the result often feels like a tanker filled with shit crashing into a tower of sadness. Stand-up benefits on the other hand, are awesome and Laugh For A Cure features some hometown favorites plus returning champs: Myq Kaplan, Micah Sherman, Joe List, Harrison Stebbins, Paul Nardizzi and more. It will have way more intentional laughs than Hear N'Aid, trust me.

[Thu. 6.5. 1236 Mass. Ave., Harvard Sq. 8pm/all ages/$30. 617.661.6507. thecomedystudio.com]

If Chris Rock's 1996 Bring The Pain special catapulted him to the world of terrible buddy movies, it also acted as an enormously promising comedy cotillion. Except he's not an adolescent girl and most cotillions keep usage of "motherfucker" in the double digits. Still, the simile works, especially with the hindsight offered by the solid work Rock's done since. He's a brilliant performer: cutting, daring, revelatory and more than good enough live to make up for Lethal Weapon 4.

[Sat. 6.14. Wang Theatre. 270 Tremont St., Boston. 617.482.9393. 7pm&10pm/$45.50-$75.50. citicenter.org]

While no one was looking, Craig Ferguson turned The Late Late Show into a charming and funny little post-Letterman snack. Then, everyone started looking, but the pressure isn't all bad. Like Letterman, Ferguson's best moments are his jumpiest, when he's forced to think on his feet and react in the moment. There should be plenty of those live.

[Sat. 7.12. Faneuil Hall, 2nd Floor Quincy Market Building., Boston. 617.248.9700. 8pm/21+/$TBD. comedyconnectionboston.com]