The fertile Phoenix comedy scene has something for everyone, but can sometimes prove daunting to outsiders, so we did you the favor of cherry picked five can’t-miss events happening in August featuring homegrown talent and big time famous people alike.

Mainstage Improv Shows, Friday and Saturdays at The Bridge Improv

Tempe improv theater The Bridge Improv is relatively new to the scene but has quickly become a favorite for comedy fans in the Phoenix area. Their keystone program is the Mainstage Improv Show, a twice-weekly mix of long form and short form improv featuring a rotating cast of the best improvisers in town. Mainstage showcases the theater’s foundational “clean and clever comedy,” meaning the whole family can enjoy these feats of totally improvised strength. 

Slightly* Uncensored Late Show, Saturdays at the Neighborhood Comedy Theatre

Riffing on the classic short form improv comedy format of Whose Line is it Anyways?, the Neighborhood Comedy Theatre’s several weekly shows has a something for everyone on the roster. Comedy fans looking for a somewhat more outrageous take on the format should look to the Slightly* Uncensored Late Show, an R-rated night of “slightly bonkers” improv comedy that promises to get a little wild.

Ms. Pat, Thursday, August 4 to Saturday, August 6 at Stand Up Live

Standup comedian, author, broadcaster, and actor Patricia Williams, better known as Ms. Pat, star of the Emmy nominated BET+ streaming hit “The Ms. Pat Show.” An acclaimed standup comic, Ms. Pat channels the trauma from her turbulent personal life into ferocious dark comedy, which earned her a spot on the Netflix standup series “The Degenerates,” followed by a solo comedy special for Netflix aptly titled “Y’all Wanna Hear Something Crazy?” Come prepared for some brutal truths and raw, unflinching honesty from one of the most boundary-pushing comics working today.

The All Puppet Players present Masters of the Universe, Sunday August 14 at the Orpheum Theatre Phoenix

Founded in 2010 by a pair of 80’s kids with a love for puppeteering and dirty jokes, the All Puppet Players have become something of an institution here in Phoenix, staging live, all-puppet parodies of classic films like “Die Hard,” “Top Gun” and “Jurassic Park.” They’ve linked up with the Orpheum Theatre for a special movie night, celebrating the 35th anniversary of “Masters of the Universe,” which will feature live commentary by the puppets riffing along, MST3K style. 

Godfrey, Thursday August 18 to Sunday August 21 at Rick Bronson’s House of Comedy

You might remember him from the iconic 1990s “make 7up yours” ad campaign that shot him to national notoriety, a viral celeb before that was a well-known thing, but Godfrey is so much more. After getting his start in Chicago in the 1990s, Godfrey became a regular at some of the most respected New York City comedy clubs and has since recorded a pair of acclaimed comedy specials and has recently appeared on TV shows like Wild ’n Out, South Side, and Steven Universe. Godfrey’s incomparable stage presence and button-pushing observational comedy makes for a surefire crowd pleasing show.