Buffalo State Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall highlights fall 2025 series

Outback Presents Dusty Slay: The Night Shift Tour on Saturday, September 13 at 7:00 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center. The self-effacing, bourbon-voiced “comedian next door” has a knack for observational, blue-collar humor and is a mainstay on the country music scene, having made his Grand Ole Opry debut in 2019. Slay has also appeared on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel Live, and has two Netflix specials, one of which premiered this past summer. With this 35-city nationwide tour, the Nashville native brings his brand of relatable working-class comedy coast to coast. 

The PAC is proud to present Buffalo State Homecoming Comedy Night featuring Preacher Lawson with special guests Alice Wetterlund and Aristotle Athari on Friday, October 3, at 7:00 p.m.

Preacher Lawson is best known for his appearance as a finalist on season 12 of NBC’s hit series America’s Got Talent. Based on his stellar performance in season 12, Lawson was invited to compete on America’s Got Talent: The Champions in 2019 and Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions, where he advanced to the finale after receiving the most fan votes. Lawson’s first stand-up special, Get to Know Me, premiered on BET+ in 2019. In television, Lawson can be seen on HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show and as a series regular on NBC’s Connecting. He also hosted the Facebook Watch series World’s Most Amazing Dogs with George Lopez and Lisa Vanderpump and has built a massive following on TikTok of 3.2 million followers. Lawson recently completed his residency hosting AGT Live in Las Vegas and continues to perform at sold-out venues across the country. 

Alice Wetterlund is a stand-up comedian and actor. In addition to her stand-up appearances on Conan, Adam Divine’s House Party, and Viceland, Wetterlund is well-known for starring television roles like Carla Walton in seasons two and three of HBO’s Silicon Valley, Kelly Grady on TBS’s People of Earth, and as Darcy in the SYFY/Netflix critically-acclaimed series Resident Alien. Her first full-length special My Mama is a Human and So Am I is now streaming on Amazon. 

Aristole Athari is a comedian, actor, writer, and director. He was named one of Just for Laugh’s New Faces in 2021 and appeared on the 47^th season of Saturday Night Live. Athari has directed and appeared in stand-up specials on Comedy Central, Showtime, and NBC, as well as served as director for all of Will Smith’s Snapchat series, Will From Home. He can be seen as Gabe in the final season of HBO’s Silicon Valley, has a recurring role in season 3 of HBO’s Hacks, and starring roles in recent films Molli and Max in the Future and The French Italian. 

Outback Presents Michael Blaustein: The Taste Me Tour at the Buffalo State Performing Arts Center for two shows due to popular demand. Blaustein, one of today’s fastest rising stand-up comics, takes the stage on Wednesday, October 22 at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, October 23 at 7:30 p.m. Blaustein’s viral stand-up clips have amassed more than 900 million views across social media platforms. He has sold out venues across the world, most recently closing out his successful 2024 tour year with more than 72,000 tickets sold. When he’s not on the road, Blaustein is co-hosting the chart-topping hit comedy podcast Stiff Socks with Trevor Wallace, which has more than 70 million downloads. 

On Saturday, November 22 at 7:00 p.m., Outback Presents Charlie Berens: The Lost and Found Tour. Comedian, New York Times best-selling author, and Emmy-winning journalist, Berens is the creator of viral sensation, The Manitowoc Minute, a comedic show about the Midwest which launched him into notoriety in 2017. His Midwest-inspired sketch comedy videos reach a worldwide social media audience of more than 10 million, which led to his New York Times best-seller The Midwest Survival Guide being optioned for television development and three sold-out nationwide stand-up comedy tours. Berens also hosts the Cripescast podcast and co-hosts the Bellied Up podcast with “Myles The You Betcha Guy.” In 2020, Berens paired up with Horseshoes & Hand Grenades alum Adam Greuel to release the music/comedy album, Unthawed. The album—a mixture of bluegrass, country, and Berens’ comedy—hit #1 on the Billboard Bluegrass chart and #6 on the Bluegrass Comedy chart. The duo followed it up with 2023’s Dive Bar Dinner, which also charted on the Billboard Charts. 

Finally, on Saturday, December 13 at 8:00 p.m., the PAC presents iconic comedic actress Ana Gasteyer for her Sugar & Booze Holiday Spectacular. Well-known for years of starring roles on Saturday Night Live, Gasteyer’s recent television credits include the critically acclaimed NBC comedy American Auto and Apple TV’s Loot. Gasteyer also wrote, executive produced, and starred in the holiday film parody A Clüsterfünke Christmas for Comedy Central with Rachel Dratch. She is also a highly accomplished singer and songwriter. This holiday tour supports her recent album of holiday favorites, Sugar and Booze, which was released to rave reviews and dubbed by Billboard as “an uproarious homage to Christmas albums of old.” Inspired by the music from Sugar and Booze, Gasteyer produced an eight-episode original series for Audible voiced by herself, Maya Rudolf, Patti LuPone, and Rachel Dratch. Gasteyer has toured the country with her “Happy Jazz” act since 2016; and New York Times’ Stephen Holden has raved about her comedic delivery and “strong singing voice that can stir up a storm.”