May Day is both a distress signal and International Workers’ Day. That may be ironic, but it’s not funny. This year, though, May Day in Milwaukee offers plenty to laugh about.
You could go a full 12 hours Sunday getting your fill of comedy ranging from live radio to improv to live theater to standup. And you could do it all for as little as $15 for the whole day. Do the math.
- At 8:30 a.m., Wisconsin Hybrid Theater presents another of its monthly original radio comedies, this one with the familiar title, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” on WMSE Radio (91.7 FM). Radio WHT will be part of WMSE’s pledge drive Sunday, but the show is free. (Actually, they need pledge drives because of the shows they give away, but you get that.)
- At 2 p.m., 3 p.m., and 4 p.m., the ComedySportz Recreational League is open to the public for exhibitions of short-form improv. That’s at 420 S. 1st St. And also free.
- At 4 p.m., “Natalie Ryan and the Brain Thieves,” an original sci-fi comedy written by Milwaukee’s Vince Figueroa and Beth Lewinski, will conclude its first weekend of production. Tickets are $15 online or in person at the Alchemist Theatre, 2569 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
And don’t forget what follows May Day: May Night! That’s what. - At 7 p.m., Kick Me Comedy hosts its every-Sunday open mic standup, at Rounding Third, 6317 W. Bluemound Road, in Brookfield. That’s free.
- And finally, at 8 p.m., Martin Lawrence is at the Riverside Theater downtown. Tickets are $42, $52 and $72. In fact, Lawrence’s “Doin’ Time” comedy tour is in such demand that the folks down by the Riverside are adding a second performance, at the same prices: 8 p.m., Monday, May 2. But then it won’t be May Day anymore.