The McAninch Arts Center (MAC) welcomes Paul Reiser for an evening of stand-up 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17. Voted by Comedy Central as one of the Top 100 Comedians of All Time, Reiser regularly performs sold-out standups at venues nationwide and over the course of his career, has received multiple Emmys, Golden Globes, American Comedy Awards, and Screen Actors Guild nominations. “Reiser has always had his finger on the pulse of what’s really bugging us,” says Boston’s The Arts Fuse and Twisted Magazine says, “…it’s his stand-up, that genuine art of relatable reflection and laughter, which nestles into our hearts with an unmistakable charm. A veritable maestro of the microphone, Reiser’s comedic genius is a blend of observation, sincerity, and a pinch of that self-mockery we foully adore.”
Reiser is well known for his roles in two hit shows for Netflix: “Stranger Things” since 2017 (final season begins this November) and Chuck Lorre’s “The Kominsky Method” (2012-2019), for which he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor. Yet many know him best for his role as Paul in “Mad About You,” the long-running Emmy, Peabody, and Golden Globe-winning comedy Reiser created and starred in with Helen Hunt (1992-1999). In 2019, the series was revived as a 12-episode limited series, with Reiser and Hunt reprising their roles.
Throughout his career, Reiser has worked with both independent and mainstream filmmakers. Having earned acclaim for his supporting role in the Academy Award-winning film “Whiplash” (2014) Reiser was also seen in frequent collaborator Jeff Baena’s “The Little Hours and Horse Girl,” which premiered at Sundance 2020, the fourth film the pair has worked on together. The veteran actor has garnered praise for notable performances in films such as “Diner” (1982), “Bye Bye Love” (1992), “One Night at McCool’s” (2001), and “The Thing About My Folks” (2005), which Reiser wrote for his co-star Peter Falk.
Reiser is a fixture behind the camera as well. He co-created and produced the seven-episode series “There’s Johnny” (2017), a fictional story set behind-the-scenes of Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show circa 1972, co-produced with director David Gordon Green. Coming up, Reiser will be working on a new multi-camera series for Fox and has secured Adam F. Goldberg (“The Goldbergs”) to help write the script with him and Reiser’s son, Leon.
As an author, Reiser’s first book, “Couplehood” (1994), sold over 2 million copies and reached the number one spot on The New York Times bestsellers list. His subsequent books, “Babyhood” (2012” and “Familyhood” (2025), were bestsellers as well.
A SUNY Binghamton graduate of its prestigious music program, Reiser co-wrote the theme song for “Mad About You,” “The Final Frontier,” with Grammy-winning producer Don Was, and released an album of original songs with British singer-songwriter Julia Fordham called “Unusual Suspects.”
Tickets
The McAninch Arts Center, located at 425 Fawell Blvd., presents Paul Reiser at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17. Tickets are $70-$80. To order tickets, go to www.AtTheMAC.org, call 630.942.4000 or visit the MAC Box Office. Box Office hours are noon-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and two hours prior to performance.
Please note: This performance may contain adult themes and material
About the MAC
McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage is located 25 miles west of Chicago near I-88 and I-355. It houses three indoor performance spaces (780-seat proscenium Belushi Performance Hall; 186-seat soft-thrust Playhouse Theatre; and a versatile black box Studio Theatre), outdoor Lakeside Pavilion, plus the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and classrooms for the college’s academic programming. The MAC has presented theater, music, dance and visual art to more than 1.5 million people since its opening in 1986 and typically welcomes more than 100,000 patrons from the greater Chicago area to more than 230 performances each season.
The mission of the MAC is to foster enlightened educational and performance opportunities, which encourage artistic expression, establish a lasting relationship between people and art, and enrich the cultural vitality of the community. For more information about the MAC, visit www.AtTheMAC.org or @AtTheMAC on Facebook and Instagram.
Support for the McAninch Arts Center is provided in part by Enjoy Illinois, DuPage County Board, Illinois Arts Council, Ball Horticultural, Wight & Company, Anonymous, The DuPage Foundation, the Les and Mary Wiberg fund of the DuPage Foundation, Arts DuPage, JCS Arts Health & Education Fund, Capstone Financial Advisors Molex, Brookdale Senior Living Glen Ellyn, Frank Modruson & Lynne Shigley, Sullivan Taylor Family Trust, The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Chicago, DoubleTree by Hilton Lisle/Naperville, DuMore DuPage, WDCB 90.9 FM, and College of DuPage Foundation
Established as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization in 1967, the College of DuPage Foundation raises monetary and in-kind gifts to increase access to education and to enhance cultural opportunities for the surrounding community. For more information about the College of DuPage Foundation, visit www.foundation.cod.edu or call 630.942.2462.