Tammy Pescatelli Performs Standup at Pittsburgh Improv; Roxian Theatre Hosts Lettuce (Thurs., 1/30/19)

Tammy Pescatelli

1) Comedian Tammy Pescatelli  brings her special brand of hilarity to Pittsburgh Improv for a three-night stand. Her star rose quickly when she made it to the final five on the NBC TV show “Last Comic Standing 2.” Pescatelli has been a coveted guest on many other shows, including “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” BRAVO TV’s “Rocco’s Dinner Party,” and CBS’s “The Talk.” Comedy Central’s 2010 “Stand-Up Showdown” crowned Pescatelli the competition’s winner, and she’s also had her own comedy special on that network. Pescatelli grew up in a large Italian family 133 miles northwest of Pittsburgh (Cleveland), and both provide her with great material. (We Pittsburghers also know how to laugh at ourselves.) She has a house in Meadville, Pa., and had a reality TV show on We TV, “A Stand Up Mother,” which was set in Meadville and focused on her life as a mother and as a stand-up comedian. Her latest special, “Tammy Pescatelli’s After School Special,” was filmed in early 2018, it was a follow up to Pescatelli’s award winning one hour Netflix special, “Finding the Funny.” Head on over to the Improv, have a few cold ones, and enjoy some great comedy. 8 p.m. Performances continue through Saturday. 166 E. Bridge St., The Waterfront, Homestead.

2) Lettuce, a funk band from Boston active since 1992, were one of the older acts at Thrival Music Festival 2016 at Carrie Furnace. But the group’s songs, mostly tight instrumentals, won over the kids—the hipsterish crowd was soon grooving like a sea of veteran funkateers. Lettuce returns to Pittsburgh, this time at the Roxian Theatre.. The band toured to places as far as Tokyo before releasing its first studio album, 2002’s Outta Here. Its 2017 LP Witches Stew was recorded live at the Catskill Chill Music Festival in Lakewood, Pennsylvania in 2016. It pays homage to Miles Davis’s 1970 jazz-fusion masterpiece, Bitches Brew, and it even covers some songs from that record. No surprise that the musicians from Lettuce would tackle such a project: all are accomplished musicians with many having studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Their latest album, Elevate, dropped in June. 8 p.m. 425 Chartiers Ave., McKees Rocks.  (CM)

Lettuce in an extended funk jam at Thrival Music Festival in 2016. (photo: Rick Handler)

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