International stand-up comedy sensation Myq Kaplan will headline at the Hip to Be Square Comedy Club @ The Square Room on Friday and Saturday, May 19-20. There are shows at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on both days. The Square Room is located at 4 Market Square in Knoxville.
Myq (pronounced Mike) Kaplan has been on the Tonight Show, Conan, The Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Seth Meyers. He hosted a half-hour Comedy Central Presents special and the one-hour special Small, Dork and Handsome on Amazon.
Kaplan has been a finalist on Last Comic Standing and has appeared on America’s Got Talent. His album Vegan Mind Meld was one of iTunes’ top 10 comedy albums of the year, and his newest album A.K.A. debuted at No. 1. The New York Times called it “invigoratingly funny” and included it among the top five “corona virus best new comedy specials.”
Kaplan headlines the show which will also include three of Knoxville’s funniest local standup comedians, Soul, Jojo Casillas and Rowan Young.
Soul has been in entertainment since 2007. After graduating from high school, he joined the U.S. military from which he retired after 20 years, then began his comedy career. He was hand-picked to open for comedians CoCoa Brown, Michael Blackson and Mope Williams & Big J.J. from Wild N’ Out.
Jojo Casillas has hosted for some great comedians such as Damon Wayans, Ali Siddiq, Bryan Callen and Robert Kelly, who is a regular at the Comedy Cellar. Casillas has appeared on the Opie and Anthony show on Sirius XM and was a regular guest on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn.
Rowan Young is a native Knoxvillian who co-founded Tiny Stage Comedy. She was the 2020 Plano Comedy Festival roast champion, and was named Knoxville’s Finest Comedian by Blank magazine in 2021 and 2022. Young has opened for comics like Dusty Slay, Billy Wayne Davis and Shane Torres.
Tickets are $35 at the door on the day of the show or $30 when bought online in advance. There are discounted tickets in advance for military, educators and students who show valid identification at the door. Students must be 18 years or older unless accompanied by a parent. Seating is on a first-come basis.
Dorothy Smith contributed information for this report.