THE ESSENTIAL A&E PICKS FOR FEB 27 - MAR 5 

• Live Nation

Josh Johnson
Comedian Josh Johnson's 2024 provided an amazing example of how many nights go into becoming an "overnight success." After a decade as a standup comedian and writer—which included a stint on the staff for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon—Johnson became a much more familiar face when he stepped in front of the camera as a correspondent for Comedy Central's long-running The Daily Show, seven years into his tenure as a writer for that show.

Yet it's likely his online presence that allowed him to move from a comedy-club stalwart to a theater-filling headliner. Taking advantage of the need for quick thinking he learned writing topical humor for The Tonight Show and The Daily Show, Johnson started dropping all-new hour-long comedy sets every week, allowing him to hit zeitgeist topics like the presidential debate, the TikTok ban, Luigi Mangione, the Kendrick/Drake feud and much more. But it's more than just being timely that has given Johnson such a massive fan base; it's the recognition that he can mix killer punchlines with a thoughtfulness that makes it clear he wants his audience to understand why certain things have blown up in the cultural consciousness, and what those things mean to us. It's almost unfair to be one of the funniest comics in the world, and the most prolific, and the smartest.

Josh Johnson brings his "Flowers" tour to The Depot (13 N. 400 West) on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7 and 10 p.m. Tickets are sold out at press time, but wait-list options may be available at joshjohnsoncomedy.com. Visit depotslc.com for additional event information. (Scott Renshaw)

• Courtesy Photo

Hubbard Street Dance
Dance is not some effete, elitist art form—and that's a principle that has driven Chicago-based Hubbard Street Dance for decades. Their mission statement includes a goal of "envisioning a dance landscape that is relevant and accessible to all," and since the company's founding in 1977, they have put that notion into practice through initiatives including providing education programs for classrooms around the greater Chicagoland area, using the choreographic process to teach problem-solving and collaboration.

As a performing entity both in Chicago and around the world, with a 50-year history that includes collaborations with some of the greatest choreographers of the moment, they're just as committed to bringing dance to audiences. Their current performance repertoire includes a taste of that history: Echoes of Our Ancestors by Maria Torres; Show Pony by Kyle Abraham; Prelude to a Kiss by Lar Lubovitch; and A Duo and return to patience by Aszure Barton. As the New York Times put it, "Hubbard Street Dance ought to bottle itself as a cure for the ills of the era."

Hubbard Street Dance wraps up its three-stop visit to Utah—after a Feb. 24 performance in Orem—with two more nights of amazing dance. On Thursday, Feb. 27, Hubbard Street stops at Kingsbury Hall (1395 E. Presidents Circle) for a 7:30 p.m. performance; tickets are $10 - $60. And on Monday, March 3, they stop at the Ellen Eccles Theater in Logan (43 S. Main St.) at 7:30 p.m.; tickets are $36 - $55. Visit hubbardstreetdance.com for additional information. (SR)

• Live Nation

Mad King Productions: Proof
If you've followed the history of Salt Lake City's Mad King Productions in recent years, you'd certainly get a sense for them as focused on irreverence. After all, their productions have included their crowd-favorite "Drunken Shakespeare" (in which audience members vote on cast members to drink throughout the show) and "Spicy Shakespeare" (with intimacy coordinator-managed versions of classic Shakespeare scenes with a sexier twist). Even their first full show production was Heathers: The Musical, which brought tunes to the savagely satirical classic teen comedy movie.

That doesn't mean, however, that the talented artists at Mad King can't play it straight—a notion they're ready to prove with their first full-length dramatic play production, of David Auburn's 2000 Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning Proof. It's the story of a woman named Catherine who spent several years caring for her father, a celebrated but unstable mathematician. In the wake of Catherine's father's death, his notebooks and possible breakthrough proofs become an object of interest for one of his former students, Hal. As Catherine wrestles with the facts of her father's academic legacy, she also struggles with trying to understand how much of his mind she has inherited—both as a student of mathematics herself, and as someone wondering whether she faces the same fate of mental illness.

Mad King Productions' Proof comes to the company's new theater space at The Gateway (167 S. Rio Grande St.) Feb. 28 – March 16, with performances Friday – Sunday at 7:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Sunday matinees. Tickets are $20; visit madkingproductionslc.com to purchase tickets and for additional information. (SR)