Nationally touring comedian Sam Miller to perform at Stone City Event Center on Friday

Four years after finding his big break as a stand-up comedian, area resident Sam Miller will return to Thurston County to headline a 7:30 p.m. comedy show on Friday, Aug. 1, at the Stone City Event Center.

Miller grew up in Spanaway and moved to Lacey when he was 12. He attended Timberline High School and currently resides in Tumwater. He said he’s thrilled for the opportunity to take the stage and perform so close to home this Friday.

“I’m looking forward to it. It should be a good show. I’ve been doing standup for 11 years, and it’s been my fulltime job for four years now. A lot of my comedy deals with my checkered past. I’ve been clean and sober for 17 years now, but I used to get in a lot of trouble. I tell a lot of jokes about how I used to get in trouble. I also tell a lot of jokes about how much I love big women,” Miller said. “Tumwater is only 15 minutes away from Tenino. I like the challenge of performing that close to home. I’ll have a lot of fans there who are familiar with my comedy, and it challenges me to do a lot of new jokes. It’s a nice challenge. I got some new stuff, and I’m actually bringing back some old classics that people haven’t heard in a while.”

Miller began his career as a comedian in 2014 while he was in recovery. He was hesitant to pursue the field initially, but after some encouragement from people he was recovering with, Miller eventually took the microphone for the first time and hasn’t looked back since.

“At first, I was like, ‘I’m a dish washer, and I have a good thing going.’ One day I tried it, and there’s been no going back,” Miller said. “I’ve toured most of the country now, and I’ve had a lot of success on social media. With modern day comedy, a lot of your success can be determined if you can get your Instagram and Facebook going.”

The comedian has traveled all over America making people laugh, which he described as the perfect job. He found his first big break in the industry four years ago at the world famous Laugh Factory in Chicago, Illinois.
Miller was supposed to be a feature in Chicago for a “pretty well known headliner;” however, for whatever reason, the headliner wasn’t able to make his set. In response, the Laugh Factory asked Miller if he’d do an additional 10 minutes on his set, giving him a total of 20 minutes on the mic.

“It was pretty funny. While I was on stage, I guess there were some issues in the kitchen and they couldn’t get the food fast enough,” Miller said. “About 15 minutes into what was supposed to be a 20-minute set, I looked down and saw a waitress with a sign that said ‘do 30 minutes please.’ I was able to adjust my set and do 30 minutes. What’s funny is I actually got ‘do 30 minutes please’ tattooed on my left shoulder.”

Following a successful 30-minute standup set, Miller was invited back to the Laugh Factory and did a full week of shows, performing two shows a night and three shows on Friday and Saturday evening.

Thinking like an entrepreneur, the comedian brought 150 pounds of merchandise to sell to fans and sold every single T-shirt.

“I was more than able to make ends meet,” he said.

Miller added that his comedy is inspired by comedians like Kyle Kinane, Mitch Hedberg and Maria Bamford, and locally, Gabriel Rutledge and Nate Jackson. Jackson, like Miller, grew up in Lacey.

“I appreciate the area a lot,” Miller said. “I spent a decent amount of time in Yelm, but unfortunately it was when I was up to no good. I used to hang around Four Corners and in the Nisqually Valley, in general. I grew up on Yelm Highway, it was on the Lacey side. but I grew up on Ruddell and Yelm Highway.”

General admission tickets to the Tenino show are $50. Learn more and buy tickets at https://supper-sam-aug1st.tripleseattickets.com/registration/select.