Live Comedy Show This Week Sucks Tonight Is L.A. Bound

If you know one thing about Anwar Newton, it’s that he invented the holiday Ja Rule Day this week five years ago. People are still celebrating his tribute to the rapper and actor.

You should know something else about the comedian: Newton and Michael Turner, his cohost of the pair’s live comedy show This Week Sucks Tonight that has the pair skewering daily news and current events, are moving their hilarious gig to Los Angeles, starting in 2020.

You better hit Stand Up Live this Thursday, December 12, to catch their last show.

Newton won’t be making a full-time move to California, just traveling for business, but Turner is going all in. He’s packing it all up for new west coast digs.

Stop weeping and just be happy for them — they’re not totally abandoning the Valley. The show will be a monthly event at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles, but they plan to honor Phoenix with special-event versions. The duo’s local fans are essential to them.

“People who like us here are insane people who’d jump in front of a car for us, and we love them,” says Newton. “They make us things, like merch, that features our logo.”

Rightfully so — so the duo just want the opportunity to give people in other locales the chance to become such devoted fans. They previously have taken the show to Los Angeles and New York City . Some of that dedicated fan base actually showed up in The Big Apple for a show.


“It was a crazy feeling to see that kind of support, especially in a city that can have audiences that are tough to win over," says Newton.

The show’s been going for six years, and that has helped reinforce this being the right time to make a move — their comedic union is solid. “Mike is really great with punchlines, and I’m great with production and presentation,” says Newton. “Combined, we just put it all out there.”

Not only do they hope they’ll grow a big audience out there, but the two are also open to anything that happens both collectively and respectively. With the show, Newton says they “hope we might find a digital landscape that wants what we have to offer.”

They’ll both still be rocking their stand-up acts, and Turner is interested in seeing what comedy-writing options might be open to his skills.

And they’re approaching it all with patience, which isn’t easy in a world where attention spans past five minutes seem archaic.

“We’re trying to live in the moment,” Newton says. “If you’re always chasing the dragon, you won’t get anywhere at all."

This Week Sucks Tonight is scheduled for 10 p.m. on Thursday, December 12, at Stand Up Live. Tickets are $5 via their site.