Stand-up comedian Jo Koy is coming to Syracuse

Famous comedian Jo Koy is making his way to the Salt City. The stand-up comic’s “Just Being Koy Tour” is stopping at the Oncenter Crouse Hinds Theater on Sunday night.

Koy is one of the most prominent touring comedians you’ll find right now, and his resume is tough to beat. Since 2017, he has recorded five different stand-up specials for Netflix. Koy’s latest special, Live from Brooklyn, was a big hit, earning over 240 million minutes-watched in just five months of its 2024 release, according to Luminate streaming viewership data.

That same year, Koy was tapped to host the 81st Golden Globes, an awards show that drew almost 10 million viewers.

Koy’s comedic style can be described as exasperated storytelling. He’s full of energy as he converses with the audience and moves passionately across the stage. His tone is often incredulous, making it feel like he’s venting just as much as he’s telling jokes. However, even at his peak frustration level, you find yourself laughing and siding with his quirky societal opinions.

Koy’s endearing quality partially stems from a feeling that you know him well. It doesn’t take hours watching his extensive catalog to learn a lot about his life story. Koy’s parents divorced when he was young, and he was mostly raised by his Filipina mother. His childhood is the source of many of his stories. He’s become well-known for the impression he does of his mom, who’s often a featured character in these tales. Koy portrays his mother as strict, frugal and a foil to all the desires of his childhood self. Despite the fun that Koy regularly pokes at his mom, he makes his appreciation for her clear, and she has even appeared in the audience for some of his specials.

The Washington-native frequently takes the opportunity to embrace his Filipino roots. In 2020, Koy filmed a unique Netflix special, “Jo Koy: In His Elements,” in Manila. Koy performed alongside other Filipino-American comedians, DJs and dancers.

“This is my bucket list moment right here,” Koy said in the special. “I brought Netflix to the Philippines, man. Are you kidding me?!?”

Koy’s most recent performance in the Philippines was this past June, in Pasay.

Another common topic of his stand-up bits is parenthood. Koy has a 22-year-old son named Joseph, and in many of his specials, Koy jokes about the challenges of raising a teenage boy. He uses Joseph as a way to make fun of generational differences.

“They complain, you can’t yell at them. They say something, you’ll get in trouble,” Koy exclaimed in his 2019 special, Jo Koy: Comin’ in Hot. “The only language my mom spoke was yell.”

Koy’s broad appeal is evident in the widespread success of his tours. In 2025 alone, he has performed in 17 U.S. states and nine countries for a total of over 60 shows. In previous years, he’s sold out the Kia Forum (17,000+ capacity), the Tacoma Dome (22,000+) and the iconic Madison Square Garden (19,500+). On an even larger scale, next March, Koy is teaming up with fellow comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias to perform at the 70,000-capacity Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles.

However, in recent weeks, one foreign venue was the source of backlash against Koy. He was one of many star comedians, including Kevin Hart, Bill Burr and Pete Davidson, to perform at the controversial Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia. Other comedians like Marc Maron, Zach Woods and Shane Gillis, along with activist groups like the organization Human Rights Watch, criticized the participants for their involvement in the event.

“The Saudi government is using the Riyadh Comedy Festival 2025 from September 26 to October 9 to deflect attention from its brutal repression of free speech and other pervasive human rights violations,” Human Rights Watch said in a press release.

Koy has not spoken publicly about his participation in the festival.

Since his return to the U.S., Koy has performed twice in Virginia, and he’ll be in Rhode Island on Saturday before traveling to Syracuse for his Sunday show.

The Oncenter Crouse Hinds Theater will open its doors at 6:30, and the show is scheduled to begin at 7:30. Prices on Ticketmaster list the standard admission cost for mezzanine and balcony as $50.45 before fees.