To kick off our 29th season of Patten Performances, the UTC Fine Arts Center welcomes the incomparable Mark Russell to Chattanooga . They don’t get any funnier. He works live, fresh and topical, performing stand-up comedy while accompanying himself on the piano. Whenever he is down in the dumps, he opens the newspaper and immediately cheers up.  “Some days,” he says, ‘the jokes jump off the pages.”

Russell has honed his craft over years in the bars of Washington , DC , and on Public Television where The Mark Russell Comedy Specials consistently were among the top-rated shows on that network. TV GUIDE has called Russell “The funniest man on television”, but he disagrees. “No, the funniest guys are on C-SPAN”. His syndicated column is enjoyed all over America , as are his CDs, tapes and videos. He has also been a weekly commentator on CNN’s Inside Politics Weekend.

When asked if he has any writers, he replies “Oh, yes...I have 535. One hundred in the Senate and 435 in the House of Representatives.” Join us for this special evening as Mark and his “writers” bring some laughs to this election year.

ticket information

adults - $30
seniors (age 60 and over) - $25
students - $15