MICHAEL JOHN CISZEWSKI: IF MEMORY SERVES to Play Boston & NYC This Month Ahead of Edinburgh Fringe

Fresh off a successful run of hit touring comedy LOVEFOOL at the New York City Fringe, queer comedian Michael John Ciszewski returns to Boston and New York City this June with brand new solo show IF MEMORY SERVES to celebrate Pride Month ahead of a full run at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, presented by Just the Tonic, one of the UK's leading comedy presenters.

Heralded as “absolute gay nonsense” and “hilarious and brutally honest,” IF MEMORY SERVES is the fourth solo hour from “a one-of-a-kind storyteller” that’s earned raves from critics and audiences with “its unmatched blend of pop culture, pathos, and silly queer-assery!” 

Audiences join Michael John as he tries to remember everything he wishes he could forget—from transformative pop culture and hookups with radical leftists to queer villainy and accidental car theft. Make new memories on the scorched earth of a gay youth quite literally WASTED in this hilarious and searingly honest hour of comedy JAM-PACKED with LAUGHS about anxiety, identity, relationships, and the inscrutable conundrum of existence!

The New England Regional Premiere will take place on Wednesday, June 12 at 8pm at Watertown's Mosesian Center for the Arts, followed by a performance at Manhattan's The PIT on Friday, June 14 at 8:30pm. Ciszewski has previously packed raucous, rapt houses in comedy venues and theaters across New York City, where he regularly performs. Additionally, his solo work has toured comedy clubs, theatres, and festivals in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence, Provincetown, Fort Lauderdale, and Jersey City.

“Hi, my name is Michael John and I’m an alcoholic... gay comedian. IF MEMORY SERVES, my fourth solo hour, invites audiences on my wild journey from first drink to last, and into a life in recovery—with stupid stand-up, sparkly storytelling, and sickening existential riddle,” says Michael John. “IF MEMORY SERVES shines shimmering light of some of the darkest nights of the soul—and ones I may not even quite remember. It argues for transparency around addiction and creates a safe space to laugh at how miserably human beings f*ck up as we get to know ourselves and each other. WHAT COULD BE FUNNIER?!"

"I am drunk—with excitement!—to return with the show to the Boston area, where I lived and worked in the creative community for ten years, and to share it with audiences in New York. I am so proud to bring this irreverent, silly new hour to my communities here before it serves as my Edinburgh Fringe debut in August with a full run with Just the Tonic, one of the UK’s leading comedy presenters!”

Performance Information

BOSTON: Mosesian Center for the Arts • June 12, 2024 • Buy Tickets

NEW YORK CITY: The PIT • June 14, 2024 • Buy Tickets

EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL: Just the Tonic • August 1-24, 2024 • Buy Tickets

Critics and Audiences Say

"A heartfelt, thoughtful, reflective, hilarious hour of comedy. Sobriety and addiction are not easy topics to turn into comedy gold, but Cisezwski delivers vulnerability and authenticity along with absolute gay nonsense."

“Queer required viewing!”

"Michael John commands the stage! Hilarious, authentic, powerful!"

“Bound to be the best night of your week… funny, poignant, deeply loving; something you’ll remember for a long long time.”

“Really special… catch it or wallow in regret!”

About the Company

Michael John Ciszewski (he/him) (Creator/Performer) is a queer comedian and actor born, raised, and returned to New York City after launching his career in Boston and London. 

Ciszewski’s solo work, cited as “queer required viewing” by NYC comedy duo BAPHTA, is rooted in queerness and healing and gleefully journeys across genres from stand-up and storytelling to collective ritual. His debut Everyone is Dying and So Am I premiered in July 2019 and has since enjoyed sold-out performances with Boston’s Open Theatre Project and Manhattan's Theatre Row and United Solo Theatre Festival—spotlighting the best in international solo performance. It was subsequently nominated for the festival’s audience award. His second effort The Sun is Sleeping, a full-length film composed at the start of the pandemic era, was screened in virtual theatrical events from late 2020 into 2021 and is now available to stream online. His hit third solo show Lovefool premiered in 2022 and has since played to over 1200 people in venues ranging from proscenium and black box theatres to comedy clubs and festival stages in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Providence, Provincetown, Jersey City, and beyond. In the meantime, Ciszewski has launched his fourth solo show If Memory Serves—an hour of stand-up comedy on sobriety, sex, and profound stupidity that critics say “delivers vulnerability and authenticity along with absolute gay nonsense.”

Michael is a member of the staff of ArtsEmerson at Emerson College’s Office of the Arts. He trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and is a proud graduate of Boston University’s B.F.A. Theatre Arts program.

Brian Dudley (he/him) (Producer) is a creative educator and theatre artist, specializing in student success, youth development, and theatre education. 

In addition to his work as an academic and student success advisor at The New School and Boston University College of Fine Arts, Brian has directed, taught, or facilitated programs with the Boston University Summer Theatre Institute, where he also served as co-program head, Arlington Children’s Theatre, the Massachusetts Youth Leadership Foundation, the Lyric Stage Company of Boston, and others. 

Brian holds an M.Ed in Arts, Community, and Education with a specialization in Theatre Studies from Lesley University, and a B.F.A in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College. 

Noah Simes (he/him) (Director) is a director, performer, and theatrical polymath from Boston, now based in New York City. Noah has collaborated with a number of Boston-based institutions and artists, but is maybe best known as the homme fatale Peter Nureyev in the hit queer sci-fi audio drama The Penumbra Podcast.

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