Do you wake up at midnight to do Wordle on the daily? Does each new NY Times Crossword feel like your birthday has arrived? Well then, seems like you need a new word-loving fix. Starting July 14th, THE CROSSWORD SHOW WITH ZACH SHERWIN sweeps across the East Coast, with stops in familiar cities like Boston and New York, as well as first-time markets around New England and in Arlington, VA. Zach Sherwin, the Los Angeles-based comedian and writer, known for his work on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Epic Rap Battles of History, is excited to return to East Coast stages for the first time since a sold-out run in March 2020. Fresh off a batch of packed shows in Austin, TX at the Moontower JFL Comedy Festival, The Crossword Show will be offering brand-new puzzles, amazing guest solvers, and a delightful array of comedy, music, wordplay, and trivia.
Zach collaborates with a different New York Times-published crossword maker to create each puzzle, and then escorts a panel of guest comedians (or musicians, actors, academics, radio personalities, and even local politicians) through the process of solving it. The clues work similar to ones in a regular crossword puzzle, but they’re also rhyming rap lyrics: there’s an Across Clues rap and a Down Clues rap over the course of each show. As the solvers progress through the puzzle, Zach performs material – comedy, music, trivia quizzes, deep dives, etc. – unlocked by the various answer words. These words and themes begin to connect in A Beautiful Mind fashion, and the grand finale is one last musical number that incorporates all of the answer words from the solved puzzle and ties everything together. Of course, there’s tons of riffing and banter with the panelists. Zero crossword expertise is required to be amazed and entertained by this unique and joyful experience! Show dates are listed below, complete with current, fresh-off-the-presses celeb guest solvers!
JULY 14 – 3S Artspace | Portsmouth, NH | TICKETS (Joana Kelly & Will Smalley)
JULY 15 – Frontier Theater | Brunswick, ME | TICKETS
JULY 16 – WBUR CitySpace | Boston, MA | TICKETS (Bethany Van Delft & Josh Gondelman)
JULY 18 – Shea Theater | Turners Falls, MA | TICKETS
JULY 19 – Caveat | New York, NY | TICKETS (Aparna Nancherla & Mehran Khaghani)
JULY 20 – Caveat | New York, NY | TICKETS (Hari Kondabolu & Mia Jackson)
JULY 21 – Arlington Drafthouse | Arlington, VA | TICKETS
Don’t miss this chance to see one or all of these word-happy events!
Mentions: New York dates: July 19th & July 20th, Doors 6:30pm, show 7pm. Location: Caveat, 21a Clinton Street, NY, NY. Rest of show info above. The Crossword Show is co-produced by Zach Sherwin and Blonde Medicine, a Bay Area based record label and production company run by Dominic Del Bene and Jessica Mozes. Follow Zach. More about the show HERE.