Lizz Winstead

2023 and Me: Breaking Down The Year in DNA-Holes

with special guests Sam Breckenridge & Ben Abrahamson

Information | Tickets for December 30 | Tickets for December 31

You must be 13 or older to submit any information to Minnesota Public Radio. The personally identifying information you provide will not be sold, shared, or used for purposes other than to communicate with you about things like our programs, products and services. See Terms of Use and Privacy.

About this Event

FOR A RIGHTEOUS TAKEDOWN OF 2023 AND ME: A CELEBRATION OF HER 40 YEARS IN DOING STAND-UP! 

Comedian, media visionary, and co-creator of The Daily Show Lizz Winstead looks back on another year of American zaniness. 2023andMe: Breaking Down The Year in DNA-Holes is a hysterical look back at the past year, eviscerating all the big news of 2023.

And in celebration of the Twin CIties native's 40th anniversary in comedy (getting her start on a dare at an open mic night on December 18, 1983!), the performance will include hilarious anecdotes and videos highlighting some remarkable moments in an amazing career. Lizz has impacted the national comedy and cultural landscape in ways most performers only dream of.

Come pay tribute to a comedy icon!  Kicking off the night is an opening music set by acclaimed guitarists Sam Breckenridge and Ben Abrahamson.

Lizz Winstead

As co-creator and former head writer of The Daily Show, and co-founder of Air America Radio, comedian Lizz Winstead helped change the very landscape of how people get their news. Winstead is not only a writer and creator, she was also a correspondent on The Daily Show and co-hosted Unfiltered, Air America Radio's mid-morning show, with Chuck D and Rachel Maddow.

Known as one of the top political satirists in America, Winstead is recognized by all the major media outlets including the New York Times, The Washington Post, O Magazine, and as Entertainment Weekly’s 100 Most Creative People. Her first book, Lizz Free Or Die: Essays, released in 2012, garnered incredible reviews. Ms. Magazine said, “Lizz Winstead is a sharp-witted truth-teller, and ‘Lizz Free or Die’ will inspire anyone who has ever talked back to the television or wished they could come up with satire as insightful as The Daily Show.”

Lizz continues to do stand-up, and make appearances on cable news, yet spends most of her time helming Abortion Access Front, an inclusive NYC- based reproductive rights organization she founded in 2015. AAF uses humor and outrage to expose anti-choice hypocrisy and mobilizes people to take action in all 50 states. The AAF podcast, Feminist Buzzkills Live!, is the perfect next step for Lizz combining her activism with her comedy. It is a must listen, new episodes drip Fridays wherever you get your podcasts.

Sam Breckenridge and Ben Abrahamson

Sam Breckenridge is an accomplished Twin Cities finger-style acoustic guitarist and composer. With over 16 years of live stage experience as a Twin Cities musician, he brings an innovative and soulful style that has earned him performances at Minnesota's Guitar Concert Series at Sundin Hall, features in the "Minnesota Guitarist" Magazine, two videos featured on City Pages "Top 10 Must See Music Videos," two releases on the world-renowned Candyrat Records label, and gear endorsements with K&K Pickups and Tim Reede Custom Guitars. Sam is enjoying the successful releases of his 2014 album "The Unknown," and his 2016 follow-up EP "Looking Back." Sam’s brand new album “Into the Dark” will be released this fall.

Ben Abrahamson is a fresh, dynamic voice on the acoustic guitar. His compositions evoke the dexterity of flamenco and the harmonic storytelling of jazz. His passion for flamenco guitar drove him to Taller de Músics School of Music in Barcelona, where he studied under Juan Ramón Caro. He has composed works for the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre, Mac Jazz big band, and Muhlenberg College Theatre and Dance Dept. Ben has shared the stage with mentors like Michael and Tony Hauser, Susana di Palma, La Conja, Chuscales, Billy Steele, Tonia Hughes, Pedro Cortes Jr., Joan Griffith, and Gary Lee Joyner. In 2019, he recorded his latest record, "Neolithic".