Bill Burr attracted more than 35,000 to Fenway Park’s first-ever comedy show in 2022. In June, he’ll introduce comedy to another New England venue for the first time at Centreville Bank Stadium.
On June 12, world-famous comedian Bill Burr will highlight his 2026 tour with his one and only stop in New England, taking his talents to headline Centreville Bank Stadium’s first-ever comedy show. The historic night for Pawtucket will be an eventful homecoming for Burr, who grew up just 30 minutes down the road in Canton, Massachusetts and has risen to national stardom over his two-decade career in acting and comedy.
– FIVE THINGS TO KNOW | BILL BURR –
June will not be the first time the Grammy-nominated comedian has attracted an audience back to his home region, however. In past years, Burr has attracted massive crowds wherever he goes, performing in front of his largest audience right across the Rhode Island/Massachusetts state line.
In August 2022, Burr headlined the first-ever comedy show at another New England venue: the world-famous Fenway Park. There, more than 35,000 people packed the stands in what was the largest audience of Burr’s decorated comedy career, cheering him on as he debuted an all-new slate of comedy material that became an instant hit. The performance was Burr’s first time performing in a Major League Baseball ballpark, representing an unusual, more open departure from his normal style of show that he later went on to describe as “F—ing nuts.”
Ahead of the 2022 show, the diehard Boston sports fan spoke live on the Jimmy Kimmel show as he prepared himself for the experience of a lifetime. Burr got the first taste of the crowd at Fenway when he threw out the first pitch on April 22, 2022, ahead of the Red Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays series. Even the simple act of throwing a baseball, Burr said, came with immense pressure. So much so, in fact, that he did not really understand where it came from.
“The level of stress [was surprising],” Burr said. “People were like, ‘Whatever you do, don’t bounce the ball.’ Or else what? I don’t get my MLB contract? I’m a bald 53-year-old comedian!”
“I went up there and just did it,” said Burr. “I did not stand up there long enough to think about it.”
Burr approached his record-breaking Boston show with the same mentality.
“I am trying to block that out, how insane that is going to be,” Burr told Kimmel ahead of the show. “I have a gig in Boston in August…I am just gonna tell my jokes, and hopefully it will be alright.”
Reflecting on the experience in an April 2023 interview with Sirius XM, Burr described his state of awe in the pure amount of fans that had come out to see his show. Among the 35,000 hometown fans were many of Burr’s high school friends, who he still stays in contact with.
In Burr’s eyes, there was no performance in the world he could deliver to justify the massive turnout.
The capacity crowd, who vigorously cheered him for nearly two hours, disagreed.
“Fenway was a dream,” said Burr during the interview. “It was unreal…It was not something I will ever be able to process. It was f—ing nuts, dude. [There were people filling] the whole field, and then into the stands, and it went up and it just kept f—ing going.”
Burr, who was initially taken aback by the overwhelming show of support, said it took him 20 minutes to find his groove. Throughout the performance, he did not hide his awe. It is something his fans appreciate about his style of comedy – his open, candid and blunt nature often leads to his feelings translating directly into his set. At Fenway, that was no different, and his live reaction to the crowd told the whole story.
“It’s f—ing insane that I’m here,” said Burr when he first saw the crowd live.
In June, Burr will do it all again, introducing comedy to another state-of-the-art new venue. Similar to that famous 2022 tour, June 12 will be the comedian’s only stop in New England, and Centreville Bank Stadium’s first-ever non-sporting event promises to be a homecoming Rhode Islanders will not want to miss.
General tickets and club seats to the historic show are available now and selling fast! For more information, visit the Centreville Bank Stadium website.
