For Bert Kreischer, returning to Ohio for a headlining show at Rocket Arena on October 3 is about as close to coming home as a comedian can get without actually being home. The larger-than-life comedian, storyteller and professional party starter has spent plenty of time in the Buckeye State over the years, and he has developed an affinity for Ohio that goes well beyond simply having another stop on the tour schedule. From throwing out the first pitch for Cleveland’s baseball team to facing some of Cedar Point’s most terrifying roller coasters while filming his television series, Kreischer has accumulated some unique Ohio memories. He even found himself in Yellow Springs for one of the most spectacular natural events of recent years, watching the solar eclipse from Dave Chappelle’s home alongside fellow comedians.
When Kreischer rolls into Cleveland on his Permission To Party World Tour, he’ll be in a state that he has made no secret of loving. That makes his upcoming Cleveland appearance feel less like a comedian checking another city off a tour itinerary and more like a return to familiar territory, complete with plenty of stories waiting to be told.
It has been quite a ride for the comedian who was famously dubbed “The Number One Partier in the Nation” by Rolling Stone. Kreischer has transformed that reputation into a sprawling entertainment empire built around stand-up, podcasts, television, film and live events. His 2024 tour ranked sixth among the highest-grossing comedy tours worldwide despite Kreischer performing for only six months of the year, while his sixth Netflix special, Lucky, sold out six hometown shows in Tampa within 24 hours and went on to land in Netflix’s Top 10 most-watched TV shows following its March 2025 premiere.
Yet, for all the businesses, podcasts, television projects and sold-out arenas, Kreischer remains most comfortable doing what made audiences fall in love with him in the first place: telling stories.
Ahead of his Cleveland appearance, Kreischer spoke with CleveRock about his enduring love for Ohio, his unforgettable experiences at Cedar Point and in Yellow Springs, how his approach to performing in arenas has evolved, and why he is now approaching his next Netflix special with a renewed focus on finding the little moments that make people laugh together.
Kreischer has developed a surprisingly fierce allegiance to the Buckeye State. His affection for Ohio isn’t merely the kind of obligatory hometown praise a comedian might offer while passing through town.
“I have argued that Ohio is the greatest state in the union. It’s my favorite state. There’s no better state in our country than Ohio,” Kreischer said emphatically. “The number of big cities it has, the diversity it has, the topography it has, the weather it has, the people it has, the sports teams it has… There’s nothing better, honestly, and I dare anyone to go head to head with me. The closest you’re going to come is Missouri when it comes to great states, but it’s Ohio, then Missouri. I mean, no one wants to be from Florida. I grew up there. New York’s exhausting. Texas is exhausting. California’s garbage. I’m talking about the best places in the country: Ohio is number one!”
Bert’s current tour promises: “bigger shows, wilder stories, and zero shirts.” Asked what else comedy fans can expect at his Cleveland show:
“I’m trying to peel back gossiping about celebrities because I have a great Shaq story. I have a great Tracy Morgan story. I’m trying to do less of that and just get more into telling stories tighter, faster, and bigger,” Kreischer said. “I think I’ve gotten better at what I do the more I’ve done it, but I don’t think I realized what I did or gave it service the way I have until recently. I kind of just the other day was like, ‘What don’t I like?’ I want to make sure I don’t do anything I don’t like. I realized one of the things I love is when a comic can give you a line or a joke or something to laugh about that you as a family or as a couple laugh about together. I don’t think I’ve ever paid service to that. Like, ‘Oh, that’s one of the things I should focus on.’ In this next special, I’m focusing on that. I’m focusing on better lines. I’m paying attention in my every day to the nuance that makes me laugh, to the little line that makes me laugh. This is all new material that’ll go on my next Netflix special.”
For some comedians, connecting with audiences in an arena is problematic. More people = less personal experience for an audience. For this interviewer, there’s something more special about seeing one of my favorite comics up close and personal in a smaller club like Hilarities or Funny One. Kreischer firmly disagrees. In fact, he says it’s the exact opposite:
“It’s interesting. I find the arenas more intimate… Way more intimate than when I do the clubs,” he claims. “Smaller movements connect with audiences in an arena, whereas larger disconnecting movements connect in clubs. If you’re high energy, you work better in a club than you do in an arena. And if you’re not high energy, if you’re a little more subtle, you work way better in an arena, in my opinion. It’s because everyone’s looking at the screens. In an arena, no one looks at you. They look at the screens. They watch it on the screen. Those screens are very valuable. I have a good friend, I won’t say his name out of respect, but he doesn’t move a lot, but he jiggles on stage. He goes from one foot to the other foot and kind of moves subtly and it was wildly distracting in an arena. You watched it and you were like, ‘Oh, I need him to stop. This is hard to watch.’ I had another friend who I don’t mind saying, Shane Gillis, who doesn’t move at all. All his movements are in his eyes and his hands and in an arena he’s wildly engaging. You watch it and you feel like you’re right there with him because he’s not moving around and distracting you.
When Kreischer stops in Cleveland, HOPEFULLY, Cleveland Guardians will have be playing baseball. Hopefully, it will be a home game. Hopefully, Kreischer’s phone will ring with an invitation to throw out the first pitch prior to strolling a few steps to neighboring Rocket Arena to do his show. (A note to MLB: There has never been a better opportunity for an afternoon game!)
Would he accept an invitation to return to the mound?
“100%!” Kreischer confirmed.
“I hope to God that I look much better,” Kreischer said of his body mass struggles at the time of that event. “I have that picture up in my gym as my inspiration photo because I was so fat in that picture. It’s almost like watching a shark attack about to happen. I’m smiling with my head above water, not realizing what’s happening below me. My fat had yet to catch up with my body, so my fat is following my body like the second wave of a tsunami. It is disgusting and I have that photo in my gym.”
While the Guardians (or as the live-in-the-past-racists call them, Indians) hold a special place in Clevelanders’ hearts, many Northeast Ohioans love traveling west to nearby Cedar Point in Sandusky for the most exhilarating roller coasters on the planet. For three seasons, Kreischer filmed Bert the Conqueror on Travel Channel. One of the first episodes was filmed at Cedar Point, where Kreischer had memorable experiences. He reflects:
“I had never really ridden roller coasters and Cedar Point has more thrill rides, like real thrill rides.. Meaning Top Thrill Dragster. Obviously they say Kingda Ka was higher and faster, but Top Thrill Dragster is the OG, in my opinion. It is incredible. The view that you get from there is incredible. I had something called a rollback. I had it happen twice, where they get you to the top and it stops at the top and rolls backwards. I have a fear of heights. We were doing this thing called the Fearsome Foursome Challenge on if you could ride the four fastest and baddest roller coasters they had. I think it included Magnum, Wicked Twister, and Top Thrill Dragster was the last one. I had 15 minutes to accomplish it all and we had a rollback. I had to do it all in an hour and we had a rollback and then we had another rollback and it got to the point where I though they were fucking with me and I have a fear of heights and we were stopping. What is it? 420 feet in the sky? We were stopping 420 feet in the sky stopping at the top and then it was rolling backwards and I was unaware if that was safe. I thought I might die. It was odder than any roller coaster experience I’ve had and I’ve been stuck on roller coasters. I’ve had some crazy ones, and that, without a doubt, was the most terrifying.”
“It’s almost like high school sex,” he quipped. “I false started twice, and then I went and did it and it happened so quick. It was over in 13 seconds.
If Cedar Point and Cleveland Guardians aren’t enough “Ohio” for Bert. In 2024, when the Buckeye State was the focal point for the Solar Eclipse, Kreischer hopped a plane to famed comedian Dave Chappelle’s house in Yellow Springs to take in the show.
“Chappelle does things on a different level,” he praised. “He does things that I think we all wish we could do. We didn’t know they were possible. And him, I mean, he owns half of that city and he’s made it his. It really is a fantastic place, especially for me. I’m a little bit of a hippie, so you can find all the things you love in that city. We went up there to watch the eclipse and do a show together and the eclipse was insane. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my entire life… Let alone I did it with Chappelle and Bill Burr, and it was wild. And then The Firehouse is the perfect club. It really is. And he’s the best host. I mean, you go to his house, and not to overshare, but he treats you like you’re at a five star resort with a concierge service. Honestly, the red carpet’s rolled out for you. And he’s just the best host you could ever imagine. He’s the best hang. And if you are like me and you’re obsessed with comedy, he’s like an encyclopedia of knowledge. I love him to death and the fact that he’s in my favorite state in the union makes it even better.“
By the time Bert Kreischer takes the stage in Cleveland on October 3, there is a pretty good chance he will have added at least one more Ohio story to the already lengthy collection. Between his affection for the state, his history of surviving Cedar Point’s most terrifying rides, his eclipse adventure with Dave Chappelle and his ongoing mission to find new ways to make audiences laugh, Kreischer has plenty of reasons to feel right at home in Cleveland. And if Ohio really is his favorite state, Cleveland seems like a pretty appropriate place to put that theory to the test.
The Permission To Party World Tour promises exactly what Kreischer’s fans have come to expect: big stories, bigger laughs and the kind of unpredictable energy that makes you wonder where the evening is going to go next. This is a comedian who has built an empire around telling stories about his life — and, judging by his track record, his life has apparently refused to stop providing material.
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