Knowles Standard brings clean comedy to Farr Best

Texas-based comedian Erik Knowles will present The Knowles Standard, a clean, theatre-forward comedy performance designed specifically for listening-room audiences, at 7:30 p.m. May 8 at the historic Farr Best Theater, 109 N. Main St.

Unlike traditional comedy club shows, The Knowles Standard blends spoken-word storytelling, humor and theatrical pacing into a performance built for performing arts venues and community theatres. The show emphasizes clean material and intentional silence, inviting audiences to engage with comedy as a shared, in-room experience rather than a streamable distraction.

Knowles describes the project as an effort to reintroduce comedy as a form of live storytelling—one that rewards attention and reflection as much as laughter.

“So much of what people associate with comedy today comes from short-form online clips,” Knowles said. “I’m interested in what happens when you slow things down, remove the shock factor, and ask an audience to really listen again—in a beautiful space, together.”

The May 8 performance marks Knowles’ Mansfield debut and is part of a broader effort to bring clean, story-driven comedy into theaters across Texas. The Farr Best Theater, with its historic setting and intimate scale, was chosen intentionally as a venue where comedy can function more like spoken-word theatre than nightlife entertainment.

General admission is $25. For more information, click here.