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Hannibal Buress has every reason to quit on Miami — he has a $200,000 settlement to prove it — but he must really love this city, because Gramps just announced the comedian will be the last-ever performer at Shirley’s, Gramps’ intimate theater, this Friday, December 26.
The Wynwood venue, set to shutter for good on January 4, has rolled out an admirable closing campaign befitting its relationship with the many cultural institutions that have popped up at the bar since it opened in 2012, from Nerd Nite to Double Stubble. Buress’ appearance is a nod to the venue’s long history of platforming comics and the comedian’s longstanding relationship with Gramps and the greater Miami community. Buress has performed at the venue several times over the last decade or so.
Gramps announced Friday’s show on Tuesday morning via Instagram. The set will take place inside the Wynwood bar’s limited-capacity Shirley’s Theater, with only 50 tickets available for purchase at $75 (each ticket includes one classic Gramps cocktail). Tickets will go on sale at Gramps at 5 p.m. Tuesday evening in person and IRL — there will be no online sales.
“We’re doing old-school, single-file line here,” the venue wrote in its announcement. “Arrival today at Gramps on time or early will not guarantee a ticket.” The venue stressed that there is a two-ticket limit per person.
The show marks Buress’ first Miami appearance since the City of Miami settled a lawsuit the comedian filed in 2020, following what he alleged was a wrongful arrest three years earlier. On December 9, 2017, Miami Police Department (MPD) officer Luis Verne arrested Buress for misdemeanor disorderly intoxication. Prosecutors eventually dropped the charge, but Buress filed a federal lawsuit against the city, the police department, and two Miami police officers, Verne and Elio Villegas. The comedian alleged the second officer failed to intervene.
In addition to the lawsuit, Buress also focused on the incident in his 2020 comedy special, Miami Nights, which he filmed in downtown Miami’s Olympia Theater in 2019. Earlier that year, he also performed a pop-up set in Little Haiti’s Villain Theater.
Hannibal Buress. 7 p.m. Friday, December 26, at Shirley’s at Gramps, 176 NW 24th St., Miami; 305-699-2669; instagram.com. Tickets cost $75.
