January headliners: 20 shows to kick off your 2025

Nationally acclaimed comedians, tribute singers and Na Hoku Hanohano award-winning performers will take the stage in Hawaii this January. Aloha State Daily compiled a list of comedians, musicians and entertainers with performances this month.

Want to share an event not on this list? Email katie@alohastatedaily.com.

Jan. 6.

Jack Assadourian Jr.: $30+ Blue Note Hawaii. This comedian combines his Armenian and Mexican heritage to share “unique perspectives and hilarious observations on life,” according to the venue's website. He has been featured on “Netflix is A Joke” and Amazon Prime’s “Laugh After Dark.” Seating is first come, first served.

Jan. 8.

Aaron Chen: $25+ Blue Note Hawaii. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, Chen is part of the international comedy scene. He made his debut solo show in Australia in 2017 and was named Best Newcomer (2017) and Director’s Choice (2019) and was nominated for Best Show (2021) at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Seating is first come, first served.

Jan. 8 - 9.

“Dead Inside” World Comedy Tour: $51.50+ Hawaii Theatre Center. Comedian Bianca Del Rio will head to Honolulu with a sixth worldwide stand-up comedy tour called “Dead Inside.”

Jan. 11.

Sam Tallent: $25+ Blue Note Hawaii. This comedian and novelist is also the host of the podcast “Chubby Behemoth.” For the past decade, he has performed more than 45 weekends each year with stops in North America, Asia, Australia and Europe. His writing has appeared on vice.com and he has shared his jokes on Comedy Central, TruTV and Viceland. His comedy special “Waiting for Death to Claim Us” is available on Amazon Prime. Seating is first come, first served.

“Hapa Symphony – A Tribute to Mr. Sinatra”: $41.50+ Hawaii Theatre Center. Jordan Segundo joins the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, led by music director Dane Lam, to celebrate Jimmy Borges and sing some of Sinatra’s greatest hits, such as “Fly Me to the Moon,” “From Here to Eternity” and “Bewitched.”

Jan. 12.

“Broadway & Beyond”: $22+ Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s Castle Theater. Catch Broadway tunes with guest vocalists Capathia Jenkins and Ryan Shaw and an orchestra led by Maestro Jim Durham. MACC will also collect donations for the Maui Food Bank to help those impacted by the wildfires.

JoAnn Conducts “Pictures at an Exhibition”: $20+ Hawaii Theatre Center. Conductor Emeritus JoAnn Falleta and the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra team up with the South Korean guitarist JIJI for an evening of music.

Jan. 15.

Marc Martel – “One Vision of Queen”: $72.50+ Hawaii Theatre Center. Marc Martel, who performed as one of the voices of Freddie Mercury in the Academy-Award-winning “Bohemian Rhapsody” is now running a tribute show “One Vision of Queen” which comes to Honolulu this month.

Jan. 16.

Ada Limón: $10+ Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s McCoy Studio Theater. The Merwin Conservancy is presenting the Poet Laureate of the United States Ada Limón as part of The Green Room Series. Limón is the author of six books of poetry and is the recipient of a fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, also known as a “genius grant.” She has also received a Guggenheim fellowship and was named a Time magazine woman of the year.

Jan. 18.

Atsuko Okatsuka – “Full Grown Tour”: $67.50. Hawaii Theatre Center. This global stand-up comedian is bringing her “Full Grown” tour to more than 100 cities, 20 countries and four continents this year. Okatsuka’s second stand-up special will premiere on Hulu and Disney+ in 2025. Clips from her previous tour, “The Intruder,” have garnered more than 100 million views on social media. She has also had roles in films that debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival: “All That We Love” and “Group Therapy.”

Jan. 22.

Henry Kapono with Makaha Sons: $35+ Blue Note Hawaii. Grammy nominee Henry Kapono returns for the eighth season of his acclaimed Artist 2 Artist concert series. The Artist 2 Artist program will have five shows at the Blue Note Hawaii which feature “Hawaii’s iconic music legends” as well as emerging artists from Henry Kapono Foundation’s “On the Rise” program. This show features emerging artist Rickey Kamai along with the Makaha Sons, who have won multiple Na Hoku Hanohano awards and were inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame.

Jan. 23.

Ismo: Woo-Hoo! World Tour: $35+ Blue Note Hawaii. This Finnish comedian made his debut appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden. His performance there captured more than 135 million views. Seating is first come, first served.

Jan. 23 - 25.

Nurse John: “The Short-Staffed Tour”: $44.50 + Hawaii Theatre Center. John Dela Cruz, also known as “Nurse John” shares the “roller coaster of emotions of working short-staffed while being underpaid, undervalued and under-appreciated” in the nursing profession, according to the show’s website.

Jan. 23 - Feb. 23.

“Southernmost”: $8+ Kumu Kahua Theatre. This show, written by Mary Lyon Kamitaki, tells the story of Wally Chaves, a former fisherman, and his retired wife, who live in Kau on Hawaii Island. Chaves works on a coffee farm but things become unstable when his daughter visits with a new girlfriend and earthquakes hit the region.

Jan. 24 – Feb. 9.

“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”: $22+ The Brad Powell Theatre. The daughters and sons of freed slaves wander into Pittsburgh where they arrive at a boardinghouse. This show shares their stories.

“Master Class”: $41+ Diamond Head Theatre. This performance shares the story of opera diva Maria Callas, who delivers a master class for young singers “while ruminating on a life of tragedy and triumph,” according to Diamond Head Theatre’s website.

Jan. 25.

Jimmy O. Yang “Big & Tall Tour”: $49.50+ Neal S. Blaisdell Arena. Comedian and actor Jimmy Yang brings “Big & Tall Tour” to the Blaisdell Arena. Yang is best known for his roles in the HBO comedy series “Silicon Valley,” as well as “Space Force,” “Love Hard” and “Crazy Rich Asians.”

Jan. 26.

Nurse John: “The Short-Staffed Tour”: $39.25+ Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s Castle Theater. John Dela Cruz, also known as Nurse John, shares the “roller coaster of emotions of working short-staffed while being underpaid, undervalued and under-appreciated” in the nursing profession, according to the show’s website.

Jan. 27 - 28.

“The Saviour”: $12+ Manoa Valley Theatre. This show tells the story of Máire Sullivan, who finds herself a widow on her seventieth birthday. An unexpected visit from her son introduces some plot twists. The story comes from Irish playwright Deirdre Kinahan.

Jan. 31.

Changes in Latitudes: $72+ Hawaii Theatre Center. This tribute show to singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett includes classics, such as “Margaritaville,” “Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes,” “Brown Eyed Girl,” “Another Saturday Night” and "It's Five O'clock Somewhere.”

Katie Helland can be reached at katie@alohastatedaily.com.