Last month, Billboard Boxscore revealed its midyear touring recap, dominated by Coldplay, K-pop and Las Vegas’ Sphere. With the launch of Billboard’s comedy hub, we’re taking a closer look at the top-grossing comedy acts at the midyear mark.
The 2025 midyear recap provides a switch-up at the top of the list. Kevin Hart led the pack for 2022 at year-end and in 2023 at both midyear and at the end of the year. Nate Bargatze took the mantle for midyear and year-end in 2024. Both of them were on the road during the ’25 tracking period, and one of them even cracks the top five — but there’s a new voice atop the heap.
While most of the top comedians at midyear spent their time primarily in theaters, the No. 1 act filled arenas, selling out 30 shows in the U.S. and Canada across the six-month period. By playing to larger crowds, the leading comic could afford to play fewer shows; 30 is the smallest show count among the top five, though it’s still a busy calendar.
Among the top 100 touring artists at midyear, including musicians across all genres, the average show count was 20. By stark contrast, the top five comedy acts averaged 48. Multiple shows per night and low production overhead usually keeps these jokesters moving quicker than pop stars and bands.
Keep scrolling for a detailed breakdown of the top five grossing touring comedians of the midyear period – Oct. 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025 – by the numbers. Midyear charts are based on figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.
Jeff Dunham
Image Credit: Rick Kern/WireImage Gross: $13.4M
Tickets: 214K
Number of Shows: 47
All-Genre Rank: N/AThe ventriloquist act kicked off the midyear period in Columbia, S.C. on Oct. 17, and played throughout the U.S. before ending in Manchester, N.H on March 21. He broke the top five via consistency – he played no fewer than five shows per month across the half-year window.
Jo Koy
Image Credit: Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images Gross: $14.6M
Tickets: 204K
Number of Shows: 53
All-Genre Rank: N/AKoy kept it moving, playing 53 shows in 49 cities. His biggest stop was in Hawaii, playing three shows at Honolulu’s Neal S. Blaisdell Center from Nov. 29-Dec. 1. That run brought in $1.2 million and sold 16,300 tickets.
Gabriel Iglesias
Image Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images Gross: $20M
Tickets: 275K
Number of Shows: 50
All-Genre Rank: N/AIglesias, also known as “Fluffy,” toured all throughout the United States, with three stops into Canada. Seven of his shows sold more than 10,000 tickets, while just one broke the $1 million mark – a March 15 date at Chicago’s United Center.
Kevin Hart
Image Credit: Kevin Kwan/PEACOCK Gross: $28.3M
Tickets: 216K
Number of Shows: 61
All-Genre Rank: No. 32On the Acting My Age tour, Hart didn’t just play more shows than the other acts in the top five – he played more than any soloist on the all-genre 50-position midyear Top Tours chart. With multiple shows at most of the theaters on his schedule, his most extended stay was a five-show run at Philadelphia’s The Met (Dec. 4-8).
Sebastian Maniscalco
Image Credit: Michael S. Schwartz/Getty Images Gross: $35.5M
Tickets: 361K
Number of Shows: 30
All-Genre Rank: No. 25After kicking off last year, Maniscalco’s It Ain’t Right Tour continues to fill arenas in North America. His five shows at Madison Square Garden were last September and counted toward the 2024 rankings, but double-headers in Boston, Chicago, and Toronto earned more than $3 million each.
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