BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Jonathan van Halem has performed in just about every room ArtsQuest has to offer. A movie theater. A multipurpose space. The Bethlehem Visitor Center. This month, he’s back again.
Van Halem, a Brooklyn-based stand-up comedian and producer at “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” headlines the Bethlehem Visitor Center at SteelStacks on March 21. Doors open at 7 p.m., with the show beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $23.50 to $25.
“I’ve performed in every room they’ve had just about,” van Halem said. “One of these days I’ll perform on a real stage that is intended for stand-up comedy, and I look forward to that.”
The show sold out last year. Van Halem said he’s hoping for the same result this time around.
Van Halem’s comedy leans observational—clean, relatable material that he says is built to work across all 50 states and for audiences ages 13 to 80. He tries to find aspects of life so universal that “truly everyone can laugh at them.”
Recurring themes include class differences, nepotism, and “the rules we have that are fake and there is no punishment for breaking them.” He cites John Mulaney, Mike Birbiglia and Jim Gaffigan as influences, comedians known for finding the absurdity in everyday life.
“The coolest thing a comedian could ever do is point out something that you didn’t even realize you realized,” van Halem said. “You just feel a little more seen, a little less alone.” Ultimately, he hopes audiences leave his shows feeling their experience of life isn’t all that different from anyone else’s—and maybe a little more comforted by that fact.
He draws a straight line between his comedy and his career in television news. After graduating from college, van Halem worked at MSNBC and then at Fox News before landing a staff role on Stephen Colbert’s streaming show, “Tooning Out the News,” on Paramount+.
When that show ended after three seasons, he applied for an opening at “The Tonight Show” and has been there for three years, working on the producing side — primarily watching political speeches and flagging material for the show’s writers and editors.
“I have watched Trump speak every single time he’s spoken for the last 11 years,” van Halem said.
Despite living in Brooklyn, van Halem said the Lehigh Valley has been a constant in his life. His family ties run deep—his brother and sister-in-law lived in Bethlehem for 15 years, and he has an uncle in the area.
He grew up attending IronPigs games, making trips to Dorney Park, and is a regular at Christkindlmarkt. Over the years, he has watched Bethlehem’s transformation since the closure of Bethlehem Steel with appreciation.
“It could have gone one of two directions,” van Halem said of the city after the steel industry collapsed. “They made a concerted effort, tried hard, and I think they’re enjoying the fruits of that.”
Van Halem started doing stand-up in college in New Jersey, putting on shows in a friend’s basement for $5 a head. He jokes that while he and his friends weren’t very good, a great time was still had by all—thanks, perhaps, more to the kegs of beer than their material.
That first taste of performing, and the “profound euphoria” of making people laugh, hooked him for good.
He has since opened for comedians including Rory Scovel, Kyle Gordon, and Sabrina Wu, and his clips have drawn millions of views on Instagram (@jonathan_vanhalem) and TikTok.
His rant about the AMC A-List moviegoing subscription program was named one of Vulture’s best comedy shorts of June 2024.
For those weighing whether to buy a ticket, van Halem offered a direct comparison.
“John Mulaney is the most similar, but a tenth of the cost of the ticket,” he said. “You can see me for 20 bucks. Am I as good as him? No, but I only have to be a tenth as good for it to be a better financial proposition. And I think I’m definitely more than a tenth as good.”
He also made a case for live comedy in broader terms — the show runs 60 to 90 minutes, during which, he said, no one is looking at their phone.
“What a joy that is in the Lord’s year 2026,” van Halem said.
The show is ages 13 and up; anyone between 13 and 17 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Tickets are available through ArtsQuest.
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Jai Smith is a lifetime Lehigh Valley resident on a mission to empower local underserved communities and inform the public while providing journalists and storytellers a platform to develop the next generation of news media.