8 February 19-25, 2026 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | released five LPs since 2019, with her latest, ((( 5 ))), released in 2024. Singles “Power,” “Sakral,” and “Cycles” followed in 2025. She’ll bring her diverse catalog — which swerves from R&B to ambient to experimen- tal — to an intimate Tuesday-night set at ZeyZey. 7 p.m. at ZeyZey Miami, 353 NE 61st St., Miami; 305-456-2671; zeyzeymiami.com. Tickets cost $30 via shotgun.live. SOPHIA MEDINA WED 2/25 ▼ MIAMI BEACH MILES AHEAD Part of the Montreux Jazz Festival Miami and created in collaboration with the Miles Davis Estate, this celebration of the trumpeter’s cen- tennial brings together two defining sides of his legacy: the groundbreaking sonic experi- ments of his Miles Electric Band, and the inti- mate sound of Kind of Blue. His nephew, Vince Wilburn Jr., will pay homage to the former, while musicians from Davis’ circle will tribute the latter. 7 p.m. at the Miami Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; 305-672-5202; montreuxjazzfestivalmiami.com. Tickets cost $60 to $114 via tixr.com. ASHLEY-ANNA ABOREDEN ▼ DOWNTOWN MIAMI OLÉ, OLÉ Now in its 17th year, the Flamenco Festival Mi- ami has become a regular stop for Spain’s most celebrated flamenco dancers and musicians. This year’s lineup includes internationally re- nowned bailaora Sara Baras, whose company is known for combining traditional flamenco footwork with awe-inspiring theatrical pro- duction. A recipient of Spain’s National Dance Award, she’s toured globally for more than 25 years. The show — presented inside the Ziff Ballet Opera House, a venue more commonly associated with opera and Broadway tours — underscores Miami’s longstanding ties to Spanish culture and spotlights one of flamen- co’s most gifted contemporary figures. 7:30 p.m. at the Adrienne Arsht Center, 1300 Bis- cayne Blvd., Miami; 305-949-6722. Tickets cost $35 to $204 via arshtcenter.org. CAROLINE VAL
[email protected] Photo © Sofia Wittert Flamenco Festival Miami XVII, Wednesday Preaching to the Choir Pete Holmes puts his imperfections on display on the comedy stage. BY YUVAL OFIR C omedian Pete Holmes has spent more than a decade inviting people to listen in as he figures life out on his long-run- ning podcast, You Made It Weird. His roots as a stand-up comic and his spiritual journey have been reflected in the podcast, his HBO show Crashing, and his onstage material. Over the years, he’s evolved from being “the most in- terested, least experienced person” in the room to someone who leads with curiosity, bringing to bear the mileage of thousands of conversations with comics, actors, and spiritual teachers. That balance of silliness and sincerity — part comedy and part late-night dorm-room philoso- phy — is at the heart of his new stand-up show, Pete Here Now. The tour was originally branded “PG-13,” a marketing move intended to reach a broader audience by pushing a “semi-clean” set. After a show in Austin, Holmes realized the label, born of his deep-rooted desire to be a “good boy,” was boxing him in. “Why am I asking peo- ple to grade the set?” he says. “Just fly the plane.” The new name, a wink at Ram Dass’s Be Here Now, feels much more fitting. It’s Holmes in the present moment, covering the whole spec- trum of human experience, from the sacred to the profane. Pete admits part of him still feels pressures that were embedded during his upbringing in the church ecosystem. But his comedy feels best when he’s honest in his exploration of par- enting struggles or when he gets into raunchier human topics. “My intention is always to de- light,” he tells New Times. “Never to shock or upset.” He grins and adds a line that could dou- ble as his thesis statement: “Holiness comes from wholeness.” That philosophy is baked into his podcast, which started with a simple hook — ask three questions about “weird things” — and evolved into sprawling conversations about comedy, sex, and God (the title of his 2019 book is de- rived from these topics). Over time, the show became less about chasing answers and more about enjoying the questions. Holmes credits the podcast with helping him grow up in public, from newly divorced and spiritually lost, to a married dad with a more robust sense of what faith means to him. The comedian knows You Made It Weird doesn’t fit neatly into any single category. As he once joked years ago on the show, there’s no section on streaming platforms for “pseudo- spiritual, somewhat funny podcasts.” But to- day, there might as well be, given the multitude of shows that fit that label, with his arguably serving as the prototype. To be clear, Holmes isn’t aspiring to be anyone’s guru; the way he sees it, he’s just passing along what’s helped him in the hopes that it may be useful to others on their own journeys. “The best way to learn something is to teach it,” he says, before laugh- ing at how lofty that sounds. “I’m not a leader. I’m an enthusiast.” Still, there’s no denying the podcast ex- panded his role in the cultural conversation be- yond simple joke-telling. Holmes wrestles with that ten- sion. On one hand, he’ll defend comics’ right to “work it out” onstage and push into uncomfortable terri- tory. On the other hand, he’s quick to point out that the microphone makes you the leader of the room, which comes with a degree of responsibility. He brings up a bit he used to hear from road comics, the kind of closer that goes, Don’t drink and drive — but hey, they can’t catch us all. “That’s dangerous,” he says. “You’re talking to drunk people deciding whether or not to drive home. You’ve just given them permis- sion. I wouldn’t make that joke. The truth is, rather than aspiring to fulfill his adolescent dreams of preaching from the pulpit, these days Holmes is more interested in laugh- ing at his own mistakes than in doling out les- sons. He’d rather tell a story about losing his temper or falling short as a dad than about do- ing the right thing. “Nobody wants to hear me brag about helping somebody,” he says. “It’s way funnier and more helpful to hear me mess up. Because when you laugh at me, you’re loos- ening some guilt in yourself too.” That willingness to show the dents and scratches has contributed to the continued ex- pansion of his reach, both on social media and other outlets. It’s not about shock value, it’s about solidarity: The feeling of a roomful of strangers realizing they’ve all made the same bad choices and can laugh about them together. “When you’re laughing, you’re not stressed, you’re not worried, you’re not even you,” Holmes says. “You’re gone. And that’s one of the great- est experiences you can have.” It’s also why live performance remains cen- tral to him. A podcast can dig deep, a Netflix special can look good, but neither can capture the collective high of a crowd coalescing to- gether in laughter. “People should come be- cause it’s a shared experience of joy and connection,” he says. “You’ll leave feeling lighter, less alone, and, ideally, less afraid.” For Holmes, that’s the real service of com- edy: not preaching answers, but creating space where everyone feels a little less burdened. And if that sounds suspiciously like a sermon, well, that’s for you to decide. Pete Holmes. 8 p.m. Friday, February 20, at the Miami Improv, 3450 NW 83rd Ave., Doral; 305-441-8200. Tickets cost $36.90 to $46.90 via miamiimprov.com.
[email protected] ▼ Culture Culture Pete Holmes is touring his latest show, Pete Here Now. Photo by Steve Agee “YOU’LL LEAVE FEELING LIGHTER, LESS ALONE, AND, IDEALLY, LESS AFRAID.”
Miami 02-19-2026
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