Segerstrom Center to Welcome Aziz Ansari Later This Month

Fans of live stand-up comedy will have added reason to give thanks as popular actor and comedian Aziz Ansari comes to Segerstrom Center with two hilarious shows on the eve of Thanksgiving, Wednesday, November 26 at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. The performances are part of the Aziz Ansari Live! tour that is playing to sold-out houses across the country. Ansari, who co-stars on the hit TV show Parks and Recreation and recently packed Madison Square Garden, brings rapid-fire wit and energy as he muses on family, technology, factory farms and of course, love.

Tickets to Aziz Ansari are $39 and will go on sale Friday, November 7 at 10 a.m. PST. Tickets will be available online at SCFTA.org, at the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling (714) 556-2787. The TTY number is (714) 556-2746.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts applauds Kia, Official Automotive Partner of the Center and United Airlines, Official Airline of the Center.

Aziz Ansari is one of the biggest stars in the comedy world. In 2012, Rolling Stone put him on the cover of their special comedy issue, labeling him "the funniest man under 30."

In 2013, Ansari's third hour-long stand-up special, Buried Alive, premiered on Netflix. The special was named one of the best stand-up specials of the year by The Onion, The A.V. Club and Paste Magazine. In October 2014, Ansari became one of only a few comedians to headline Madison Square Garden in New York. He successfully performed two sold-out shows in front of more than 20,000 fans. These were filmed for his fourth hour-long special to be released in 2015. He continues to perform stand-up for tens of thousands of people in each city in theaters and arenas throughout the world.

Ansari co-stars opposite Amy Poehler in the beloved Emmy and Golden Globe nominated NBC series Parks and Recreation, which is now in its sixth season. Ansari's portrayal of government employee Tom Haverford has earned critical praise, including Entertainment Weekly naming him one of their "Breakout TV Stars," TV Guide calling him a "Scene Stealer" and People Magazine naming him 2011's "Funniest Dude in Prime Time."

Additionally, Ansari has landed a book deal with The Penguin Press about modern dating and how the basic issues facing a single person - whom we meet, how we meet them and what happens next - have been radically altered by new technologies. This book is due to hit the shelves in fall 2015.

Ansari is also busy in the film world. His voice was featured in the Twentieth Century Fox animated hit film Epic and he made a cameo in This Is The End opposite Seth Rogen and James Franco last summer. Additional film credits include Funny People (playing the cult favorite Raaaaaandy), 30 Minutes or Less, Get Him to the Greek, I Love You, Man, Observe and Report and Ice Age: Continental Drift.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is unique as both an acclaimed arts institution and as a multi- disciplinary cultural campus. It is committed to supporting artistic excellence on all of its stages, offering unsurpassed experiences, and engaging the entire community in new and exciting ways through the unique power of live performance and a diverse array of inspiring programs.

Previously called the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Segerstrom Center traces its roots back to the late 1960s when a dedicated group of community leaders decided Orange County should have its own world-class performing arts venue.

As Orange County's largest non-profit arts organization, Segerstrom Center for the Arts owns and operates the 3,000-seat Segerstrom Hall and intimate 250-seat Founders Hall, which opened in 1986, and the 2,000-seat Rene?e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, which opened in 2006 and also houses the 500-seat Samueli Theater, the Lawrence and Kristina Dodge Education Center's studio performance space and Boeing Education Lab. A spacious arts plaza anchors Segerstrom Center for the Arts and is home to numerous free performances throughout the year as part of Segerstrom Center for the Arts' ongoing Free for All series.

The Center presents a broad range of programming each season for audiences of all ages from throughout Orange County and beyond, including international ballet and dance, national tours of top Broadway shows, intimate performances of jazz and cabaret, contemporary artists, classical music performed by renowned chamber orchestras and ensembles, family-friendly programming, free performances open to the public from outdoor movie screenings to dancing on the plaza and many other special events. It offers many education programs designed to inspire young people through the arts. These programs reach hundreds of thousands of students of all ages with vital arts-in-education programs, enhancing their studies and enriching their lives well into the future.

In addition to the presenting and producing institution Segerstrom Center for the Arts, the 14-acre campus also embraces the facilities of two independent acclaimed organizations: Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory and a site designated as the future home of the Orange County Museum of Art.