Kevin James at The Mahaffey Theater

Kevin James, comedian and star of the hit movies, Paul Blart, Mall Cop, Zookeeper and Grown Ups will bring on the laughs at The Mahaffey Theater on Saturday, Aug. 24 at 8 p.m. Tickets starting at $52.50 go on sale Thursday, May 23 at noon.

James is known to fans as Doug Heffernan, the lead character of the sitcom, The King of Queens, that he created in 1998. The show, which garnered him a 2006 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, ran for nine seasons on CBS and continues to air daily in syndication across the country and around the world.

James started his career as a stand-up on the Long Island comedy scene and was discovered at the 1996 Montreal Comedy Festival. He brought his stand-up act to television in Sweat the Small Stuff, a one-hour special for Comedy Central in 2001. In 2005, he and Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond) executive produced and starred in the HBO Sports Special, the documentary Making the Cut: The Road to Pebble Beach, about the Pro Am Golf Tournament, which was nominated for a Sports Emmy.

Kevin James’ big break on the big screen came in 2005 starring opposite Will Smith in Hitch. His latest film, Here Comes the Boom (2012), is about a high school biology teacher who becomes a mixed martial arts fighter to raise money for his beleaguered school. Grown Ups 2 will be released July 12. The film also stars Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, David Spade, Maya Rudolph and Maria Bello.

The comedian-actor’s versatility is also “heard” on the big screen: his voice has been featured in animated films Barnyard (2006), Monster House (2006) and Hotel Transylvania (2012).