By Nick A. Zaino III Published Sept. 11, 2026<\/p>\n
Josh Gondelman has a lot of hometown pride, as someone who grew up around Boston rooting for all the major sports teams. Some people take it too far, he says in his latest special, \u201cPositive Reinforcement.\u201d A Red Sox cap is fine, he says, but then it gets aggressive \u2014 like adding a Patriots jersey with the name \u201cBlue Lives Matter\u201d on the back for some reason. \u201cLevel three is a button-down shirt with a camo pattern made of shamrocks, and it\u2019s called \u2018shamouflage,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019re really only supposed to wear it when a Dropkick Murphy<\/a> is born or dies.\u201d<\/p>\n Boston looms large for Gondelman, who plays three shows at The Comedy Studio on Sept. 19. A Stoneham native and a Brandeis alum, he started his career here with his first open mics in 2004. And he will frequently write bits about Boston that he says play well when he\u2019s touring around the country.<\/p>\n The cultural touchstones for the city nationally are often films like \u201cThe Departed\u201d and \u201cThe Town.\u201d Or even \u201cGood Will Hunting,\u201d which created another stereotype Gondelman calls the \u201csecret surly genius.\u201d And Gondelman thinks the stereotypes are a helpful starting point for comedy, but people should know that\u2019s not all there is to Boston.<\/p>\n