The Gratitude Tour — St. Peter, MN

Wednesday, April 26, 2017
7:00 p.m. CT

A live performance at Gustavus Adolphus College’s Christ Chapel in St. Peter, MN

Tickets: $25, $10 for staff, students get in free

Buy tickets online →
By phone: 507-933-7520
In-Person: Information Desk in the Jackson Campus Center, Gustavus Adolphus College

Mr. Keillor has now reached a certain age when you realize how lucky you are and you stop complaining. Complaint is a mainstay of comedy, so he is now experimenting with a comedy of gratitude, talking about parents, teachers, lucky breaks, dumb things that turned out smart. This is his first experimental tour.

Writing

Books

A complete lists of works, including sample excerpts

Columns

From the New York Times, Time magazine, and the complete Chicago Tribune syndicated columns

Prose

Stories from The New Yorker and other magazines and a few lectures

Sonnets

Sonnets of praise, some erotic, some lamentations, and some street sonnets

Verse

Poems on topics both serious and not-so-serious

Video

Videos from readings, interviews, solo shows and more

Radio

Albums

A complete list of radio and audiobook collections, with audio samples

Audio

Speeches, interviews, readings and other audio clips

Songs

Audio and lyrics for songs featured on A Prairie Home Companion.

The News from Lake Wobegon

The latest news and views from the little town where "all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average"

A Prairie Home Companion Love & Comedy Tour Solo The Gratitude Tour

January 27, 2016

Wednesday

7:30 p.m.

Houston, TX

A live performance with Richard Dworsky at Jones Hall

More Information

January 28, 2016

Thursday

8:00 p.m.

Richardson, TX

A live performance with Richard Dworsky at the Charles W. Eisemann Center

More Information

January 31, 2016

Sunday

7:00 p.m.

Newark, NJ

A live performance with Richard Dworsky at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center

More Information

February 1, 2016

Monday

8:00 p.m.

New York City, NY

A live performance at the 92nd Street Y

More Information

February 14, 2016

Sunday

3:00 p.m.

Omaha, NE

A live performance with Richard Dworsky at the Holland Performing Arts Center

More Information

See Full Schedule

Wednesday, April 26, 2017
7:00 p.m. CT

A live performance at Gustavus Adolphus College’s Christ Chapel in St. Peter, MN

Tickets: $25, $10 for staff, students get in free

Buy tickets online →
By phone: 507-933-7520
In-Person: Information Desk in the Jackson Campus Center, Gustavus Adolphus College

Books Columns Prose Sonnets Verse Video

Writing

Extinction is all around us

Posted on July 18, 2017 - Columns

The big news last week was that giraffes and lions are approaching extinction because we humans are turning their habitat into farms and senior high-rises. I read the article and of course thought of the lion who killed a giraffe and brought the corpse back to the den and his wife said, “You can’t leave that lyin’ there,” and he said, “That’s not a lion, it’s a giraffe.”

Expect goodness, and ye shall find it

Posted on July 11, 2017 - Columns

We rode in a plane, a taxi, a train and a ferryboat, all in the first few hours. The plane landed with a bump and a screech at LaGuardia, the taxi was driven by a dark-skinned man in a turban, on the train we heard Spanish, Korean, Arabic and English, and the ferryboat cruised close by the Statue of Liberty, as we tourists took pictures of each other, the Manhattan skyline for backdrop, and the Staten Islanders sat glumly, enduring the boredom.

Blind man in a hotel room

Posted on July 5, 2017 - Columns

Went in for eye surgery the other day, which reminded me of an old wheeze of a joke, which I told to people as they prepared the prisoner for execution: A man walked by the insane asylum and heard the inmates shouting, “Twenty-one! Twenty-one!” They sounded ecstatic, and he stopped to have a look. He put his eye to a hole in the fence, and they poked him in the eye with a sharp stick and yelled, “Twenty-two! Twenty-two!”

Partying with the engineers under the summer sky

Posted on June 27, 2017 - Columns

A splendid week in Norway and now it’s good to be back home, driving around town in my old beat-up Volvo and listening to The Drifters. Norway is a land of bicycles and public transit, lean healthy long-legged people striding up into the hills, but I love my car where I can add a bass vocal to “At night the stars they put on a show for free, and, darling, you can share it all with me.”

Dreadful things are afoot

Posted on June 20, 2017 - Columns

I am a registered liberal who mostly toes the party line, but I am not devoted to the idea of big government. I loathe the law in New York state requiring gas pump nozzles to not latch. This means that I must stand beside my vehicle, holding the nozzle lever open, instead of latching it and walking into the gas station to use the john which, if you’re an older male and hear gushing liquid, you feel a powerful urge to do, so thanks to legislative overregulation, I am on the verge of humiliating myself.

Taking a break from the news

Posted on June 13, 2017 - Columns

The sign by my seat said, “Fasten seatbelt whilst seated,” so clearly it was a British airline. My daughter and wife were alongside me and we were off to Europe for a break from the news. Our mad king had essentially been indicted in sworn testimony, and he claimed vindication and offered to testify under oath, forgetting the one he’d taken in January. Crazy times; it’s good to go away.

What’s the big deal about Paris?

Posted on June 6, 2017 - Columns

No sensuous pleasure can compare to the thrill of righteousness, and when the poor schlump stood in the Rose Garden and read his speech about America victimized by the crafty Europeans and the treacherous Chinese who designed the Paris accords, he could not have imagined the uproar he would cause. Moments later, everybody to the left of Jabba the Hutt was shaking their fists as if he had stuck his hand up under the Statue of Liberty’s gown. Birds shrieked from the trees, small dogs growled, even heinous criminals looked upon him with loathing.

It was so nice to have him gone

Posted on May 30, 2017 - Columns

It was a great relief to have Mr. Twitter out of the country for nine whole days, and the entire country felt it, like when your neighbor with the busted muffler goes away for a while and takes his yappy dog with him, and you realize what a beautiful thing common civility can be. We were able to turn to the joys of life and forget the absurdities for a while.

Get Washington’s statues off their high horses

Posted on May 23, 2017 - Columns

Forgive me if I don’t think the removal of Confederate statuary is an issue. I call it decluttering, which is an ongoing project at my house and I hope at yours too. When those crews are done down South, put them to work in Washington. The Frenchman L’Enfant (the name means “immature”) who laid out the streets in this swamp had grandiose ideas, as anyone knows who has attempted to navigate in the capital, diagonal boulevards laid against a grid, which created numerous odd squares and irrelevant circles which, of course, required large equestrian statues to ennoble them, and so you have Thomas Circle at 14th Street and Massachusetts Avenue NW named for Gen. George Thomas, who fought at the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863. But does this give him a permanent right to loom over us in 2017 and obstruct traffic and cause honking and obscene gesturing? A whole circle devoted to this small historical footnote and how many thousands of children have pointed to him and asked, “Who is he?” and their parents were clueless and thus authority is undermined, trust is eroded, the family is weakened, our children grow up rootless and liable to fall for crackpots and demagogues.

Flying in the floating in New York

Posted on May 16, 2017 - Columns

Here’s what they say in New York — Donald J. Trump is a grandstander, a showboat. Not doing his job. Totally incompetent. The White House has been in turmoil for months. You know that, I know that. Everybody knows that. So what are we talking about? Enough about him. Who needs an investigation? Guy is a total loser. Tell me something I don’t know.

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Albums Audio Songs The News from Lake Wobegon

Radio

The News from Lake Wobegon for May 27, 2017

Posted on May 30, 2017 - The News from Lake Wobegon

“It’s been warm out here, been in the 80s, so we were very grateful for this big thunderstorm that came along on Tuesday night. Big shards of lightning splitting the sky sure gets everybody’s attention.” The Lutheran Church search committee looks for a replacement for Pastor Inqvist, caterpillars take over the sidewalks, and Irene Bunsen calls into a radio station at 3:30 in the morning, a monologue originally from May 2010.

The News from Lake Wobegon for May 20, 2017

Posted on May 24, 2017 - The News from Lake Wobegon

“The weather’s just been gorgeous. It was warm this last week, it was up in the 80s. There was a little bit of rain, not enough, but there’s never enough.” The Whippets win a few games with the help of young pitcher “Whiplash” Wilson, garage sale season begins, the Larson boy gets a job at Ralph’s Pretty Good Grocery, and a bat invades Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church and frightens Pastor Haugen, in a May 2014 monologue.

The News from Lake Wobegon for May 13, 2017

Posted on May 24, 2017 - The News from Lake Wobegon

“It’s been cool here this last week, actually ‘cold’ I think would be a better term for it — and it snowed. But it’s only the first week of May and precipitation comes in many different forms.” Cool weather temporarily rids the town of insects, Carl Krebsbach becomes a spectacle after being covered in plum blossoms during a storm, and the Lutheran Church searches for a replacement for Pastor Ham, in a monologue from May 2010.

The News from Lake Wobegon for May 6, 2017

Posted on May 24, 2017 - The News from Lake Wobegon

“It was warm and kind of windy all week and we got this terrific thunderstorm on Wednesday, which was a great boon, to get washed off like that.” Fishing season begins and fishermen return to their pursuit of famous walleye Old Pete, Luann cuts her hair very short, the town analyzes photos of Pastor Liz in Rome, and Pastor Haugen irritates his secretary Marlene, a monologue from May 2014.

The News from Lake Wobegon for April 29, 2017

Posted on May 1, 2017 - The News from Lake Wobegon

“It’s been kind of cool, sunny but windy out there, and the other day a little snow fell, just a few flakes. We ignored it. We did not comment on it.” Bridal shower season arrives, Darlene invites three suitors to the Sidewinder Bar in Millet, and Arlene Bunsen counsels her goddaughter Charlotte against taking up the trombone, in a monologue from April 2015.

The News from Lake Wobegon for April 22, 2017

Posted on April 25, 2017 - The News from Lake Wobegon

“Spring has come out awfully certainly there. Just about two weeks ago there was still ice on the lake and now this past week it got up into the 90s. People running around in shorts, t-shirts.” Carl Krebsbach’s brother-in-law attempts to assemble a garden tiller, high school students prepare for life after graduation, and Mary Tollefson looks into modeling school, in a monologue from April 2002.

The News from Lake Wobegon for April 15, 2017

Posted on April 17, 2017 - The News from Lake Wobegon

“Getting warm up there, getting up into the 60s and even thinking about getting up into the 70s so it’s been very pleasant — and no snow fell this last week.” The town celebrates the 1st of May, and a few memories of post-prom parties at the Bunsens’ cabin, in a monologue from May 2015.

The News from Lake Wobegon for April 8, 2017

Posted on April 11, 2017 - The News from Lake Wobegon

“It’s spring, spring out there, which, in the case of Minnesota, means there’s a little more snow forecast. About eight inches of snow, some places 10 inches, fell.” Farmers prepare for spring planting after a successful year, the town takes a break for Easter Vacation, and Darlene meets a man on Match.com, a monologue originally from April 2008.

The News from Lake Wobegon for April 1, 2017

Posted on April 3, 2017 - The News from Lake Wobegon

“We’ve had wind and snow and rain and cold rain and a little snow, that melting snow, and then wind some more. It’s spring we know that now, even if it’s a little chilly.” Darlene has an epiphany while out for an Easter morning walk, Carl Krebsbach feeds a flock of Tundra Swans out on the lake, Viola Tors attends a clothing-optional Lutheran church in Palm Beach, in an April 2016 monologue.

The News from Lake Wobegon for March 25, 2017

Posted on March 27, 2017 - The News from Lake Wobegon

“Had some nice days here this last week. It wasn’t too terribly cold. The sun was shining.” Lyle teaches high school students about the vernal equinox, the town’s old men discuss modern cars, and the last of the rhubarb gets made into pies at the Chatterbox Cafe, in a monologue from March 1997.

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