Tell us if you’ve heard this one before: A Food Network champ walks into a bar. For chef Mick Brown, the payoff is Pizza & Punchlines, a new stand-up series bringing Chicago-style pizza to San Antonio’s Upstage Comedy Lounge (4441 Walzem Rd.) on November 12.

Brown spent the last decade flirting with celebrity. In 2015, he became the first chef to win the Grill Master title, winning with a burger. He also had a brush with the Bravoverse, catering Katie Maloney and Tom Schwartz’s engagement before Kristen Doute ruined everyone’s appetites.

Now, he has relocated to San Antonio, where he owns a catering company, Chicago Deep Dish. The business is a homecoming of sorts. The chef grew up in the Windy City, but had family in Texas. His great-grandfather was the first Black man to open a barbecue stand in Ennis.

Although his catering outfit is called Deep Dish, Brown pays tribute to both of Chicago’s famous styles. Along with the hefty headline grabber most people associate with the city, he also serves tavern-style pies — the cracker-thin pizzas that predate deep dish by about a decade.

The comedy connection goes beyond alliteration. Chicago’s revered Comedy Bar serves pizza above Gino’s East. And West is a dabbler in the comedic arts, having recently completed an intensive stand-up workshop.

Pizza & Punchlines will be locals' first opportunity to taste West’s pizzas, in this case a smoked barbecue chicken pie with grilled peppers, and a classic spinach pie loaded with mushrooms. But guests are in for more than a tasting. Hill Kane will host a lineup that includes the Toxic Pickle Improv team and regional comics Brendan Picard, Dani W/An Aye, and Clifton Simmons.

Admission at the door is $20, or $35 for two, but there's a better deal for self-starters. Guests who pre-order pizza by noon on Wednesday, November 11, get free admission. In today’s economy, that math is no funny business.