Comedian Sam Miller is serious about his return to Astoria.

“I want to take the roof off the place,” he said, enthused about his March 8 show at the Liberty Theatre. “It is such an honor to play there.”

For his sixth show to Astoria, he will be accompanied by a film crew recording his second comedy special. The show starts at 8 p.m., and tickets are available online through the Liberty’s website.

His first, “Round Trip,” filmed in his hometown of Olympia, Washington, was produced by Grammy award-winning Dan Schlissel of Stand Up! Records. It went to No. 1 on the iTunes comedy charts.

“I could have recorded the album anywhere, in Chicago or the Midwest, but I wanted to record in Astoria. I have the best time there,” Miller said. “I love that theater — it is so beautiful. It is going to look amazing and sound amazing.”

The Astoria show will be hosted by Drew Wilson-McGrath, a familiar face for audiences of the Liberty’s North Coast Comedy Night. Lynette Manning will also feature.

Miller said his Astoria show will feature different material from his earlier recorded success. “It will be 55 minutes to an hour of the best comedy I can do,” he promised.

The comic draws on his background for his self-written jokes, which include a stint in jail in Yakima, a period of homelessness and 16 years of sobriety.

He highlighted his recovery journey in a guest column published in 2023 by Newsweek. “I want people to know that while I am proud of my recovery, I am not ashamed of my story,” he wrote, describing how he woke up under a tarp at the Capitol Theater in Olympia after being fired from a firefighter job with the U.S. Forest Service.

The candid article, headlined “I inhaled drugs for 10 years. One bleak moment turned my life around,” described his path, which included varied jobs including dishwasher, bouncer, warehouse worker and landscaper, getting married and having a family.

He moved toward a full-time comedy career after taking part in open mic events. “A lot of stand-up is about confidence. I say ridiculous things as if they are important facts, and it’s not an act because I believe them to be true,” he wrote, adding, “Much like recovery, comedy took root in me as something I am, not just something I do.”

He has performed at Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous conventions, as well as with the Addicts Comedy Tour, which celebrates recovery.

Miller promised no politics. “People don’t come to my shows to learn — they come to laugh. These are the jokes that I like. I write my own stuff. I have never stolen a joke. Sometimes I have had a conversation with a friend and they will be saying something then you realize you should do it on stage.”

He describes his changed persona as having evolved into “a regular middle-class guy and dad,” “I don’t make fun of people that are different to me — other comics do that. I talk about my stuff.”

Miller won a Comedy on Trial Competition in 2017 and was a runner-up in the 2021 Seattle International Comedy Competition. He has appeared as a guest on the national Bob & Tom Radio Show and played big venues including The Laugh Factory in Chicago.

“My career is on a really good trajectory, but if this is as good as it gets then that’s OK,” he said. “I have been doing comedy for 10 years and as a full-time job for three years. I have worked very hard, and had a lot of help, to get where I am at. I have had a lot of success, things are definitely trending in the right direction.”

And the payback?

“The reward is to get to be on stage and bring people joy by telling jokes,” he said. “A friend asked me, ‘What is the best way to do comedy?’ and it is to talk about the stuff that makes you laugh and invite other people along.”

Comedian Sam Miller

Comedian Sam Miller

Performing 8 p.m. March 8 at the Liberty Theatre, 1203 Commercial St., Astoria.

Tickets $20, online at www.libertyastoria.org.