Senior Assassin bodyguard and funnyman Juston McKinney plays 2 shows at ROH

Juston McKinney (Courtesy photo)

NEWMARKET - A few years ago, New Hampshire comedian Juston McKinney took his family on a cruise to Mexico and found plenty of comedic material from the trip to use at a Rochester Opera House appearance in 2023.
These days he's cruising around with his oldest son on college tours, and while at home, trying to keep him from getting eliminated during a senior assassin competition among seniors at his high school.
Suffice it to say, McKinney has no problem finding humor in all aspects of family life.
"Yeah, so my son is playing this game called senior assassin where they try to assassinate each other by shooting each other with squirt guns," McKinney said on Friday, "but if they have "swimmies" on they can't be targeted, so there we were all dining out at Chipotle's with my oldest son with his swimmies on. That's my life."
According to an AI search, Senior Assassin is a popular, student-organized elimination game played by high school seniors, in which participants try to "assassinate" assigned targets with water or Nerf guns to win a cash pot.
"So I'm trying to keep him safe," McKinney quipped. "Hoping to get some of the pot! I mean now I got college to pay for and two kids on my car insurance."
A comedic staple of the Seacoast, New Hampshire and nationally, he'll be playing two shows at the Rochester Opera House next Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
McKinney, who grew up in Portsmouth and Kittery, Maine, formerly worked as a York County Sheriff's deputy.
He left the force in 1997 to pursue his comedic career in New York, where he worked all the big comedy clubs including Stand-up New York, Dangerfield's and Gotham.
He then moved to Los Angeles as his career took off, appearing in a half-dozen Comedy Central shows and on the "Tonight Show" with hosts Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien. He also got some roles on TV series "The King of Queens" and in films such as "The Zookeeper" and "Here Comes the Boom."
In 2006 he returned to New Hampshire and bought a home in Newmarket where he lives with his wife, two sons and a couple of dogs.
The majority of McKinney's humor is drawn from his personal experiences of being a husband, a parent, his marriage and raising his two boys. He also sprinkles in some local and national topics.
McKinney said he does about 130 shows a year, but tries to be home as much as he can while his sons are growing up.
A couple of years ago he produced a one-hour standup special called "Juston McKinney: On the Bright Side," which has now gotten 1.2 million views and is available for free on his Youtube channel. To view it click here
To purchase tickets for his 7:30 p.m. shows on Friday and Saturday click here.