Chris Roach performs at The Stress Factory Comedy Club on...

Chris Roach performs at The Stress Factory Comedy Club on Dec. 29, 2017, in New Brunswick, N.J. Credit: Getty Images / Bobby Bank

Long Island comic and podcast host Chris Roach has announced he is joining comedy star Kevin James as the opening act on five of James' upcoming tour dates.

Posting on his social media a photo of himself and James, 53, outdoors and possibly in character from James' recent sitcom, "Kevin Can Wait," the 50-year-old Roach added word balloons in which James says, "Tour with me Roach" and Roach replies, "Who me?" An accompanying caption reads, "Big Announcement! I’m going on tour with Kevin James! Catch me opening for him" at these dates and venues listed at James' Facebook account:

Thursday, April 11, at The Paramount in Huntington; Friday, April 12, at Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall in Munhall, Pennsylvania, with a second show there Thursday, May 2; Saturday, April 13, at Kalamazoo State Theatre in Kalamazoo, Michigan; and Sunday, April 14, at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Missouri.

Roach, who was born in Queens but has lived in Lake Ronkonkoma and Ronkonkoma since age 5, played the recurring role of Mott, a fellow retired cop and friend of Kevin Gable (James) on the CBS sitcom "Kevin Can Wait," filmed at Bethpage’s Gold Coast Studios and set in Massapequa.

Sometimes billed as Christopher Brian Roach, he performs at comedy clubs throughout the region, including Carolines on Broadway, in Manhattan. Roach is known for his popular 2017 music video "Ronkokomo," a Long Island-centric take on The Beach Boys' "Kokomo," and for co-hosting the podcast "Long Island Explained with Chris Roach and Steve Belanger."

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