Adam Newman had an “Office Space” moment when he decided he had to leave Athens.

“I was on my sixth hour of making sure paper didn’t jam on the scanner [at work], so I was watching and straightening paper and it got to the point where I didn’t want to do that anymore,” said the 2005 University alumnus of his move to Brooklyn, N.Y., in July of 2006 to pursue stand-up comedy.

Newman returns to Athens Saturday for his second homecoming comedy performance at the 40 Watt Club.

Since moving, Newman has taken improvisational comedy courses at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, modeled for fashion photographer Terry Richardson and appeared as an extra in a gay pornographic movie in addition to stand-up comedy.

For Saturday’s performance, the lineup includes Heather Fink, with whom Newman hosts a monthly comedy show called “Street Meat” at Cake Shop in Manhattan.

Street Meat’s program, which includes videos, doing characters and stand-up as a comedy variety show, will inform the format of the 40 Watt performance, Newman said.

The show will feature the reunion of Newman’s band Coulier, jokingly named after actor Dave Coulier, who played “Uncle Joey” on the 1990s television show “Full House.”

“We’re very tongue-in-cheek instrumental metal,” Newman said. “We’re very technically proficient but at the same time we could only take ourselves so seriously.”

This sense of humor included a variety of large-scale pranks and gags during the band’s time in Athens.

“We thought it’d be fun if, at one of our CD release shows, we didn’t play any of our songs and taught our friends how to play our songs,” Newman said.

The prank turned out to be more for the benefit of the band than the audience, Newman said.

“We thought it’d be funny to surprise everyone and have Athens super groups’ musicians play our songs. It’d be the best show watching your own songs played by your favorite musicians,” he said. “It pissed off half the crowd, but we thought it was hilarious.”

Such Athens “super group” collaborations have taken the place of legitimate Coulier shows in other instances as well.

“For our last show that Coulier ever played, instead of two guitars we had nine bass players,” Newman said.

Coming home to perform at the 40 Watt as a comedian and with his old band is significant to Newman.

“When I moved to Athens, the 40 Watt was the goal,” he said. “To be able to leave [Athens] on that note and come back a year later and play with my band and doing what I do now, that’s really cool for me.”

Newman also said he is eager to showcase his development as a comedian and see old friends.

“After six months [since last performing comedy at Little Kings], it’s just a drastic, drastic difference,” Newman said.

“It’s great to come back, make a big deal about it and have all my friends in the same place see what I’ve been working on in the last few months. Who gets to go back to their hometown and do that? That’s a great, awesome thing.”