Mon 11/11 – Sun 11/17
By Josh Usmani
This year’s Cleveland Comedy Festival features 50 shows and dozens of diverse performers – from children to professional, nationally-touring comedians. Many shows take place on the various stages in PlayhouseSquare, but a number of free or affordable satellite shows will take place in Cleveland, Lakewood, Lorain, Mentor and Cuyahoga Falls.
Festival highlights include a week-long, “international” stand up comedy competition (boasting a grand prize of $2,000); Last Call Cleveland local sketch troupe; Second City’s Happily Ever After; Bill Squire of WMMS’ Alan Cox Show; and the official spokesman for Cleveland tourism – Mike Polk Jr. headlining a “Best of Cleveland” show; national headliner Todd Barry and more!
“Cleveland, Ohio has more laughs per capita than any other city in the United States,” says Cleveland Comedy Festival co-director Joe Hannum. “And if you don’t believe that statistic that I just made up, I can honestly tell you that we had more comedians than ever submit who want to be part of the festival.”
“We’ve worked really hard to offer people plenty of chances to see great comedians from all of the country and Canada,” adds Cleveland Comedy Festival co-director John Wellington. “We want to give people several chances to see all these great acts from all around the U.S. and Canada. There are lot of great venues helping us show that Greater Cleveland is a great place for comedy.”
PlayhouseSquare still the main hub for the festival’s themed shows and national acts, but satellite shows will offer an opportunity to see show for free, or as little as $5. Free shows are planned at Mutt & Jeff’s in Lorain, The 5 o’Clock Lounge in Lakewood, Toth’s Place in Mentor, as well as Cleveland’s Teamz Grille, Sachsenheim Hall, Papa Nick’s, Bon Bon Pastry & Café and the Aloft Hotel. Tickets for the show at the Masonic Temple on Fri 11/15 are $10, and shows at Mahall’s 20 Lanes in Lakewood, Hilarities in Cleveland and the Funny Stop in Cuyahoga Falls are all $5.
“Five bucks! That’s a bargain,” Wellington says. “That’s cheaper than a movie, and better yet, unlike Hollywood, after these shows you can meet the stars.”
During the week, 48 comedians from across the US and Canada will compete for $2,000 in the festival’s stand up competition. Preliminary rounds take place Monday through Thursday, with a Wildcard round on Friday. All these events take place at 7:30pm at Kennedy’s Theatre. The finals will be held at 8pm Sunday in the Allen Theatre. Each preliminary show will feature 12 comedians, with two advancing. The Wildcard Round will feature 8 “Third & Fourth” place finishers competing for one last chance at the finals. Audience participation is worth 50 percent, so come support your favorite comedian! Tickets are $10 for the preliminary rounds and $12-15 for the finals.
Late Night Laughs will provide themed entertainment each night at 10pm in Kennedy’s Theatre for just $5 per person, each night. Bring your favorite sports fanatic Monday for “Sports Comedy” night. Tuesday night is “Ladies Night.” Wednesday will be “Urban Comedy,” and Thursday is provocatively titled “Dirty Comedy.”
After 4 weeks of instruction, graduates of the Class Clown Stand Up Comedy Class (ages 11-17) will perform on stage in Kennedy’s Theatre at Playhouse Square. Professional comedians Bengston, Mike Scanlon and John Wellington have 35 years of combined experience. They’ve worked with the kids to develop mic and equipment basics, joke creation and refinement, stage presence and confidence, dealing with a live audience and basic comedic persona development. Their graduation show is Sunday at 3pm and tickets are $10.
“Last year was the first Class Clown class and everyone had a great time,” says Rodney Bengston, festival co-director. “Plus this keeps the kids (and the instructors) off the street and out of trouble.”
They couldn’t call it the Cleveland Comedy Festival without highlighting our local talent. This year, Last Call Cleveland and the Best of Cleveland shows showcase some of the funniest people in town at PlayhouseSquare’s Allen Theatre.
Last Call Cleveland, a self-professed “sketch comedy troupe with a terrible name from America’s Most Miserable City (Forbes Magazine),” will hit the Allen Theatre Stage at 7:30pm Wednesday evening. Besides being named Best in Fest at Toronto Sketchfest in 2009, the troupe also has become an Internet sensation with such viral hits as “Huge Group of Girls” and “Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Videos.” Tickets for Last Call Cleveland are $15.
Bill Squire and Mike Polk Jr. headline the Best of Cleveland show on Friday night. Squire is a nationally touring comic and is most known for his role in WMMS’ “Alan Cox Show,” as well as the cult favorite YouTube series Man in the Box, starring opposite Polk. Polk is known for many things including his role in Last Call Cleveland, the “Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Videos” and local TV and radio spots. Tickets for Best of Cleveland are $12.
“These two shows will prove that Cleveland, Ohio is the funniest place in the country,” said festival co-director Joe Hannum. “Disney might be the happiest place on earth. We’ll always be the funniest.”
The Cleveland Comedy Festival runs Mon 11/11 – Sun 11/7. http://ClevelandComedyFestival.com
Josh Usmani is a 27 year old local artist, curator and writer. Since 2008, his work has been featured in over 50 local and regional exhibitions.