The fifth annual Charleston Comedy Festival, a co-production of Theatre 99 and the Charleston City Paper, has rounded up a passel of improv, sketch, and stand-up comedians for four nights of easy fun.
Comedy’s the perfect companion for a cold (or warm) winter night — it doesn’t require any heavy lifting on your part, unless you consider drinking Firefly Vodka and Magic Hat beer a ponderous task.
The fun starts on Wednesday with lots of homegrown talent — Theatre 99’s local troupe Neckprov followed by John Brennan’s popular Banana Monologues. And for the first time this year, we’ll pick Charleston’s Funniest Person in a stand-up competition at the Music Farm. (Think you’re funny? Call (843) 853-6687 to see if any performance slots remain.)
On Thursday and Friday, the Harvard Sailing Team returns after a great run at last year’s Piccolo Spoleto — it’s good, clean comedy and amazingly deft, considering the number of players they cram on stage with them.
The highlights continue through the weekend and are too numerous to go into here — I Eat Pandas, The Josh and Tamra Show, Hot Sauce, The Apple Sisters Variety Show, and many more acts from around the country.
That’s why we’ve put together this incredibly handy program guide. Read about each act and use the schedule as you make your plans for the weekend.
Recently voted Best Local Actor and Best Local Comic by City Paper readers, festival favorite John Brennan presents his recent stage hit on the kick-off night of this year’s fest.
Our favorite faux Ivy League comedians, Harvard Sailing Team, are back. As you recall, this New York-based sketch comedy group made a big splash at Piccolo Spoleto last spring, leaving a huge buzz in their wake.
Uncle Sam is under attack. Standing tall with his striped hat and Abe Lincoln beard, he’s beset on all sides by dark, evil wraiths with logos ’round their necks.
Take two close friends — both trained actors and gifted improvisors — who regularly share deep conversations. Now put them on stage at an improv show and let ’em at it.
I Eat Pandas does what it takes Andrew Lloyd Webber years to do: create a musical from start to finish all in the course of an evening. One hour, three mini-musicals, lots of laughs.
Well known in the Lowcountry for the long-running (and all too abruptly ended) 96 Wave morning show Storm & Kenny Radio Show with Stupid Mike, Ken Zimlinghaus has moved on up to Sirius Satellite Radio and some sweet and sassy stand-up comedy in a little town called New York City.
In one of the new few stand-up performances of the Comedy Festival, New York comedians Tom McCaffrey and Steve Burr compete head to head at Tonik allowing you to decide who’s the funniest man on Earth.
Singing, dancing, comedy, and modern-day issues draped in 1940s style: If you find yourself hankering for all this and more, the Apple Sisters Variety Show is here to ease what ails you.
Stuart Scotten of Season Six will tell you straight out that audience participation is the single most important factor for a successful improv comedy performance.
The recurring role in Murder, She Improvised is that of Sir John Holmes of Scotland Yard, renowned throughout the world for the length of his, uh, investigative record and the depth to which he probes.
Not a year goes by without the latest brand of comedy being heralded as the new rock ‘n’ roll. The Pushers may not have the instruments, but they’ve got enough fans, chutzpah, and hotel bills to make a case for the affirmative.
