RooftopComedy to Co-Produce Aspen’s New Comedy Festival

SAN FRANCISCO, April 29 /PRNewswire/ — RooftopComedy (http://www.rooftopcomedy.com/), the Internet Comedy Channel and foremost interactive media provider of stand-up and sketch comedy will co-produce and program a new, revitalized comedy festival in Aspen, CO, it was announced today by Will C. Rogers, the CEO of RooftopComedy.

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The ‘Aspen RooftopComedy Festival’ will build upon the deep history of comedy in Aspen with a re-energized focus on the discovery of new and upcoming talent, while embracing current technology to open it up to comedy fans all around the world. Showcasing over 30 comedians, all of whom are rising stars, the centerpiece of the festival — the Final Round of the RooftopComedy National College Comedy Competition naming The Country’s Funniest College Student — symbolizes the mission of the new event.

Aspen and The Wheeler Opera House, the ‘Main Stage’ of the festival, are working together with RooftopComedy to incubate and exhibit emerging comedy talent. The Wheeler Opera House is one of RooftopComedy’s 20 current venue partners from which RooftopComedy records, broadcasts and syndicates live comedy performances. Aspen was the home of the annual H.B.O. / U.S. Comedy Arts Festival that ran from 1985 through 2007.

“Comedy has a grand history in Aspen, and we are proud to be a part of its future,” said Rogers. “We’re in the midst of a revolution in media distribution, and comedy is very much a beneficiary. It used to be that a working comic would play for a room of 250 people a night and, over the course of a good year, might perform for 40,000 total fans — with little opportunity for mass distribution of their material via the traditional media outlets of TV and radio. Now a comic can reach thousands of comedy fans in a matter of hours via online distribution. RooftopComedy is leading the charge that enables comics to easily find those larger audiences and interact with them in a whole new way.”

   The 2-day event kicks off on Friday, May 30th and features:     — “Rooftop at Large” Show: Performances by some of the larger names in        new comedy     — “Best & Brightest” Show:  A showcase of the fastest-rising stars in        stand-up     — “After Dark” Show:  Featuring new comedy voices taking stand-up in a        more ‘adult’-themed direction     — “The RooftopComedy Awards”: Honoring the best in new comedy and the        comedy/new media industry     — “National College Comedy Competition Finals”: Broadcast live via the        web, Aspen and online viewers vote to name the Funniest College        Students in the Country (in two categories, stand-up and short film)     — “The Big Show”:  A finale of the more prominent comedians     —  Industry / VIP networking and social events     Performers include:     — Jimmy Dore (Comedy Central half-hour special; writer/performer for the       Off-Broadway hit The Marijuana-Logues; The Late Late Show; Jimmy       Kimmel Live)     — Chris Porter (NBC’s Last Comic Standing;  The Bob & Tom Show, Comedy       Central’s Live Tour, Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham)     — Robert Hawkins (Comedy Central half-hour special; Late Night With       Conan O’Brien)     — Tig Nataro (NBC’s Last Comic Standing; Sarah Silverman Program; Comedy       Central Presents; Jimmy Kimmel Live; Dog Bites Man; Stand-Up       Showdown)     — Vince Morris (Comedy Central’s Tough Crowd, The Late Late Show, Comedy       Central’s Premium Blend, BET’s Comic View, HBO’s Sex And The City)     — Mike Lukas (The Tonight Show; Comedy Central ; VH-1′s Stand-up       Stand-up; Co-star of radio talk show “Crackin-Up”)     — Others: Auggie Smith, Isaac Witty; Matt Braunger; Erin Foley; Andi       Smith; Steve Wilson; Mike E. Winfield; Lisa Landry; Nathan Trenholm;       Paul Varghese; Lamar Williams; John Ramsey; Dave Waite; Geoff Tate;       Kevin Camia; Robert Buscemi; Tyrone Hawkins     About RooftopComedy  

RooftopComedy records, produces and distributes live comedy performances from the best comedy venues every night of the week, 365 days a year, publishing the funniest comedy clips to RooftopComedy.com and the RooftopComedy Network.

Recording from locations throughout the U.S. and an expanding number of venues in Europe and Asia, RooftopComedy is the leading distributor of interactive comedy videos for mobile, web and broadcast outlets. RooftopComedy works with more than 2500 professional comedians and maintains a growing video library of thousands of hours of stand-up comedy, sketch comedy, improvisational comedy and comedic short films.

    Media Contact:    Loren Pomerantz    Office: 212-583-0338 / Cell: 917-902-0219    loren@combined-forces.com  

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RooftopComedy

CONTACT: Loren Pomerantz for RooftopComedy, office, +1-212-583-0338, orcell, +1-917-902-0219, loren@combined-forces.com

Web site: http://www.rooftopcomedy.com/