Comedy Arts Pittsburgh (CAP) is pleased to announce the official performer lineup and workshops for the fourth annual Pittsburgh Comedy Festival (PCF) to be held August 23-27, 2017 on the University of Pittsburgh’s Oakland campus.

PCF is a non-profit, volunteer run event organized and run by CAP, an arts organization founded to elevate the profile of comedy as a performing art in Pittsburgh and to raise Pittsburgh’s profile nationally.

Stand-Up Headliner: W. Kamau Bell

Emmy-nominated comic and CNN host W. Kamau Bell delivers incisive, scathingly funny commentary on modern society that will change your view of race, politics and social issues in America. As host of the CNN docu-series “United Shades of America,” Kamau travels the country, offering viewers a rare yet eye-opening look inside the various subcultures of American life. The second season for United Shades of America began in April. He first captured audiences’ attention with his thought-provoking one-man show, “The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour,” and later, with his widely praised FX comedy series, “Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell.” The multi-talented entertainer also hosts the must-listen podcasts, “Denzel Washington is The Greatest Actor of All Time Period” and “Politically Reactive,” as well as the live public radio show, “Kamau Right Now!” Kamau’s book, The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell was released May 2nd.

Improv Headliner: North Coast Presents: ANYBODY

North Coast, New York City’s premier hip-hop improv team, has long been known for their seamless melding of high-energy freestyle rapping and long-form improv comedy. In the spirit of Lin Manuel Miranda’s Broadway hit Hamilton, ANYBODY is a fully improvised historical “hip-hopera” based on a historical figure suggested by the audience. Named one of the “Top Ten Best Comedy Shows” by Time Out New York, North Coast has been featured on VH1, on Slate’s Podcast The Gist, The Village Voice, and The New York Times Comedy Listings. They perform every Saturday night at The Peoples Improv Theater in New York City.

The festival will also feature many of Pittsburgh’s brightest stand-up and improv comedy acts, a midnight stand-up show showcasing local and national comics (including a return appearance by PCF 2016 headliner, Quincy Jones) and a family-friendly, pay-what-you-can Kids Comedy Cabaret.

Stand-Up Acts

W. Kamau Bell
Ossia Dwyer (Pittsburgh, PA)
Alex Homyak (Pittsburgh, PA)
Blair Parker (Pittsburgh, PA)
Brandon Schell (Pittsburgh, PA)
Chanel Ali (New York, NY)
Jarret Berenstein (New York, NY)
Isaac Crow (Pittsburgh, PA)
Wally Baram (New York, NY
Collin Chamberlin (Pittsburgh, PA)
Quincy Jones (Los Angeles, CA)
Chris Alan (Charlottesville, VA)
Leslie N Battle (Columbus, OH)
Robert Punchur (New York, NY)
Marlénas McMahon-Purk (Philadelphia, PA)
Rufat Agayev (New York, NY)
Gab Bonesso (Pittsburgh, PA)
Nore Davis (New York, NY)
Danny Felts (Brooklyn, NY)
Amanda Averell (Pittsburgh, PA)
Mark Caesar (New Orleans, LA)

Improv Acts

Change Machine (Pittsburgh, PA)
Brenda (Ann Arbor, MI)
Dance, Monkey! (Chicago, IL)
Game Shark (Pittsburgh, PA)
Andy’s Mints (Columbus, OH)
Sad Trombone (Philadelphia, PA)
Real Housewives of Montana (Pittsburgh, PA)
Listen, Stupid (Ferndale, MI)
The Friendship Club (New York, NY)
Well Known Strangers (Pittsburgh, PA)
North Coast presents: ANYBODY (New York, NY)
Warp Zone (Pittsburgh, PA)
Minority Re’port presents: Casually Dope (Baltimore, MD)
Swartzlander (New York, NY)
Olivia Benson (New York, NY)
The Austen Family Improv Players (New York, NY)
Grammelot (Pittsburgh, PA)
Improvised Mythology (Chicago, IL)

Kids Acts

Penny Arcade (Pittsburgh, PA)
Michael Buzzelli (Pittsburgh, PA)
Jack Rau (Pittsburgh, PA)

The festival will also offer a Kids Comedy Cabaret and a weekend of comedy workshops for both general audiences and experienced improvisers. Community workshops are offered under a pay-what-you-can pricing model and are intended for general audiences who are interested in the intersections of comedy with social justice, community-building and personal growth. Skills workshops are intended for both experienced comedians and general audiences looking to hone their comedic craft.

Community Workshops

Our Experiences as Women in Comedy
with Anupama Jain and Hannah du Plessis

30 Years of Making Connections: An Introduction
with Rich Keitel and April Daras from Pittsburgh Playback Theater

Skills Workshops

Be Authentic
with AJ McCombs and Ti Coleman of Minority Re’port

Keep it Simple, Stupid!
with Eleanor Lewis of The Friendship Club

Intro to Hip-Hop Improv
with Doug Widick or Rachel Rosenthal from North Coast & ANYBODY: The Musical

Cinema Hilarité: Film and Theatre Genres for The Improv Stage
with Lindsay Gonzales of Dance, Monkey!

Founded in 2014, PCF is organized and run by Comedy Arts Pittsburgh (CAP)–an arts organization founded to elevate the profile of comedy as a performing art in Pittsburgh and to raise Pittsburgh’s profile nationally. Using comedy as a universal language, CAP partners with artists, public and private organizations to promote comedy and the life skills it imparts.

I can be a real procrastinator. I wait to do laundry until the last sock has been worn both inside out and outside in. I regularly take my trash out at about 11:30 at night (and sometimes 7 in the morning before the truck comes the next day).

But never will I wait until the last minute to buy my #PCF tickets. Not after Nick, business analyst by day, PCF Exec staff member by night, showed us the light. Nick handles all our data, analytics, spreadsheets, algorithms, and other math class words so that English major types like me don’t have to. So when Nick gives the side eye at something involving money, you clutch your wallet close and listen.

“It’s just more economical,” says Nick. “If you took the money you saved from buying your tickets online and invested in a low risk index fund, you could buy two tickets to the 2064 Pittsburgh Comedy Festival / Robot Expo.”

But if you’re looking for reasons that might impact your more immediate future, Nick has these to share:

• When you buy in advance, you’re up for sweet discounts that don’t exist at the door.
• To create an intimate atmosphere, we put PCF up in a small theater. Great for ambiance, but tickets go fast!
• Instead of waiting in a box office line, folks with pre-bought tickets can hop in line to get a better seat in our general admission auditorium.
• Pay What You Can workshops and shows are available online! Don’t know what that means? Check it out!

Long story short, you have up until one hour before the show to get your tickets online. Don’t miss out on deals, bundles, and more! Want an even better breakdown? Business analyst Nick made a spreadsheet:

Nab tickets now, and we’ll see you this weekend at PCF!

You like to laugh, right? Of course you do!

If you’re not sure if you like to laugh, please take the Official PCF 2016 Laughter Affinity Diagnostic Test. 

(That was just a link to our schedule with ticketing info! See what we did there?)

If you like it when your face goes ha-ha, chances are there’s something for you at PCF 2016. Whether you’re a casual comedy fan, a connoisseur of the arts, a parent with young children or an evil demon whose sole purpose is to devour the souls of the innocent, we’ve got a show or a workshop for you!

Here are some of the many reasons to get your laugh-loving tushie to Oakland’s Henry Heymann Theatre this weekend for the third annual Pittsburgh Comedy Festival.

Stand-Up Headliner, Quincy Jones

Quincy Jones (no, not that Quincy Jones) is a hilarious stand-up comic originally from Seattle, now living in Los Angeles! Watch him do his thing on CONAN! Then, go see him Thursday or Friday night!

You Want to Learn Comedy (Yes, Even You!)

You’re funny, whether you like it or not. But nobody will ever know it unless you try it! PCF is proud to offer eight comedy workshops this weekend, to help you be funny on stage or in your everyday life!

No performing experience whatsoever? We’ve got workshops for that, with super supportive instructors from Pittsburgh and beyond!

A little tight on cash? Some of our workshops (and shows)are Pay-What-You Can!

Want to make funnies with your family members, including those with special needs? PCF is your new BFF.

Visit our Workshops page for complete info.

Improv Headliner, Sheldon

Sheldon is a hilarious improv duo from Chicago, comprised of Rob Belushi and Tim Stoltenberg. We’d try to give you an idea what their shows on Friday or Saturday will be like, but they’re making it all up on the spot, so they don’t even know! Mystery!

Comfy Seats for Your Butt

I mean, seriously. Look at that velvety, red goodness.

Does This Hold Up? Podcast…Live!

Old movies! Some of them used to be good, but now they seem kind of dumb. Others used to be bad, but now they seem kind of funny! Others were never good and never will be.

The “Does This Hold Up?” podcast by PCF sponsor Epicast Network is a comedy show about movies, where hosts TJ and Jamie take an old movie, make fun of it and find out if it still holds up. And PCF 2016 will feature a special live recording, featuring special guest and stand-up headliner, Quincy Jones!

Listen to their most recent episode below, on The Wicker Man  a 2006 movie where Nicolas Cage wears a bear suit.

PCF is Non-Profit, Volunteer-Run

Do you like supporting creative people who just want Pittsburgh to laugh as much as possible? If so, then seeing PCF shows and workshops will help us continue doing our thing!

PCF is a non-profit, volunteer-run event organized by Comedy Arts Pittsburgh, an arts organization founded to elevate the profile of comedy as a performing art in Pittsburgh and to raise Pittsburgh’s profile nationally.

You’re an Evil Demon

Finally, if you’re an evil demon looking for an opportunity to capture unsuspecting souls, you’re welcome at PCF, too! There totally isn’t an all-powerful angel of morality living beneath the stage of the Henry Heymann Theatre, so no need to worry about that, okay?

See the full PCF 2016 schedule and reserve your spot today!

Familomedy!

FA-mil-`OM-edy: noun. A family system found in a burgeoning comedy community that pushes its members to be their best selves & do their best work.

This is year three of the Pittsburgh Comedy Festival, and we’re looking not only to get the word out about the Pittsburgh comedy scene, but also to embrace the camaraderie we have here and the people who pour their love and creativity into this community every day. From new improv students to veteran improvisers and standups, open mic/improv jam hosts to class teachers & team coaches- you are the ones giving us a comedy scene to be proud of!

But we’re not just celebrating our local improvisers and standups- this festival is about the whole fam damilomedy! Out-of-towners visiting the ‘Burgh for PCF, we want you to feel connected here too! Indigenous Pittsburghers who love/support local comedy in a non-participatory capacity- there’s something for you too.

To this end, we are vamping up our workshop offerings to include both performer-centered workshops, and community-focused workshops that allow comedy to transcend the stage and speak into our daily lives. We’ll also be offering more networking opportunities throughout the festival for locals, visitors and everyone in between to socialize and get to know each other a little better.

For everyone in this beautiful city who’s ever said “I have a crazy idea for a show!” or “Sure- I’ll coach your practice group.” or “Yes! Please go ahead and practice in my basement/ frame shop/ living room” THANK YOU! We hope you’ll come out and enjoy the festival this year; not just for the awesome shows (Quincy and Sheldon, guys… it’s gonna be AWESOME!!), but also for the opportunities to celebrate the amazing connective power of comedy.

There are some amazing familomedy members in this town & abroad, and we think it’s high time to celebrate that!

Yes, #PghisFunny & #PghisFamilomedy
We’ll see you at the festival! Here’s the schedule if you haven’t seen it yet!

Pittsburgh Comedy Festival combines the best comedy in the ‘Burgh with incredible acts from around the country. Each year, we choose two big-name headliners to complement our lineup of submitted acts – unique performers whose talents we know will wow the pants off our eager audiences.

Of the many things I’ve learned as an improviser over the past couple of years, here are 5 of my favorite nuggets of wisdom that are as applicable both on stage and off:

1. Don’t wait for someone to invite you onto the stage. If you have an idea for something to add, get out there and add it! I’ve found this lesson especially helpful in my professional life. I’m routinely surprised by how often my ideas are welcomed without a formal invitation, when I otherwise would have held back for fear of overstepping.

2. Go when inspiration strikes! Take action while you have that burst of warm, exciting energy for something. If you wait to plan all the way through an idea instead of jumping out when it hits you, you’ll miss your opportunity. In life, you’ll psych yourself out of so many good things while you consider all the possible reasons why you could fail. Trust your creativity!

3. Know when you’re not needed on stage. Maybe you have a different idea for a scene than the one that’s happening on stage. Sure, your idea might be just as good, but “different than how you would do it” isn’t the same as “wrong and desperately needing your input.” Especially if you’re in a position of leadership, know when folks are doing just fine without you. That’s okay!

4. Listen. Think. Add Something Genuine. This is a very basic principle of improv that is usually summarized as “Yes, And.” This is crucial for building a scene on stage and also for communicating well in life. Personal arguments, professional disagreements, political debates – think of how much smoother those interactions would go if all involved were listening, then thinking, and then adding something true and helpful. Boom. World peace. Thanks, improv.

5. Be Yourself. I am not funny the way Amy Schumer is funny, or the way Bill Hader is funny, or the way Steve Carell is funny. I come from Bible Quizzing and church camp, and I understand about 3% of the cultural references my scene partners make on stage. Can’t help it – them’s ma roots. And that’s okay. Be who you are – use the tools that are naturally inside of you. Not saying you can’t expand your toolbox, but don’t neglect what’s uniquely yours to offer the world.

The inaugural Burning Bridges Comedy Festival kicks off this weekend (April 15-16) in Pittsburgh’s Allentown and South Side neighborhoods. Founded by local comedians Jesse Irvin and John Dick Winters of Race to the Coffin Comedy, BBF brings to our city’s southern parts an eclectic blend of stand-up acts and bit shows from Pittsburgh and beyond.

The PCF team spoke with John Dick Winters, festival alum from 2016, about BBF, PCF and the Pittsburgh comedy scene.

Hi John! Who the heck are you?

I’m a standup comedian, storyteller, chef, father of twin girls and owner of countless regrets. I also founded Race to the Coffin Comedy and the Burning Bridges Comedy Festival. I’m based primarily in Pittsburgh but have performed as far away as just outside of Pittsburgh.

How did you end up doing comedy?

I did my first open mic in January of 2012. It was hosted by none other than PCF alum Derek Minto at the Smiling Moose in South Side.

Tell us how the Burning Bridges Comedy Festival got started.

BBF was an idea [local comedian] Jesse Irvin and myself had a few years back. He and I started Race to the Coffin Comedy  together and we wanted to start a festival. Not too long after, the first PCF was announced, so we were like, “Cool Pittsburgh has a comedy festival now.” After PCF was established, it became clear that there was room for another festival. And now, Pittsburgh has two comedy festivals that are structured very differently.

What can BBF audiences expect this year?

The audiences can expect some incredibly high caliber stand-up from comics they’ve never heard of from all over the country and from right here in Pittsburgh. Not to mention, super one-of-a-kind shows like nearly nude comedy and the worst tattoo competition.

You performed at PCF last year. What was the experience like?

PCF was a great experience for me. I got my slot by winning an amateur contest at Arcade Comedy Theater. It was probably the most professionally conducted festival I’ve ever participated in. But BBF is completely different from PCF. It’s completely unprofessional, among other factors. PCF has improv, some stand-up and takes place in a single venue. BBF is all stand-up and will be a ****show. There are 14 shows in 6 venues, over two days, with over 50 performers. If someone doesn’t go the the hospital, I’ll be disappointed.

Tell us about the support you’ve received from local businesses/organizations.

Our sponsors were supportive right out of the gate. It was overwhelming, to be honest. All of the sponsors are listed on our website, but their generosity has not only provided financial support but encouragement to do this highly risky endeavor.

Alright, we’ll check it out. How can we get tickets?

BurningBridgesFestival.com. We’re only selling 100 festival passes, but individual tickets may be purchased at the door if available.

Learn more and buy tickets for the Burning Bridges Comedy Festival at www.burningbridgesfestival.com!

Anyone who has taken a class at one of Pittsburgh’s comedy training centers, performed stand-up at an open mic night or attended one of our local improv jams knows that it’s about the people. (And the jokes, maybe a little bit.)

But don’t take my word for it. Here at PCF, we feel that the story of Pittsburgh comedy is best told through the Internet’s favorite image format: the animated GIF.

Here are 12 reaction GIFs that describe the awesomeness that is Pittsburgh comedy.

1. When you sign up for your first class and realize how NICE everyone is. 

2. And you realize most “comedians” are just regular people.

3. At first, you don’t think you can balance comedy and your other responsibilities. But turns out…

4. When you encourage a friend to start doing comedy.

 5. When you finally admit to yourself that you are actually REALLY funny.

6. You get off stage after your very first show.

7. And an audience member approaches you to say you killed it.

8. When you realize you’re addicted to comedy and might have a problem.

9. Then, of course, your inevitable pun phase begins.

10. When a friend or coworker asks when they can see you perform. 

11. You realize how much awesome footage of local comedy is available online.

12. And when you use your recorded shows to submit your application to perform at PCF…and it gets accepted.

To submit your improv, stand-up or workshop application to PCF 2016, click here.