Calendar of Events

Schedule:
Wednesday, August 7 at Highland Brewing Company
Thursday, August 8 at Diana Wortham Theatre
Friday, August 9 at Diana Wortham Theatre
Saturday, August 10 at Diana Wortham Theatre
Late shows at Lazoom Room Wednesday – Friday
Tickets on Sale now at www.ashevillecomedyfestival.com

Pedro Gonzalez – Lucia Whalen – Ken Garr – Curtis Cook – Linda Belt – Gianmarco Soresi – Pauline Yasuda – Wellington Ojukwu – Gracie Canaan – Chris Flanagan – Winston Hodges – Courtney Gilmour –

Disclaimer Stand-up Lounge is the longest running comedy open mic in Asheville happening every Wednesday night. The show starts at 9:00, and there is no cover. Anyone wanting to perform needs to sign up by 9pm, and will get five minutes on stage. Local and not-so-local, professional and not-so-professional comics perform or just anyone wanting to get up in front of people and try to make them laugh. Always fun. Always free.

Disclaimer Stand-up Lounge is the longest running comedy open mic in Asheville happening every Wednesday night. The show starts at 9:00, and there is no cover. Anyone wanting to perform needs to sign up by 9pm, and will get five minutes on stage. Local and not-so-local, professional and not-so-professional comics perform or just anyone wanting to get up in front of people and try to make them laugh. Always fun. Always free.

Thursday night 8/1 Slice of Life Comedy Open Mic!
Both Professionals and Newbies!
Hosted by Cody Hughes
Doors 8:30p/9:00p show
$5 members/$2 for year membership
Comics get in free
(+free membership)
Free snacks/drink specials

[Comics sign up at door or email [email protected]
New comics to venue get 3-5m
Regular comics get as much time as available. Look for light]

Contact Michele at [email protected] for more info/sign up early or request a feature (paid 20m) spot

Mia Jackson is a bonafide Georgia peach (that’s Georgian for “native”) and self proclaimed know-it-all. After graduating from the University of Georgia she hit the local comedy scene and has thrilled audiences since day one. To her credit she has appeared on NickMom’s Night Out, Viceland and was a semi-finalist on Season 9 of NBC’s Last Comic Standing. She has appeared on Inside Amy Schumer and the movie Mother’s Day. In 2017, she was named a New Face at the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal and Atlanta’s Creative Loafing named her the city’s Best Stand-Up. Smart, funny, and versatile, Mia entertains all types of crowds. She just filmed her Comedy Central special at the end of January.

Featuring Petey Smith McDowell
Hosted by Morgan Bost

Sponsored by BRÖÖ Craft Beer Hair

ages 18+
Tickets $10 advance, $12 day of

FRIDAY: Doors at 8pm, show at 9pm
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-mia-jackson-friday-night-tickets-64202408131

SATURDAY: Doors at 9pm, show at 9:45pm
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-mia-jackson-saturday-night-tickets-64203472314

Mia Jackson is a bonafide Georgia peach (that’s Georgian for “native”) and self proclaimed know-it-all. After graduating from the University of Georgia she hit the local comedy scene and has thrilled audiences since day one. To her credit she has appeared on NickMom’s Night Out, Viceland and was a semi-finalist on Season 9 of NBC’s Last Comic Standing. She has appeared on Inside Amy Schumer and the movie Mother’s Day. In 2017, she was named a New Face at the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal and Atlanta’s Creative Loafing named her the city’s Best Stand-Up. Smart, funny, and versatile, Mia entertains all types of crowds. She just filmed her Comedy Central special at the end of January.

Featuring Petey Smith McDowell
Hosted by Morgan Bost

Sponsored by BRÖÖ Craft Beer Hair

ages 18+
Tickets $10 advance, $12 day of

FRIDAY: Doors at 8pm, show at 9pm
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-mia-jackson-friday-night-tickets-64202408131

SATURDAY: Doors at 9pm, show at 9:45pm
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-mia-jackson-saturday-night-tickets-64203472314

First project of the Living Architectures series, Koolhaas Houselife portrays one of the masterpieces of contemporary architecture. The film lets the viewer enter into the house’s daily intimacy through the stories and daily chores of Guadalupe Acedo, the housekeeper, and the other people who look after the building. Pungent, funny and touching.

Rob Christensen is a stand up comedian, writer, and actor who was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY – when it was still dangerous. He now lives in Los Angeles, CA where he’s all about that salad life. Rob’s unique humor is smart, self-reflective, spirited, and informed by his experiences back in Brooklyn as an illegal graffiti artist, freestyle rap battler, raver, hooligan and eventual U.S. Air Force Sergeant. Overall, Rob is generally known as a bad-ass ruffian, which does not preclude him from regularly cuddling with baby animals.

Rob had one of the best sets of his life taping THIS IS NOT HAPPENING for Comedy Central and one of the best weekends of his life taping ADAM DEVINE’S HOUSE PARTY for Comedy Central. He had one of the worst sets of his life taping LAST COMIC STANDING for NBC where Roseanne Barr told him, “I didn’t like you from the moment I saw you.”

Follow him @RobLovesBagels on Twitter and Instagram or get more info at BrooklynRob.com

Featuring Jess Cooley

Tickets $10 advance, $12 day of
Friday: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-rob-christensen-friday-tickets-67283704371

Saturday: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-rob-christensen-saturday-tickets-67287882869

Rob Christensen is a stand up comedian, writer, and actor who was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY – when it was still dangerous. He now lives in Los Angeles, CA where he’s all about that salad life. Rob’s unique humor is smart, self-reflective, spirited, and informed by his experiences back in Brooklyn as an illegal graffiti artist, freestyle rap battler, raver, hooligan and eventual U.S. Air Force Sergeant. Overall, Rob is generally known as a bad-ass ruffian, which does not preclude him from regularly cuddling with baby animals.

Rob had one of the best sets of his life taping THIS IS NOT HAPPENING for Comedy Central and one of the best weekends of his life taping ADAM DEVINE’S HOUSE PARTY for Comedy Central. He had one of the worst sets of his life taping LAST COMIC STANDING for NBC where Roseanne Barr told him, “I didn’t like you from the moment I saw you.”

Follow him @RobLovesBagels on Twitter and Instagram or get more info at BrooklynRob.com

Featuring Jess Cooley

Tickets $10 advance, $12 day of
Friday: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-rob-christensen-friday-tickets-67283704371

Saturday: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-rob-christensen-saturday-tickets-67287882869

A born & raised Cincinnati comedian, Ran Barnaclo has proven himself a front runner in the local scene after winning the title of 2017’s Funniest Person in Cincinnati. Ran has also been nominated as ‘Best Comedian’ in Best of Cincinnati’s 2018 locally voted contest.

Ran’s comedy is full of calculated descriptions that have audiences laughing for days. His story telling abilities are so aggressively masterful they can take the crowd out of their seats and into the mind of a tattooed wizard.

Ran has been able to build a fan base at his home club, Go Banana’s Comedy Club; located right outside of Cincinnati. He has shared the stage with national headliners such as Cy Admundson, Sean Patton, Kyle Kinane, and has done CYSK in NYC and The Brew Ha-Ha comedy Festival.
-Anna Mazza

Tickets $10 advance, $12 day of
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-ran-barnaclo-tickets-67290350249

Jake Marshall Head is a southern stand-up comedian living in New York City. Jake made his television debut on Fox’s “Laughs.” He has been a regular guest on SiriusXM, and he’s appeared at numerous festivals around the country, including Comedy Central’s South Beach Festival, Laughing Skull Fest, & Seattle International Comedy Competition.

Featuring Mimi J Benfield

Tickets $10 advance, $12 day of
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-jake-head-tickets-67294889827

Thursday night 9/19
Slice of Life Comedy Open Mic!
Hosted by Morgan Bost
Featuring Cody Hughes
Doors 8:30p/9:00p show
$5 members/$2 for year membership
Professional and Newbi comics
Comics get in free (+free membership)
Free snacks/drink specials

[Comics sign up at door or email [email protected]
New comics to venue get 3-5m
Regular comics get as much time as available. Look for light]

Contact Michele at [email protected] for more info/sign up early or request a feature (paid 20m)

https://www.facebook.com/events/359308851432937/?active_tab=about

Valerie Tosi is a comedian, actor, writer, and voiceover artist. Recent credits include guest stars on IFC’s Stan Against Evil, Netflix’s The Joel McHale Show, and the lead in the feature film The Sex Addict. She features for Dana Gould on the road, and has featured at several comedy festivals including Limestone, Laughing Skull, Out of Bounds, All Jane, etc. Valerie also hosts The Mermaid Comedy Hour, the longest running all female show at The Hollywood Improv. An alumni of both The Second City & iO West, her improv background led to several Buzzfeed videos garnering millions of views including a video with Kevin Hart & Ice Cube. You may have heard her voice literally everywhere as the voice of the Google Home Mini campaign​.

Sponsored by BRÖÖ Craft Beer Hair

Tickets $10 advance, $12 day of
Friday: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-valerie-tosi-friday-tickets-67297507657

Saturday: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-valerie-tosi-saturday-tickets-67299282967

Valerie Tosi is a comedian, actor, writer, and voiceover artist. Recent credits include guest stars on IFC’s Stan Against Evil, Netflix’s The Joel McHale Show, and the lead in the feature film The Sex Addict. She features for Dana Gould on the road, and has featured at several comedy festivals including Limestone, Laughing Skull, Out of Bounds, All Jane, etc. Valerie also hosts The Mermaid Comedy Hour, the longest running all female show at The Hollywood Improv. An alumni of both The Second City & iO West, her improv background led to several Buzzfeed videos garnering millions of views including a video with Kevin Hart & Ice Cube. You may have heard her voice literally everywhere as the voice of the Google Home Mini campaign​.

Sponsored by BRÖÖ Craft Beer Hair

Tickets $10 advance, $12 day of
Friday: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-valerie-tosi-friday-tickets-67297507657

Saturday: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-valerie-tosi-saturday-tickets-67299282967

Sam Evans is a comic originally from Cincinnati, OH. After relocating to New York, he was selected as one of the New Faces of the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in 2014. He has been featured on the Audible comedy podcast “Sounds Like America” and SiriusXM. He likes cats but not as much as dogs, and he would like you to teach him how to rollerblade.

Tickets $7 advance, $10 day of
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/comedy-at-fleetwoods-sam-evans-tickets-70085787477

Disclaimer Stand-up Lounge is the longest running comedy open mic in Asheville happening every Wednesday night. The show starts at 9:00, and there is no cover. Anyone wanting to perform needs to sign up by 9pm, and will get five minutes on stage. Local and not-so-local, professional and not-so-professional comics perform or just anyone wanting to get up in front of people and try to make them laugh. Always fun. Always free.

“Fever Dreams”
Director: Rob Underhill (Carrboro, NC)
2nd Prize Feature film winner of the 25th annual Twin Rivers Media Festival
Four creepytales guaranteed to give you Fever Dreams…The Agent: an alcoholic screenplay middleman becomes trapped in acting out a nightmare scripted especially for him. The Entertainer: our host reveals on national television a tragic love story… and the contents of his coffee table. This is followed by a concise vignette on the importance of Timed Romance. The Cameraman: a wannabee movie-maker’s documentary turns into a real life horror story! Filmmakers, Director and Actors will attend the screening and be available for questions.
Doors open at 7:30 / Film begins at 8:00. Open donation.

Mike Lebovitz began his comedy career at the age of six with clowning classes at the local JCC. He’s been delighting crowds with his intoxicating brand of wild-eyed humor ever since. Mike’s irreverent bar-stool philosophy careens from topic to topic like a runaway freight train with some dubious couplings. Audiences have described the experience as “spontaneous,” “joyful’ and “slightly terrifying.”
Mike cut his teeth in Chicago (not as painful as it sounds), where he was a regular at Zanies Comedy Club, The Laugh Factory and Comedy Bar Chicago. He co-founded the popular showcase, Comedians You Should Know, which he brought to New York City in 2016. It has since become the weekly go-to spot to see comedy legends and up-and-comers rock the same mic.
Internationally, Mike has offended nostrils in Montreal as a “New Face” of the 2013 Just For Laughs, and he won The Montreux Comedy Festival competition in Switzerland. He’s been featured on NBC’s Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, and HBO’s The Deuce. Look for his debut album, LEBO, in early 2019 on Stand Up Records.

Tickets $10 advance, $12 day of
Friday: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-mike-lebovitz-friday-tickets-67301682143

Saturday: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-mike-lebovitz-saturday-tickets-67303940899

Mike Lebovitz began his comedy career at the age of six with clowning classes at the local JCC. He’s been delighting crowds with his intoxicating brand of wild-eyed humor ever since. Mike’s irreverent bar-stool philosophy careens from topic to topic like a runaway freight train with some dubious couplings. Audiences have described the experience as “spontaneous,” “joyful’ and “slightly terrifying.”
Mike cut his teeth in Chicago (not as painful as it sounds), where he was a regular at Zanies Comedy Club, The Laugh Factory and Comedy Bar Chicago. He co-founded the popular showcase, Comedians You Should Know, which he brought to New York City in 2016. It has since become the weekly go-to spot to see comedy legends and up-and-comers rock the same mic.
Internationally, Mike has offended nostrils in Montreal as a “New Face” of the 2013 Just For Laughs, and he won The Montreux Comedy Festival competition in Switzerland. He’s been featured on NBC’s Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, and HBO’s The Deuce. Look for his debut album, LEBO, in early 2019 on Stand Up Records.

Tickets $10 advance, $12 day of
Friday: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-mike-lebovitz-friday-tickets-67301682143

Saturday: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lazoom-comedy-mike-lebovitz-saturday-tickets-67303940899

Asheville’s monthly all Queer Comedy Show!
All of the comedians are members of the LGBTQ community but the audience just has to be cool. This month’s headliner is Hayley Ellman from Atlanta!!!

Hayley Ellman is a comedian out of Atlanta, GA. She was inspired to start writing and performing after watching the likes of Bill Cosby, Woody Allen, and Louis CK other talented perverts; she still hasn’t figured out how to tell people who her biggest influences are anymore. The Atlanta Journal Constitution referred to her comedy as “cerebral and sardonic.” She charms audiences with her balance of sincere and silly.

Tickets $7 advance, $10 day of
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/queer-comedy-party-ft-hayley-ellman-tickets-70192223831

Disclaimer Stand-up Lounge is the longest running comedy open mic in Asheville happening every Wednesday night. The show starts at 9:00, and there is no cover. Anyone wanting to perform needs to sign up by 9pm, and will get five minutes on stage. Local and not-so-local, professional and not-so-professional comics perform or just anyone wanting to get up in front of people and try to make them laugh. Always fun. Always free.

Underwear Comedy Party is a night of nearly nude laughs. All the comedians will be performing in their underwear and we encourage the audience to strip down too!

doors at 8pm, show at 9pm

Tickets $10
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/underwear-comedy-party-avl-tickets-70332354967

Underwear Comedy Party is a night of nearly nude laughs. All the comedians will be performing in their underwear and we encourage the audience to strip down too! doors at 8pm, show at 9pm.

 
Asheville Improv Collective presents
AICFest 2019
October 4, 2019 • 5 PM, 7 PM & 9 PM
Tina McGuire Theatre
Asheville Improv Collective Website

This event takes place in the Tina McGuire Theatre at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts.

5 PM Block
The lineup, in order of appearance: Harriet (Lexington, KY), Mabel’s Baby (Asheville), Syndication (Greenville, SC)
Seated show, 18+
Price: $15

7 PM Block
Headliner: Messing With A Friend
Opening (in order of appearance): Hardy Boys + Sichuan Pepper Daddies + Abraham
Seated show, 18+
Price: $25
Show info:

AIC is very proud to present, and Western North Carolina is very lucky to host, the legendary Susan Messing as she, plus a special guest, perform the critically-acclaimed Messing with a Friend. See below for more background info on Susan Messing.

Susan Messing wrote and performed in two mainstage revues at the legendary Second City, and directed their National Touring Company. Messing is a founding member of the infamous Annoyance Theatre where she has created roles in over thirty original productions, including “Co-Ed Prison Sluts”, “The Miss Vagina Pageant”, and “Your Butt”. In addition, she conceived, co-adapted (with Mary Scruggs) and directed the critically acclaimed “What Every Girl Should Know…An Ode to Judy Blume” for the Annoyance stage, where she also continues to teach.

You can see Messing’s critically-acclaimed show, “Messing with a Friend” every Thursday night at The Annoyance. Messing has been an adjunct professor for Loyola University, DePaul University’s Theatre School, and The University of Chicago, and The School of Steppenwolf. Her standup act with her puppet, Jolly, has been featured at the HBO/US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, and on Comedy Central’s Premium Blend and NBC’s Late Fridays. You can hear her voice on radio and tv ads. Susan has been cut from several blockbuster films, but her recent movie role in “Let’s Go to Prison!” as a bad stripper in a halo brace, made her very happy. Her daughter, Sofia Mia, is very twelve, very ridiculous, and very awesome.

Opening will be San Diego’s Hardy Boys, Washington, DC’s Sichuan Pepper Daddies and Greenville, SC’s Abraham!

9 PM Block
Headliner: Mamas Boy
Opening (in order of appearance): Soggy Naan + Co-Workers + Aftermath
Seated show, 18+
Price: $25
Show info:

AIC is very proud to present Mama’s Boy, the all-female improv super-group featuring the overwhelmingly talented Maribeth Monroe, Jaime Moyer, Stephanie Courtney and Celeste Pechous! Here’s some more background info on each performer:

Jaime Moyer is an alum of the University of Detroit-Mercy, The Second City-Detroit, and is a current member of the acting unions SAG-AFTRA and AEA. She is also a former Artistic Director of Planet Ant and current Home Team member. Jaime was awarded the sole prize of Maestro at The Out of Bounds Comedy Festival in Austin, Texas in 2011. She has appeared on Parks and Recreation, 2 Broke Girls, Jennifer Falls, and has a recurring role on Disney’s KC Undercover. Jaime is the creator of the viral hit “Fancy Catz” which can be seen on YouTube at the Second City Network, and has appeared in several short and feature length films. She can be seen performing weekly at The Second City Hollywood and iO WEST in Los Angeles, California.

Stephanie Courtney is an actress and improviser and a long time performer at The Groundlings Theater in Los Angeles. Her TV credits include recurring roles on The Goldbergs, Nobodies, You’re The Worst, Mad Men, and The Comeback. On the film side she can be seen opposite Bob Odenkirk in the Netflix feature Girlfriend’s Day, and other credits include The Heartbreak Kid, Christopher Guest’s For Your Consideration, and Melvin Goes to Dinner directed by Bob Odenkirk. She also appeared opposite Nathan Fillion and Adam Tudyk on the popular web-series Con Man. Stephanie is well known for playing “Flo” in the Progressive Insurance commercials. Ad Age recently named her one of the top female ad icons of all time, on a list that included Rosie the Riveter and Betty Crocker.

Celeste Pechous (SAG/AFTRA) has improvised around the world with some of the most distinguished improv theaters. An alumna of the Second City Chicago, Pechous has trained and performed at the Second City Chicago/LA, iO Chicago/LA, and The Annoyance Theater. She was honored Best Actress for her work in The Clan at the Midwest Film Festival and received a Best Actress nominee from the Downtown LA Film Festival and was awarded the Outstanding Performance from The SNAFF Film Festival for her work in the dark-comedy short, Past Due, based on her short story. TV credits include HBO’s Sharp Objects, NBC’s The Kenan Show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, USA’s Pearsons, Amazon’s Upload, Showtime’s Masters of Sex, Netflix’s One Day at a Time, Epix’s Get Shorty, Comedy Central’s Workaholics,Review and TV Land’s Hot in Cleveland. She appeared in Work in Progress, which debuted to accolades at Sundance 2019. See her next in the feature film Against All Enemies. You can also see her improvise at Second City LA and on tv in one of her many national commercial spots. Pechous teaches Improv at Second City Hollywood and for UCLA’s Extension Studies. She is the founder of Dosage Improv Workshops in Los Angeles.

Opening will be Charlotte’s Soggy Naan, Dallas’s Co-Workers and Asheville’s very own, Aftermath!

The parents are out of town and the kids (local comedians) are running the show!
Come out to LaZoom for a night of comedy from Asheville’s best comics.

Tickets $10 advance, $12 day of
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/moms-out-tonight-local-comedy-showcase-tickets-71017628639