Day: January 22, 2010

If you're a little bit confused about which Magners Comedy Festival you're planning on attending later this winter, then you wouldn't be the only one. I'd recently seen some comedians asking me and everyone else for their votes via Facebook and emails so they could compete in the Magners fest. They were talking about the inaugural three-day event in Boston, which is happening Feb. 4-6, 2010, at Tommy's Comedy Lounge and Nick's Comedy Stop. Well, this Magners Comedy Festival has announced the 10 contestants who made the cut after online voting to participate: Jay Hollingsworth, Paul Keenan, Brett Druck, Sean Wilkinson, Ahmed Bharoocha, Chris Fleming, Kyle Ploof, Lucas Bohn, Shereen Kassam and Jono Zalay. The winner will earn the chance to travel to Dublin and perform at the Bulmers (Irish for Magners) Comedy Festival later this year. Tickets: $20 per show, $60 for the full, three-day fest. Other events in the smaller Boston edition of Magners includes a New York vs. Boston comedy show, a "Best of Boston" show, and a headlining performance by Gary Gulman. Meanwhile, Magners is sponsoring a much larger comedy festival — billed as Europe's largest — each year in Glasgow, and the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival announced its full schedule yesterday, which begins March 11 and runs through March 28 in Scotland. Among the Americans making the trek: Bill Burr, Marc Maron, Rich Hall, Stephen...

Tonight is the two-hour A-list telethon for Haiti earthquake relief efforts, airing in primetime on all of the networks and several cable channels. I've also been notified of a few more all-star live benefit shows for Haiti that will be taking place in New York City and Los Angeles. Saturday, Jan. 23: A Night of Comedy and Music to Benefit Haiti, presented by Bowery Presents and BrooklynVegan, with Zach Galifianakis, Spoon's Britt Daniel, Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver), St. Vincent, Janeane Garofalo, The Daily Show's Wyatt Cenac, and John Shade. It's at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, with tickets for $35-$40, and VIP options to donate more. All proceeds split between a Haiti orphanage and the Red Cross. Monday, Jan. 25: Sarah Silverman, Ed Helms, Aziz Ansari, Thomas Lennon, at Largo in Los Angeles. Proceeds benefit Habitat for Humanity in Haiti. Tickets: $50. Wednesday, Jan. 27: Strength Through Unity, A Benefit for the victims of the Earthquake in Haiti. At the Bell House in Brooklyn. Tickets: $50, with all proceeds split between Save the Children and Partners in Health. Scheduled lineup: Jimmy Fallon, The Walkmen, Ted Leo, Eugene Mirman, The Wrens, Michael Showalter, Sondre Lerche, Todd Barry, A.C. Newman of New Pornographers with Rhett Miller of Old 97s plus Nicole Atkins as a Seekers cover band, Here We Go Magic, NY1's Pat Kiernan and The Wahoo Skiffle Crazies. These...