Day: May 4, 2010

Someone told me the other day that Portland's Bridgetown Comedy Festival was so much fun, he wondered why more cities don't also have their own fests so we can do this year-round across the country? Well, we're closer to that point than he thinks. In fact, we have times during the year in which we even have competing comedy festivals. Such is the case next month, when June 10-13 finds a group of stand-up comedians (pro and college ranks) heading to Aspen for the Rooftop Comedy Festival, while sketch groups convene in New York City for SketchFest NYC. It's times like this when you wish you could be in two places at once. Rooftop's performer list is top-lined by Marc Maron and Michael Ian Black among the 30 stand-ups, and also includes improv by Theme Park (who also did Bridgetown) and the National College Comedy Competition. SketchFest NYC, meanwhile, returns to the UCB Theatre for its sixth edition with three nights of shows and 30 sketch groups. Its featured shows include a presentation from former SNL writer Tom Davis, who'll bring his memoir to life onstage with special guests, performances from Murderfist, Fearsome presents Grease 3: Threase, Elephant Larry, FUCT, and videos from Backpack Picnic, Front Page Films and...

When an SUV loaded with explosives shut down Times Square on Saturday night, Iranian-American comedian Maz Jobrani was headlining a few blocks north at Carolines on Broadway. He sent out a notice to his Twitter followers early Sunday morning: "1 show left in NY Sun nt. Times Square was closed 2nt near the club b/c of a bomb scare …wasn't me! I swear!" After all, Jobrani's tour and recent DVD is called "Brown and Friendly." He managed to joke about the incident at Carolines before his weekend stint was out. Roll the...