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The Comedy Festival

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The Comedy Festival
GenreComedy festival
LocationsLas Vegas, Nevada
Aspen, Colorado[1]
Years active1995–2008[2]
Founded1995[3][4]

The Comedy Festival, formerly known as the US Comedy Arts Festival,[5] was a comedy festival that ran from 1995[6][7] to 2008.[8] The festival included stand-up comedy performances, appearances by the casts of television shows, and has a film component[9] called the Film Discovery Program.[10][11]

History

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The first 13 editions of the US Comedy Arts Festival were held annually at the Wheeler Opera House and other venues in Aspen, Colorado.[12] The primary sponsor of the festival was HBO, with co-sponsorship by Caesars Palace (the primary venue), TBS, GEICO Insurance, Twix candy bars and Smirnoff Vodka. In-between, HBO had started a spin-off version simply named The Comedy Festival, which was held in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 2006,[13] in collaboration with the Anschutz Entertainment Group.

The Aspen event folded in 2007 once HBO exited the festival business, considering the expenditures too high.[8] American comedian Chris Fleming performed at the 2007 event.[14]

TBS picked up the Las Vegas event in 2008, and organized a follow-up edition that year, also arranging for other comedy festivals in collaboration with Just for Laughs.[15] In turn, Aspen replaced the festival with similar events, the Aspen RooftopComedy Festival and the Aspen Laff Festival.[16][17][18][19]

References

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  1. ↑ Phil Rosenthal (March 3, 1997). "Live From Aspen, It's a Tribute!". LA Times. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Celebrating a Decade of Laughs, U.S. Comedy Arts Festival Wraps in Aspen". IndieWire. March 16, 2004. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  3. ↑ Steve Johnson (March 7, 1997). "'Animal House' Without Belushi". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  4. ↑ "HBO Comedy Festival - USCAF History". hbocomedyfestival.com. Archived from the original on June 12, 2004. Retrieved July 26, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ↑ "U.S. Comedy Arts Festival Details, a Report by Trademark Bank | Calendar Your Mark | Monitor Similar Marks". Trademarkbank.com. September 16, 1994. Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  6. ↑ Lei, Richard (April 2, 1995). "What Are You Laughing At? Weird And Hostile Detours In The Search For New Comedy". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  7. ↑ Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan), Sunday, March 26, 1995, Page 55. ... going for yucks at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colo.
  8. 1 2 Hooper, Troy (May 10, 2007). "Comedy fest drops Aspen". The Denver Post. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  9. ↑ The Mandy Network (March 12, 2006). "HBO's Comedy Fest announces winners | HBO Comedy Festival". Festivalfocus.org. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  10. ↑ "The HBO Comedy Festival to Be Held in Aspen February 28th – March 4th, 2007" (Press release). IndependentFilm.com. July 18, 2006.
  11. ↑ "HBO: No U.S. Comedy Arts Festival next year". Denverpost.com. August 30, 2007. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  12. ↑ Variety Staff (February 24, 1997). "Live From Aspen". Variety. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  13. ↑ "The Comedy Festival - About". The Comedy Festival. Archived from the original on October 20, 2006. Retrieved July 26, 2017. HBO and AEG Live will team up once again to make Las Vegas 'the home of funny' when the second annual edition of The Comedy Festival is presented Nov. 14-18, 2006.
  14. ↑ "Chris Fleming during HBO's 13th Annual U.S. Comedy Arts Festival -..." Getty Images. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  15. ↑ Szalai, Georg (February 21, 2008). "TBS expands comedy festival work". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Aspen Laff Fest just for laughs? Nope – the Wheeler wants smarts, too". AspenTimes.com. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  17. ↑ "HBO pulls U.S. Comedy Arts Festival". AspenTimes.com. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Wheeler Opera House Announces Line-up of 2017 Aspen Laugh Festival | Aspen CO Chamber". www.aspenchamber.org. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  19. ↑ Husted, Bill (May 14, 2007). "Comedy Arts Festival was a hoot in Aspen". Denverpost.com. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
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