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Jersey City Comedy Festival Opens August 12

August 5, 2020/in Diversions, Events, header, Latest News, News, Other Fun Stuff, Uncategorized /by Melissa Surach

Virtual Event To Highlight Emerging New Jersey Comics

Good news, shut-ins! The Jersey City Comedy Festival is next week. Formerly known as the 6th Borough Comedy Festival, the Jersey City Comedy Festival will take place online via Zoom. It will be a parade of live comedy shows featuring stand-up, sketch and improv that you may enjoy in the comfort of your own home or wherever you prefer to recline.

The festival, produced by Art House Productions, was originally scheduled for live, indoor shows in June and postponed for safety reasons. Ultimately it was moved to Zoom in August. Now it’s four days of pandemic-safe entertainment.

“This four-day virtual comedy festival will be as lively and interactive as possible!” said Meredith Burns, executive director of Art House. “We’re hoping that the 2021 Comedy Festival will be an in-person event. In the meantime, we are very excited about the virtual possibilities!”

“Essentially what we are trying to do is recreate the live experience as much as possible. We are interested in hearing the audience react. This is not a streamed event. This is a live, virtual event where the comics will see the audience and vice versa and the audience will see the other audience members. We’re all in one big virtual room together breathing and laughing!”

However, trying to organize an online comedy festival during the pandemic isn’t all fun and games. Economically, it’s been tough. “We haven’t been able to secure the same sponsorships as we did in the past. Unfortunately, it’s a tough market for that right now. I also think sponsors might not understand the value of virtual events in the same way, but I’m optimistic that will change in the near future as they see how beneficial it can be for their brands,” Burns said.

On a bright note, ticket sales are about what they were last year at this time. “I think more people will buy closer to the events themselves and the day of,” Burns said.

In 2017, Burns founded the “Sixth Borough Comedy Festival” with fellow comedians Rich Kiamco and Ari Miller as a way to ensure more diversity and inclusion in comedy festivals. “We had performed at comedy fests around the country and found them to be overwhelmingly white, male spaces. We’ve made diversity and inclusion the hallmark of the Jersey City Comedy Festival.” The first night of the festival, on August 12, is part of Jersey City Pride.

In 2017, the domain for “Jersey City Comedy Festival” was not yet available. It was still owned by the original Jersey City Comedy Festival’s founder, comedian and artist Craig Mahoney. In 2019, the domain was up for grabs, and Burns and crew reappropriated the name. Miller moved to Los Angeles in 2018. The management team now includes co-producers Xavier Padin and Janelle Gaeta, Art House’s Producing Director Courtney Little, and Theater Manager, Miranda Dahl.

Also new to the festival is a “Jersey Strong” showcase on Friday night at 10 p.m. All of the comedians who will be in it are based in or from New Jersey. Although many of the comedians in the entire festival hail from New Jersey, this particular showcase is named for its strength, a phrase coined by Governor Murphy. As Burns gushed with pride, “I think people from New Jersey have a certain toughness about them that can perhaps be misinterpreted, so I think the governor is affirming that our strength is a positive thing. We’re so used to being the butt of every joke, but in actuality the big secret everyone in New Jersey knows is we’re the best state in America.

She continued, “We have the best of everything here. The best people, the best schools, the best beaches, the best restaurants, the best pizza (shout out to Razza), the best artists (Meryl Streep, come through!), the best cities, the setting of the best TV show of all time (The Sopranos); the only thing we’re missing is great mountains, so I guess you can’t have everything! I’ve been to four continents and 32 states, and I’ve really liked a lot of places, but New Jersey is special.”

Comedian Alex Grubard, a Jersey City resident featured in the Jersey Strong showcase, says, has a slightly different opinion, “Jersey’s strength comes from years of questionable construction contracts. Like when you duct tape something together over and over even though it probably was never broken in the first place.”

It’s his first time doing Jersey City Comedy Festival. Regarding the virtual nature of the show, he said, “I’ll miss running into lots of comics all around town like at a comedy festival with lots of live shows, but the lineups are good, and I’m excited to see everyone perform.” He plans on doing his set from Corgi Distillery where he has a live show earlier that night.

 Last year the festival roasted Mayor Fulop, which he described as being, “as enjoyable as it sounds.” This year, Character Assassin will roast Harry Potter. Character Assassin is a comedy troupe based in of Louisville, Kentucky with chapters in New York and Chicago. The troupe specializes in roasting fictional characters and historical figures. According to Andy Fleming, producer of the Chicago chapter, “Character Assassination is just like your classic Friars Club or Comedy Central-style roast but with beloved pop culture figures (or really anything) instead of real people sitting on the dais with each character played by one of the funniest/meanest stand-up comedians we know.”

When I asked him why roasting people real or fictional brings people together, he said, “Honestly, the roasting of a fictional character is what brings people together the most for me because no one’s actually getting their feelings hurt. I would never say to Daniel Radcliffe’s face the terrible things that I have said to people playing Harry Potter. For one, I can’t get close to him because of the restraining order.”

It will also be the first time the group is doing their show via Zoom although Fleming says, “I think it’s a format that lends itself perfectly to the roasts. Instead of a dais, you get a Brady Bunch-like grid of these characters telling each other to go fuck themselves!”

He quipped, “[P]ersonally, I grew up a huge Sopranos and Kevin Smith fan, so visiting Jersey has always been a dream of mine!”

I asked Burns why JCCF wasn’t roasting locals this time around like a rich developer, for example. Burns responded that having a group with a broader target audience was for the greater good. “Character Assassination is roasting Harry Potter, and we’re assuming they might throw in some jokes about J.K. Rowling given her recent twitter performance,” she said. “The interesting thing about this event now being virtual is that it opens up our target market! You can Zoom in from anywhere in the world, and we want to make sure that the events we’re presenting are for everyone, not just for people who live in Jersey City and are aware of the key players.”

Other changes? Emerging comics only and cash prizes. In the past, comedians like Gilbert Gottfried have headlined, but this year the money is going to comedians. “This is the first year we’re offering cash prizes,” said Burns. “We made the choice to forego bigger-name headliners and offer cash prizes to the emerging comics. This is a challenging time for artists, and we’re trying to support them as much as we can.” In the past the prizes consisted of performance opportunities at other venues.

The festival culminates in The Best of the Fest competition on Saturday night, which brings us to a final plea from Burns:

“We need you, the audience, to help us give away $1,000 in cash prizes to the comedians: $250 to the best sketch team, $250 to the best improv team, $250 to the audience stand-up pick, $250 to the industry stand-up pick.”

The industry stand-up pick will also receive a one-month residency of primetime spots at Broadway Comedy Club, courtesy of TheIndustryRoom.com.

The Jersey City Comedy Festival runs from August 12–15. Tickets are $10–$15. Discounted festival passes, which include one ticket to each event, are also available for $45.50. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.JerseyCityComedyFestival.com. 

Jersey City Comedy Festival Returns! Submissions Open Now

November 13, 2019/in header, Latest News, Performing Arts /by Melissa Surach

The most prestigious comedy event of Jersey City, the Sixth Borough Comedy Festival, returns this coming summer for the third successive year with a new name: Jersey City Comedy Festival. The event will showcase a diverse range of talent representative of the second most diverse city in the nation, according to wallethub.com.

Comedians perform at the 2019 Comedy Festival. Photo by Miguel Aviles.

“Not to rail against white men,” said Meredith Burns, executive director of Art House Productions, which organizes the festival, “but diversity in the festival is important.” Burns is a comedy festival veteran herself who has performed with the group The Executives at almost every sketch fest imaginable in the US and Canada. She noticed that festivals seemed to showcase mostly performers from one demographic and wanted to rectify that. So, the festival will include a “wide variety of ages and abilities,” Burns reported. “We wanted to make it representative of Jersey City,” she said.

The comedy festival has been around since 2013 in fits and starts. Originally produced by Art House and comedian and artist Craig Mahoney, the event was called “Jersey City Comedy Festival” and lasted two years.

In 2018, it was resurrected. This time around, though, the festival’s management would change.

Art House (now being run by Burns) tapped Jersey City comedian Rich Kiamco to curate the show.  (Burns had been impressed with his long-running comedy show “The Laugh Tour.”)  Then-Jersey City comedian Ari Miller was asked to co-produce, too.

But the festival also got a new name. Turns out the URL “JerseyCityComedyFestival.com” was already taken; so rather than use a different URL, Burns and company decided to rebrand.

“We had to get creative,” Burns explained. The name “Sixth Borough Comedy Festival” was a little tongue in cheek, and we liked the ring of ‘6BCF’.”  So “Sixth Borough Comedy Festival” it would be.

Xavier Hernandez (co-producer of 6BCF 2019), Mayor Steve Fulop, Rich Kiamco (co-producer 6BCF and JCCF), Meredith Burns (Director of Art House, co-producer of 6BCF/JCCF). Photo by Miguel Aviles.

This past year’s 6BCF, the second and most successful 6BCF, featured more than 140 comedians over the course of four nights. In addition to stand

up, sketch, storytelling, musical comedy, a podcast, and improv, it culminated in a roast of Mayor Steve Fulop.

“Getting roasted by Jersey City’s funniest residents was just as enjoyable as it sounds,” the mayor reported.  “As much as I loved being subjected to jokes at my own expense during the last Comedy Festival, I’m happy to pass the baton to the next guest of honor,” the mayor said.

“As for suggestions of who should be next on the hot seat,” Fulop added, “I know of some people who could use a good laugh after [last Tuesday’s] Election Day.” Nonetheless the mayor did not give any names.

According to Burns, there were over 600 people in attendance throughout the 2019 festival, up 20% from the previous year. “It was interesting,” she said. “Gilbert Gottfried performed [in 2018], and while we certainly had great names this year, none of them had that nostalgic value,” Burns said while considering the increase of show goers.

“There were so many people there it was almost a fire hazard!” said Kiamco, referring to the “Friday Night Roast Battle” at the Newark Avenue club FM.

The 2020 Jersey City Comedy Festival is scheduled for June 10-13. It will feature stand-up, sketch, improv, musical comedy, maybe storytelling, and podcasts.

Comedians will have the chance to compete for prizes — and the festival may include panels and workshops (to suggest a topic for a panel or workshop, contact jccf@arthouseproductions.org.)

Finally, the group Character Assassination may headline the event with a theatrical roast.

Submissions for the Jersey City Comedy Festival are open through February 29, 2020.

In the meantime, be sure to check out the many budget-friendly underground comedy shows you could see right now in Jersey City.

For more information on the 2020 Jersey City Comedy Festival, visit 6thBoroughComedyFest.com.

Header: From left: Xavier Hernandez (co-producer of 6BCF 2019), Mayor Steve Fulop, Rich Kiamco (co-producer 6BCF and JCCF), Meredith Burns (Director of Art House, co-producer of 6BCF/JCCF). Photo by Miguel Aviles.

News Briefs

Hudson County Community College has been named the recipient of a one-year, $850,000 investment from the JPMorgan Chase. The investment will be utilized for a program the College developed to address the challenges of the economic crisis in Hudson County that were brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program is designed to provide lasting improvement in the County’s workforce ecosystem.

Mayor Steven Fulop and the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation (JCEDC) have launched the latest round of emergency funding to provide over $2.5 million in direct aid and support to Jersey City’s neediest residents, regardless of immigration status. The city will partner with  York Street, Women Rising, United Way, and Puertorriqueños Asociados for Community Organization (PACO). 

Darius Evans, age 45, of Jersey City was arrested  on Monday by The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office in connection with the stabbing death of 39-year-old Tyrone Haskins early New Year’s morning. The charges include Murder and two counts of Possession of a Weapon for Unlawful Purposes.

Mayor Steven Fulop is joining forces with Uber to announce a new agreement that will expand residents’ access to COVID-19 vaccinations with free Uber rides to and from Jersey City vaccination sites. Phase 1B includes essential frontline workers and seniors 75 years old and over.

According to a report in the Jersey Journal, Jersey City received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines Monday and plans to begin vaccinating eligible residents later this week at the Mary McLeod Bethune Center.

The federal Paycheck Protection Program, which offers businesses loans that can be forgivable, reopened on January 11th. The revised program focuses first on underserved borrowers – minority- and women-owned businesses.

Jersey Art Exchange (JAX) has merged with Art House Productions effective January 2021 to help improve and expand arts education and opportunities for the Jersey City community. JAX Founder Jacqueline Arias will remain Director of the program at Art House.

Christmas trees will be collected citywide every Wednesday night throughout the month of January. Pickup resumes this Wednesday January 13th.

Keep abreast of Jersey City Covid-19 statistics here.

Governor Murphy has launched a “Covid Transparency Website” where New Jerseyans can track state expenditures related to Covid.  Go here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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