Exclusive | Inside 20 years of NYCs edgiest comedy festival and the quest to find the next Jerry Seinfeld
Shortly before the heated midterm elections on Tuesday, Comedian and “Daily Show” host Jordan Klepper told The Post he hoped nobody would riot — and not just because he wants to maintain the American Experiment.“The New York Comedy Festival has so many shows and I want to go see them and I want to be able to sit back and laugh,” the 47-year-old told The Post.
“So come on, America.Let’s all be together so New York can enjoy this week.”Klepper has his own project, the current events sendup “Sh&t Show,” at Town Hall on Nov.
14.It’s part of the 20th Anniversary season of the New York Comedy Festival (NYCF), which has become a local institution for Gotham pros, hopeful amateurs and stand-up fans alike.This year, the NYCF runs from Nov.
6 — three days after Election Day — through the 15th.There will be more than 200 comedians in over a hundred shows, with venues ranging from tiny clubs in Brooklyn to massive sets in Madison Square Garden, where Dave Chappelle will open the festival.
Other headliners include Marc Maron, Jordan Jensen and Daniel Sloss at the Beacon on the Upper West Side and Saturday Night Live’s Sarah Sherman with Patti Harrison at Town Hall in Times Square.“Comedy has just exploded and is bigger than ever,” said Caroline Hirsch, the Manhattan comedy doyenne who founded the festival.(Its original home base was her club, Carolines on Broadway, which closed in 2022.)Louis Faranda, who curates the festival booking, added, “If anybody told me 20 years ago that the comedy would be as big as it is today, I would say ‘You’re out of your mind.’ Every time I think I’m on top of which comedians are breaking out, 50 more appear.
It’s unbelievable.I have never seen such an influx.”Hirsch and Faranda say the NYCF is a foil to the newer, flashier Netflix Is a Joke festival in Los Angeles, which boasts more high-profile headliners.“That’s about them making content while our festival is about the nitty-gritty of ...