The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Wit-tish invasion
Up-and-comic comics coming to make laugh during Cleveland Comedy Festival
Whether it’s the sports teams, economic woes or a burning river, collectively Northeast Ohio has had a lot to cry about over the years. But after some point, all one can do is laugh. That’s kind of the idea local funnyman Joe Hannum had less than a decade ago when he decided to energize what he felt was the area’s untapped comedy scene.
This leads us to the eighth annual Cleveland Comedy Festival, which takes place Nov. 1822, mostly at Playhouse Square with select shows at satellite venues such as Hilarities 4th Street Theatre, The Funny Stop, The Bop Stop and Bonkerz Comedy Club.
“We’ve grown quite a bit,” said Cleveland Comedy Festival cofounder Hannum, whose day job is as a direct marketing strategist. “We’re offering more prize money and we’re getting more and better quality comedians from all over the country that want to participate in the festival and want to win our contest.
“We’ve expanded our schedule with Playhouse Square, so we’re now doing 30-plus shows in five days with them. We also strengthened our relationship with some of the comedy clubs.”
Throughout the festival, more than 100 local and national comedians will entertain what is expected to be a total of about 3,500 folks.
The headliner is Boston’s Jim McCue, who is known as the “king of crowd work.” He appears Nov. 21 at The Bop Stop.
“He’s a national headliner and also the founder of the Boston Comedy Festival,” Hannum said. “He’s very funny. Also this year we’re being a little bit more locally focused by doing a ‘Big Chuck and Lil’ John’ show with both of them and Mike Polk Jr. We’re celebrating almost 50 years on televisions with those guys.”
The plan is for the hilarious and diehard Northeast Ohio supporter to get “Big” Chuck Schodowski and “Lil’” John Rinaldi to tell stories, screen classic clips from the show and talk about their mentor Ernie “Ghoulardi” Anderson.
“I’m super excited about it,” Polk said. “I’ve always been a big fan. I love the whole spirit of that show. I love that it embraces regionalism. You knew that Saturday morning cartoons were over when I was a kid when ‘Big Chuck and Lil’ John’ came on, but they eased that painful realization and helped you transition into the afternoon. And it was pretty much like watching a cartoon anyways, but with people in it.”
Something else new this
year is the prize package, which includes $2,000 going to the winner.
“Hilarities and The Funny Stop have both stepped up and are offering a paid week of featured work to the winner,” Hannum said. “So not only do you win money but you win work, which is money.”
Hilarities owner Nick Kostis said he views the Cleveland Comedy Festival as not only nurturing comedic talent but also providing professional opportunities on a broader stage
“The opportunity to win at an amateur level gives the winner a chance for a paid gig at venues like ours
while at the same time giving us at Hilarities an opportunity to showcase new upcoming faces in the local comedy scene,” Kostis said “Stage time is essential to development, and without encouragement and opportunity to advance, there will be no source from which to draw the talent of tomorrow.
“Also, without talent there is a limited future for the comedy industry to grow, either locally or nationally.”
Finally, in terms of growth, Hannum feels the future of the Cleveland Comedy Festival is bright. He stressed the reason being
is the laugh-filled affair is a win-win for Northeast Ohio.
“We think we’re showcasing our town to these comedians that are coming in from all over the country,” Hannum said. “These are up-and-coming comedians, they’re not name-brand yet, but they will be. Also, we’re showcasing how great of a comedy town Cleveland is.
“Our audiences here are great. Cleveland loves comedy, and we’re really proud of our sense of humor.”