People's Choice Awards Partners With NY Comedy Fest to Present First Ever Award For Stand-up Comedy

The New York Comedy Festival (NYCF) announced today a new partnership with the People's Choice Awards that will provide two unique opportunities for both comedians and fans to participate in this year's festival. For the first time ever, festival-goers will have the chance to vote on and present an official People's Choice Award during the "New York's Funniest Stand-Up" competition, an event that showcases the most talented newcomers and established comedians in New York. The winner of the competition will receive the prestigious crystal People's Choice Award and will be recognized during the 2010 People's Choice Award live broadcast on CBS.

Additionally, the People's Choice partnership offers aspiring comedians across the nation the opportunity to perform live as an opening act for one of the following NYCF's headlining comedians: Tracy Morgan, Artie Lange, Mike Epps, Bill Burr, Patton Oswalt or Mike Birbiglia. Performers can submit a three-minute comedy routine from Sept. 21 through Oct. 7 on www.peopleschoice.com. A NYCF panel will post the top three performers back on the site on Oct. 9 for fans to vote for their favorite and ultimately decide which comedian to send to New York to perform during the New York Comedy Festival. The winner will be announced Oct. 23. In addition to performing in New York during the Festival, the winner is invited to attend the 2010 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles.

"This event marks the first time that a People's Choice Award will be presented in a stand-up comedy competition," said Fred Nelson, President, People's Choice. "We are thrilled to empower fans to voIce Their choice alongside the experts and to provide another shot for performers to showcase their comedic talents on stage."

Continuing its offering of informative and entertaining panels, the New York Comedy Festival also announced today the addition of three stand-out panel discussions to the 2009 line-up. The first will be a discussion with the writers from COMEDY CENTRAL's Emmy and Peabody Award-winning The Colbert Report. The second will be a discussion with the writers from NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Both panels will provide an in-depth look behind the scenes of the late night shows. The final panel will examine the challenges and opportunities of writing for comedic television shows in the internet age. This panel will include Rory Albanese of The Daily Show, Jim Downey of Saturday Night Live, John Riggi of 30 Rock and Al Jean of The Simpsons.

The 2009 NYCF is presented in association with Comedy Central. The festival is produced by Carolines on Broadway and United Entertainment Group. Media sponsors include Time Warner Cable Media Sales- NYC, Time Out New York, the New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, Myspace.com, and People's Choice Awards. Jameson is the official Irish whiskey, Travelocity is the official travel sponsor, and The Shoreham Hotel is the official hotel of the 2009 New York Comedy Festival.

The 2009 New York Comedy Festival Schedule
Below schedule reflects the events confirmed to date and is subject to additions. Bolded events below are new additions to original line-up.

November 4:
"STAND UP FOR HEROES" a special benefit presented by NYCF and the Bob Woodruff Foundation at  Town Hall
"Your Favorite Band Sucks...at Comedy: A Night of Hilarious Musical Acts" at Upright Citizens Brigade, 8:00pm

November 5:
DANE COOK "Dane Cook and Friends" at Madison Square Garden, 7:00pm
Ricky Gervais "Out of England II" at Carnegie Hall, 8:00pm
Mike Birbiglia "I'm in the Future Also" at Town Hall, 8:00pm
"The Best Sketch in NY" at Upright Citizens Brigade, 8:00pm
Mario Cantone at Carolines on Broadway, 10:00pm

November 6
"Keeping it Fresh: Television Writing in the Internet Age" at The Paley Center for Media, 6:30pm
BILL BURR "Let It Go" at Town Hall, 8:00pm
Tracy Morgan "Tracy Morgan's Hard Knock Life" at Carnegie Hall, 8:00pm
Artie LangE "Artie Lange Live" at Beacon Theatre, 7:30pm
"Time Out New York Approved" at Upright Citizens Brigade, 7:00pm
Mario Cantone at Carolines on Broadway, 8:00pm and 10:30pm

November 7
Panel Discussions:
THE WRITERS OF NBC'S ‘LATE NIGHT WITH Jimmy Fallon'
"Writing for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon: The writers of NBC's Late Night will discuss their process and look uncomfortable" at The Paley Center for Media, 2:00pm
THE WRITERS OF COMEDY CENTRAL'S ‘THE COLBERT REPORT'
"The Truthiness Behind the Lines: An In-Depth Look Behind the Scenes with The Colbert Report Writers," at The Paley Center for Media, 5:00pm
MIKE EPPS "The Mike Epps Is Rottin' in the Apple Comedy Show" at Beacon Theatre, 8:00pm
PATTON OSWALT "Patton Oswalt Live" at Town Hall, 8:00pm
Mario Cantone at Carolines on Broadway, 8:00pm and 10:30pm

November 8
Bill Maher "An Evening with Bill Maher" at Avery Fisher Hall, 7:00pm
Andy Samberg "Andy Samberg and Friends Live from Town Hall" at Town Hall, 8:00pm
Mario Cantone at Carolines on Broadway, 8:00pm

FOR TICKETS:
Please visit www.nycomedyfestival.com to purchase tickets to all NYCF shows. Citi Private Pass presale and preferred tickets can be purchased through www.citiprivatepass.com
Carnegie Hall tickets can be purchased through Carnegie Charge at 212-247-7800 or www.carnegiehall.org. Town Hall, Beacon Theatre and Madison Square Garden tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster at 212-307-7171 or www.ticketmaster.com. Lincoln Center (Avery Fisher Hall) tickets can be purchased through Centercharge at 212-721-6500 or www.lincolncenter.org. Paley Center for Media tickets can be purchased through www.paleycenter.org

THE NEW YORK COMEDY FESTIVAL:
Please visit www.nycomedyfestival.com to purchase tickets to all NYCF shows. Now in its sixth year, The New York Comedy Festival, produced by Carolines on Broadway and United Entertainment Group in association with Comedy Central, is the largest festival of its kind in the United States. The festival has featured some of the country's top comedians, including Bill Maher, Tracy Morgan, Dane Cook, Sarah Silverman, Artie Lange, Katt Williams, Steven Wright, Denis Leary, and Joy Behar, to name a few. In 2007, the festival launched the "Stand-Up for Heroes" event to benefit The Bob Woodruff Foundation, which has featured performances by Robin Williams, Ricky Gervais, Conan O'Brien, Regis Philbin, and Bruce Springsteen. For more information on each event and to purchase tickets, please visit www.nycomedyfestival.com.

PEOPLE'S CHOICE:
The People's Choice website at www.peopleschoice.com serves as a year-round destination for entertainment enthusiasts to voIce Their opinions on pop culture. Now in its 36th year, the People's Choice Awards is voted on entirely by the public for fan favorites in music, movies and television. Fred Nelson is the President of People's Choice, and the website and awards show are produced by Procter & Gamble Productions.