Boston Comedy Arts Festival Sets Weekend Headliners

The Boston Comedy Arts Festival is set to run September 4-9 at ImprovBoston and the Brattle Theatre. The festival is bringing alternative comedy talent from all over North America and the World for performances in Cambridge. The festival is kicking off with a performance from the world renownEd Cambridge Footlights and a celebration of ImprovBoston’s 30th Anniversary. The weekend headliners this year are stellar.

On Friday Night, September at 8 p.m. at the Brattle Theatre, the festival is welcoming RISK!. This live show from the brain of New York comedian Kevin Allison (MTVs The State), is a place where people tell true stories they never thought they’d dare to share in public. Tickets cost $25 and $20 with a valid student ID. The weekend also features an appearance from Two Man Movie, an improv duo that creates an improvised movie. They appear Saturday, September 8, 8 p.m. at the Brattle. Tickets cost $25 and $20 with a valid student ID. The festival is also welcoming noted comic Joe Wong for a second helping of his all Chinese Show, which recently sold out a ImprovBoston. He performs Saturday, September 8 at 4 p.m. Tickets cost $20 and $16 with a valid student ID. The festival runs through September 9 at ImprovBoston and The Brattle Theatre. The Brattle Theatre is located on 40 Brattle Street. Tickets to the festival are available online at www.bostoncomedyarts.com.

RISK! is a live show and podcast “where people tell true stories they never thought they’d dare to share in public” hosted by Kevin Allison, of the legendary MTV sketch comedy troupe The State. The award-winning live show happens monthly in New York and Los Angeles. It’s featured people like Janeane Garofalo, Lisa Lampanelli, Kevin Nealon, Margaret Cho, Marc Maron, Sarah Silverman, Lili Taylor, Rachel Dratch, Andy Borowitz and more, dropping the act and showing a side of themselves we’ve never seen before. The weekly podcast gets hundreds of thousands of downloads each month. Slate.com called it “jaw-dropping, hysterically funny, and just plain touching.” The Boston Comedy Arts Festival appearance will include an interview with Jonathan Katz, a veteran comedian, the creator of Comedy Central’s Dr. Katz and a professional therapist. Allison's most recent film and TV appearances include Reno 911!: Miami, The Ten, Wedding Daze, VH1's Best Week Ever and HBO's Flight of the Conchords. He writes for TV and for production companies like JibJab and Blue Man Group.

In Two Man Movie, Neil Casey & Anthony Atamanuik perform a completely improvised movie. Casey and Atamanuik are performers at NYC’s famed Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre. They are both part of UCB’s Death By Roo Roo. Casey has been seen on Adult Swim's Fat Guy Stuck In Internet, IFC's The Whitest Kids U'Know , promos for ESPN and Comedy Central and on the internet in original videos from CollegeHumor, FunnyOrDie and UCBComedy.com. Atamanuik appears on 30 Rock as one of the writers. He has also appeared on The Caroline Ray Show, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and Munchies. He can also be seen on the online in new episodes of Debate Porridge and is a regular video contributor to the Huffington Post.

Joe Wong is speaking in his native tongue for his show. He is a rising comic who headlined the Radio and TV Correspondents’ Dinner where he roasted vice president Joe Biden. He has made multiple appearances on the David Letterman and Ellen Degeneres shows. He insists that his live has been very boring except two surprises in 2010. He went to the Great American Comedy Festival and won the competition there. Then he became Boston Comedian of the Year, after failing to become Boise Idaho comedian of the year. Joe is a dedicated social networker, Facebook status commentator, a verbose twitterer, and an avid spam email reader. Joe makes fun of himself in his standup routines.

The release is below. All of the artists are available for interview. More details on the festival are available at www.bostoncomedyarts.com.