Kids 'N Comedy Announces Stand Up and Be Counted 3/27

KIDS 'N COMEDY SETS "STAND UP AND BE COUNTED" CONTEST.
Budding teen and 'tween comics are requested to submit their best routines on video.
Lineups are set for March shows.
Schedule change: March 27 performance moved to Metropolitan Room.

DETAILS AND ARTIST INFO:
Kids 'N Comedy, New York's leading presenter of young comic talent, wishes to help broaden the New York "comedy culture" with the influence of young comics from around the country and the world. To do this, and to demonstrate how youngest comics are often the funniest, Kids 'N Comedy is soliciting videos from any and all English-speaking comedians age ten to eighteen for its "Stand Up and Be Counted" contest. Entries are due by April Fools Day (April 1) and one entry will be declared the winner. It will be screened at the Kids 'N Comedy show April 10, 2011 at Gotham Comedy Club and posted on the Kids 'N Comedy website (www.kidsncomedy.com). The selected comedian will receive a $30 iTunes gift certificate as an appreciation gift.

Kids 'N Comedy's host and emcee, David Smithyman, explains, "We're looking for 2-3 minutes of stand-up on anything you want that will inspire, educate, and enlighten us, and above all, make us laugh. We want you to show us your unique perspective through comedy, and show us how you see the world. If you're clever, funny, or you just have something to say, we want to hear from you!" There are content restrictions, however. Nothing profane, sexist or homophobic will be accepted, nor will ethnic slurs. "If you have to rely on stuff like that to be funny, then this probably isn't for you," states Smithyman.

If you're a kid, age ten to eighteen, who watches stand-up comedy on television and thinks "Hmm, I could do better," you are invited to take your best two-to-three minutes of material, post it to YouTube and email the link to Kids 'N Comedy at thekidsncomedy@aol.com. Also please go to the organization's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/kidsncomedy), become a fan and post your video on the wall. The process is free, of course, and entries are due by April 1.

Jo Ann Grossman, co-producer of Kids 'N Comedy, explains, "We hear kids tell jokes every day, and we are constantly surprised by how clever, original, and above all hilarious young people can be when they really set their minds to it. That said, we think there are way more hilarious kids and teenagers out there in the world that we've never met or heard from. That's why we are having this contest. If you're good, we want to know you."

Kids 'N Comedy, led by Ms. Grossman and her husband, Stu Morden, produces comedy shows for youngsters who can't hone their craft in drinking establishments, but whose writing and talent usually rivals that of their elder brethren and whose performance venues might otherwise be limited to the back of the classroom. The organization presents a periodic (bi-weekly, roughly) show at Gotham Comedy Club, 208 W. 23rd Street, featuring six or seven stand-up comedians from its troupe of 15 young artists, plus a few new faces. Each performer has written his/her own routine and performs before an audience of kids and adults. Kids 'N Comedy is also a training organization, offering workshops and summer camps in comedy for tomorrow's Seinfelds.

PLEASE NOTE SCHEDULE CHANGE:
Due to a scheduling conflict at Gotham Comedy Club, the March 27 show has been moved to Metropolitan Room, 34 W 22nd Street. All other shows remain at Gotham Comedy Club, 208 W. 23rd Street. Box office info is the same for all shows.

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES:
March 13, 1:00 PM, Gotham Comedy Club, 208 W 23rd St.
Charlie Bardy, David Thompson, Daniel Laitman, Conor Williams, Ryan Drum.

March 27, 1:00 PM, The Metropolitan Room, 34 W 22nd St.
Lee Wolfowitz, Jake Sidransky, Leo Frampton, Jake Hazen and newcomers to be announced.

April 10 and May 15, 1:00 PM, Gotham Comedy Club, 208 W 23rd St.
Lineups are in formation as of this writing.

Tickets to all shows are $15 plus a one item minimum (food or drink.) There is a kids' menu for kids under 12. The reservations number is 212-877-6115 and online ticketing is available at www.gothamcomedyclub.com. For more information, visit the Kids 'N Comedy website, www.kidsncomedy.com.

ABOUT KIDS 'N COMEDY
Kids 'N Comedy originated in 1996 as a talent show for kids at a The West End Gate restaurant on the Upper West Side that was owned at the time by Associate Director Stu Morden, Art D'Lugoff and Manny Roth (Cafe Wha). The talent of the kids caught the attention of BBC-TV, which filmed a documentary about them, which resulted in more media attention. Demand spiked among kids wishing to perform and this prompted Morden and his wife, Artistic Director Jo Ann Grossman, to establish Kids 'N Comedy to serve these budding comics through classes taught by a rotating staff, an intensive summer comedy camp, and professional gigs. Their performance series started at The Knitting Factory in 1996 and moved to Caroline's in 1998 and to Gotham Comedy Club in 2000. The founders point out that there's a ten year ramp-up to a comedy career and stage time is essential to becoming a good performer. Before there was Kids 'N Comedy, getting that stage time was nearly impossible, since Comedy Clubs are primarily bars and therefore off-limits to teens.

Parents report that their children's involvement in Kids 'N Comedy yields an increase in self confidence and a better attitude toward school. One parent wrote, "My son (like his father) has always marched to the beat of a different drum. As a result, he has had to take a lot of criticism from his peers and was to always the most secure of children: funny, pleasant to be with, but always uncertain as to who he was. As a result of your efforts my son has found that the road less traveled could possibly be the most rewarding."

Distinguished alumni of Kids 'N Comedy include Josh Peck, star of Nickelodeon's "Drake & Josh," and Lucian Maisel, who can be seen in the film "The Ex" with Zack Braff and Amanda Peet.

In the company's showcases, each comic performs his/her own material, which is screened to be free of profanity and abrasive or cheap "low" humor, like fart jokes. They do, however, venture into edgy comic terrain: politics, getting old, even death. Laura Weiss wrote in Big Apple Parent, "This kid humor is quirky and often slightly mordant, with a sophistication that belies the comedians' youth. Plus, these kids are hilarious."

Representative jokes:
"I was born during the great depression...my mother's."
"My father's idea of health food is to eat something before the expiration date on the box."
"I was fired from the 99 Cent Store for asking for a price check."

Beside their regular shows at Gotham Comedy Club, Kids 'N Comedy performers have appeared at a variety of benefits and charity events, including events of the WB11 Care for Kids Fund, a fund of the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation (supporting needy families, including teen mothers, homeless families and at-risk youth), Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation (it brightens the lives of seriously ill children and their familes) and the Toyota Comedy Festival.

TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES AT KIDS 'N COMEDY
Kids 'N Comedy offers a Class Series in which aspiring comedians spend Saturdays in the company of other hilarious teenagers, as well as a hot-shot team of writers and comedians from around New York, learning how to write, workshop and perform their very own stand-up routines. Classes meet for two hours on Saturdays for nine weeks, and are offered three times during the year. To redress the sexual balance--comedy performance is overwhelmingly more popular with boys--Kids 'N Comedy has also begun a special comedy writing workshop for girls.

COMEDY CAMPS AT KIDS 'N COMEDY
In-town Comedy Camps offered for ages 11 to 18. This summer, they will be:
Session 1: July 5 to 15
Session 2: July 18 to 29
Session 3: August 1 to 12
Participants spend 2 weeks at Gotham Comedy Club in Manhattan, learning about improv, comic acting, and stand-up comedy. Each camp culminates in a graduation show live on stage at Gotham Comedy Club. Camps are limited to ten kids per session.

All writing and performance workshops are taught by comedy professionals, offer a highly supportive atmosphere and are tuned to varying levels of experience. Complete information, cost and schedules for all workshops and camps are available on the Kids 'N Comedy website, www.kidsncomedy.com.

This program has been made possible in part through the sponsorship of The Field, a not-for-profit, tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization serving the New York City performing arts community.

 

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