KIDS 'N COMEDY Sets 4/10 Lineup

WHERE AND WHEN:
Sunday, April 10 at 1:00 PM
Gotham Comedy Club, 208 W. 23rd Street
Presented by Kids 'N Comedy
Tickets $15 plus a one item minimum (food or drink.)
There is a kids' menu for kids under 12.
Reservations: 212-877-6115; online ticketing is available at www.kidsncomedy.com
Kids 'N Comedy websites: www.kidsncomedy.com, www.facebook.com/kidsncomedy, www.myspace.com/kidsncomedy Runs 1:45. Reviewers are invited.

DETAILS AND ARTIST INFO:
Kids 'N Comedy, New York's leading presenter of young comic talent, will send five teen comics--Luke Bergamini, Rachel Kaly, David Thompson, Conor Williams, Lee Wolfowitz and Andrew Vatier--to the stage of Gotham Comedy Club, 208 W. 23rd Street, on Sunday, April 10. The show begins at 1:00 PM.

Luke Bergamini hails from Glen Rock, NJ, where he attends Glen Rick High School. He is the son of a lawyer and a teacher. Playing music is his principal hobby. He has a younger sister and is fluent in English and Pig Latin. He's allergic to mold. His passions are music and technology and he plays Ping Pong.

Rachel Kaly, of Queens, is a tenth grader. Her mom is a French teacher and personal trainer. She has a pretty sweet Pez collection and a younger sister. She appeared on Sweepstakes week on Conan O'Brien and has modeled for toys like Barney. She baby sits pretty frequently. Asked if she has any languages, she claims fluency in English, but calls it a close second to Sarcasm. She is allergic to bad jokes, the Tea Party and really furry cats. Her passion is making people laugh. Her sports are Basketball and juggling her dignity.

David Thompson, of Westchester, plays the character of Stemler in "Win-Win," a movie starring Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan, which opened March 18. He is a junior at Walter Panas High School, where he wrestles. The son of a speech pathologist and an engineer. His hobbies are Wrestling, Skateboarding and Drumming. He has an older brother, 20. He speaks some Spanish and a little bit of Hebrew. His passions are acting, comedy and eating.

Conor Williams, of East Northport, describes his father as an Entertainment Attorney and Professional Sleeper and his mother as Owner of a Performing Arts school. For hobbies, he writes stuff, plays video games, enjoys music (listening and playing) wrestles alligators and collects dirty laundry in his room. He has a younger sister, Ryan, who's a year younger than he ("But she was an accident. Must have been--why would anyone need more children after having me?"). He's acted in nine plays, was a finalist in the NBC /iVillage "Funniest Kid in " contest, is lead singer in The Superband and is the Emmy Winning Host of the Oprah Winfrey Show. He speaks English, Pirate and Estonian. (Pretty smart for a freshman, eh?). He owns two black cats and his mom wonders why she never wins the lottery.

Lee Wolfowitz, of Manhattan, is a tenth grader at Bronx Science; his parents are an investment banker and a full time Mother. His hobbies are video games, TV and music. He has a younger sister. He makes money by babysitting and giving computer assistance. His passions are material possessions and his adorable dog, Charlie.

Andrew Vatier, of Douglaston, NY, is a junior at St Mary's High School in Manhasset, where he has been class president this year and last. His mother's in Real Estate, his father's a contractor. His hobbies are sports, baseball, basketball, Lacrosse, music and travel. He's an only child who describes himself as a "people person"; naturally his passions include comedy and socializing. He played the opening of "Rautotelle" at the Ziegfield and has appeared in the Long Island Comedy Festival, a Ronald McDonald Fundraiser at Children's Museum of Long Island, the Nantucket Comedy Festival, and last but never least, Kids N Comedy. He works part time at McDonald's and has volunteered for three years at a summer camp.

COMING MAY 15
Kids 'N Comedy's next show at Gotham Comedy Club, May 15 at 1:00 PM, will feature Angela Citrola, Leo Frampton, Jake Hazen, Daniel Laitman, Jake Sidransky and Andrew Vatier. It will be the final show of this season. Performances will resume in October, 2011.

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.kidsncomedy.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 families) 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. Campers can take 1, 2, or 3 sessions.

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.