Kids 'N Comedy Come To Gotham Comedy Club 2/27

Adolescent awkwardness made funny! Teenagers with something to say! Kids 'n Comedy gives teenagers a voice (and a microphone) February 27 at Gotham Comedy Club.

WHERE AND WHEN:
February 27 at 1:00 PM
Gotham Comedy Club, 208 W 23rd St., Manhattan
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.gothamcomedyclub.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:
David Thompson, Andrew Vatier, Conor Williams, Zach Rosenfeld, Charlie Bardey and Avery Landau, ranging in age from eleven to sixteen, will be featured in Kids 'N Comedy on February 27 at Gotham Comedy Club, 208 West 23rd Street in Chelsea. The show is a turntable of talented teens and 'tweens who are among the cream of young comics in the tri-state area.

Kids 'N Comedy (http://kidsncomedy.com), led by Jo Ann 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 featuring six or seven stand-up comedians, ages twelve to twenty, 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 (grownups are essential, if only because they drive their kids to the shows). Kids 'N Comedy is also a training organization, offering workshops and summer camps in comedy for tomorrow's Seinfelds.

In 1996, the organization started out at The Knitting Factory as a place for kids to "take a chance on comedy." The organization's training approach has matured while continuing to maintain a safe, supportive atmosphere. Its training program now produces a brand of young comedian with an unmistakeable ease, technique and professionalism. Its shows remain clean--Cosby Show clean--but the performers are young artists, not amateurs. Unskilled talent takes stage only when the audience is given the opportunity to come onstage and tell a joke. Audience members who rise to this challenge are so young, game and charming that you wouldn't have it any other way. Master of Ceremonies is Australian-born comedian David Smithyman (Head Teacher & Producer).

The subsequent Kids 'N Comedy shows this season will be March 13 & 27, April 10 and May 15, all at 1:00 PM. These shows are a fantastic New York resource for entertainment by kids, for kids. Birthday parties, sweet 16 parties and the like are welcome. For general inquiries call 212-877-6115. For online ticketing visit http://kidsncomedy.com.

ABOUT THE FEB. 27 COMEDIANS:

Charlie Bardey is a tenth grader who grew up and lived his entire life on the border of Chinatown and TriBeCa. His mother's in marketing; his father's a forensic psychiatrist. He enjoys wearing sweaters from the 70s that are too big for him, dancing to Beyoncé and getting angry at award show results. He has two younger brothers, a thirteen year old and a three year old. Showbiz experience? "I have practiced 'Don't Rain On My Parade' in front of the mirror, like, 50 times." His passions are disguises, laughing, social interaction and crunking.

Avery Landau is a middle child from Oradell, NJ and a sophomore at Dwight-Englewood School. His mom is a school/community volunteer and his dad is a mobile software developer. Avery plays the Beatbox and Kaossilator and enjoys nature photography, sport fantasy leagues and collecting gemstones. He is a beta tester for Computer software/games and a Neighborhood Cat Feeder. His own pets include a guinea pig and a Cairn Terrier. His sports are Ultimate Frisbee, Basketball, Snow Skiing, Wakeboarding, Badminton and Tennis.

Zach Rosenfeld hails from Brooklyn, where he's a seventh grader at St. Ann's. His mom's a filmmaker and his dad's a businessman. His hobbies are Computer, Trumpet, Comedy, Golf and Tennis. He did lighting for a school play and a bit part in one of his mother's films. Job experience? "Casting Assistant. Shoveling snow." He owns a Labradoodle and has no allergies.

David Thompson, of Westchester, 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's done "a decent amount" of acting and he plays the character of Stemler in "Win-Win," a movie starring Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan, opening March 18.

Conor Williams, of East Northport, is a freshman and the son of an entertainment attorney and the owner of a performing arts school. He writes, plays video games, enjoys music (listening and playing), wrestles alligators and collects dirty laundry in his room. He's acted in nine plays, was a finalist in the NBC /iVillage "Funniest Kid in " contest. 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.

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 performed before the screening of "Ratatouille" 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. He works part time at McDonald's and has volunteered for three years at a summer camp.

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
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.