Kids 'N Comedy Sets Spring Season Shows at Gotham Comedy Club

Kids 'N Comedy, New York's leading presenter of young comic talent, will present six installments of its revolving comedy showcase this Spring at Gotham Comedy Club, 208 West 23rd Street in Chelsea. Each show will be a turntable of talented teens and 'tweens who are probably the cream of young comics in the tri-state area. Shows will be six Sundays--February 13 & 27, March 13 & 27, April 10 and May 15--all at 1:00 PM. (See below for complete listings.)

The organization, led by Jo Ann Grossman and her husband, Stu Morden, is now fifteen years old (the median age of its comedians). It occupies a precious niche in the New York comedy scene, as a producer for youngsters who can't hone their craft in drinking establishments but whose writing and talents usually rival that of their elder brethren. It's also a training organization, offering workshops and summer camps in comedy for tomorrow's Seinfelds, whose performance venues might otherwise be limited to the back of the classroom.

Each program will present a selection of six or seven stand-up comedians, ages twelve to twenty, from Kids 'N Comedy's 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). 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).

These shows are a fantastic New York resource for entertainment by kids, for kids. Birthday parties, sweet 16 parties and the like are welcome and group rates are available. For general inquiries call 212-877-6115.

FEATURED FEBRUARY 13:
Leo Frampton, Ryan Drum, Dillon Heverin, Jake Sidransky, Daniel Laitman and Mark Cohen.

FEATURED FEBRUARY 27:
David Thompson, Andrew Vatier, Conor Williams, Zach Rosenfeld, Charlie Bardey and Avery Landau.

Subsequent lineups to be announced. Watch for our announcements or visit www.kidsncomedy.com for updates.

For biographies of the young comedians, visit: www.jsnyc.com/season/knc_bios.htm.

ABOUT KIDS 'N COMEDY
Kids 'N Comedy originated in 1996 as a talent show for kids at a restaurant on the Upper West Side that was owned at the time by Associate Director Stu Morden. 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 1998 and moved 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, now 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 Workshop 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.