NY Comedy Fest Announce Selections for Annual Comics To Watch Showcase

The extensive nationwide search has ended and the very best young talent on the comedy scene today has been chosen. COMEDY CENTRAL and The New York Comedy Festival have teamed up again for the second annual "Comics To Watch" showcase taking place at Carolines on Broadway on Wednesday, November 9 which is part of the 2011 New York Comedy Festival, running from November 9-13. The event will be filmed and premiere on cc.com/standup on Friday, November 11 at 5:00 p.m. ET. This year's "Comics To Watch," presented by Pandora® internet radio, is hosted by Jeffrey Ross and features the following comedians: Kevin Biggins, Kurt Braunohler, Michael Che, Emily Heller, Sam Morril, Mark Normand, Josh Rabinowitz and Daryl Wright.

-- Kevin Biggins - has written for "The Cleveland Show" and "Tosh.0" and
performs stand-up in Los Angeles for free beer.
-- Kurt Braunohler - hails from Brooklyn and was most recently seen at the
Edinburgh Fringe Festival where he was nominated (along with Kristen
Schaal) for "Best Comedy Show."
-- Michael Che - a native of Lower Manhattan whose comedy blends street
culture with world issues to hilarious results.
-- Emily Heller - a San Francisco Bay Area native known for her brainy,
sarcastic, unladylike style.
-- Sam Morril - a native New Yorker and winner of the 2011 Laughing Skull
Comedy Festival.
-- Mark Normand - born and raised in New Orleans, is a New York-based comic
who performs at festivals including Montreal, Seattle and Laughing
Skull, as well as colleges and clubs around the country.
-- Josh Rabinowitz - a 23 year-old comedian who was featured in the
breakout artist series of the 2010 New York Comedy Festival and will
appear next year on MTV's "I Just Want My Pants Back."
-- Daryl Wright - born in Washington, D.C., believes the best humor comes
out of real life. He resides in a padded cell with a view.

"Comics To Watch" is a showcase featuring a wide range of diversely talented young comedians. It was created to launch the careers of the next generation of comedians by putting them in front of industry executives and comedy fans. The selection process involved live showcases in multiple cities and online video submissions via comedycentral.com. The all-comedy network and the festival organizers worked closely together to identify the best new stand-up comedians.

Available in 99 million homes nationwide, COMEDY CENTRAL (www.comedycentral.com), the only all-comedy network, is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned division of Viacom Inc.'s (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) MTV Networks.  

Now in its eighth year, The New York Comedy Festival is produced by Carolines on Broadway in association with COMEDY CENTRAL. Performers at this year's festival include Bill Burr, Louis CK, Ricky Gervais, Kathy Griffin, Jo Koy, Bill Maher, Tracy Morgan, Norm Macdonald, Russell Peters, John Pinette, Sarah Silverman and Wanda Sykes. In 2007, the festival launched the "Stand-Up for Heroes" event to benefit The Bob Woodruff Foundation, which this year features performances by Jim Gaffigan, Jon Stewart, Ricky Gervais, Seth Meyers, Bruce Springsteen and The Max Weinberg Band. The sponsors are Energizer, JetBlue, Miller Lite, Toyota and Pandora. The media sponsors are NBC4, New York Post, Timeout New York, Variety, Verizon FiOS and the Village Voice. For more information on each event and to purchase tickets, please visit www.nycomedyfestival.com.

About Pandora:

Pandora® (NYSE: P) gives people music they love anytime, anywhere, through connected devices. (OK, we've added comedy as well so we're also up for playing some jokes you'll love.) Personalized stations launch instantly with the input of a single "seed" - a favorite artist, song or genre. The Music Genome Project®, a deeply detailed hand-built musical taxonomy, powers the personalization of Pandora® internet radio by using musicological "DNA" and constant listener feedback to craft personalized stations from a growing collection of hundreds of thousands of recordings. Tens of millions of people in the U.S. turn on Pandora to hear music they love. www.pandora.com