New York Funny Songs Fest Concludes Five-Year Run Today

For the past 4 years, the New York Funny Songs Fest has given a steay beat to the laughter and even inspired off-shoot festivals such as LA based comedy festival, Tenacious D's Festival Supreme and Chicago's Laughing Stock, but after the 5th and final year set to happen this weekend, May 19-21, 2016, the festival will say goodbye, at least in its current form.

The festival is the brainchild of comedian, musician and relentless producer of fun and wild comedic antics, Jessica Delfino. Jessica is a veteran of the downtown NYC comedy scene since 2001 and has steadily launched (and performed at) a stream of parties, shows and events, including most recently the #WomenInComedy2016 group photo of over 200 New York City based female comedians which received accolades in the New York Times, Splitsider, Vulture, The Laugh Button, Bitch Magazine and more. For International Women's Day, she congregated a "rape whistle choir" of about 10 ladies to perform cover songs on rape whistles at the steps of City Hall, using humor to raise awareness to many recent rape cases, including one involving Ke$ha vs. her current record producer, Dr. Luke. BBC and Brokelyn, among others, reported the event.

Other recent projects of Jessica's have included a video dedicated to challenging the street harassment of women that received over 100,000 views and mentions on Mashable, Dazed Magazine, Metro UK, Refinery29 and more, and the opening of The Unicorn, a music school and theater in lower Manhattan, located in a former storefront bodega on a small shady block of Chinatown. Delfino remodeled the space which runs comedy, stortelling, music shows and lessons 7 days a week. It is at The Unicorn where most of the 2016 New York Funny Songs Fest program will take place.

Some of the main shows this year will include Thursday night at The Unicorn, with Just The Hits Ma'am, a line up of local, noted comedic musicians, the Out of Towners showcase boasting visiting acts and Late Laughs, a late night comedy music concert. On Friday, The Unicorn Parade offers a mini-tour of Chinatown, complete with street performances along the way, followed by the Queen marathon of all comedy music shows, 50 Funny Songs, hosted by Carolyn Castiglia and featuring 50 comedic musicians performing back to back at Littlefield in Brooklyn, alongside Bitchcraft at Union Hall, a long-running witchy-esque variety show hosted by Selena Coppock and Lauren Maul. On Saturday back at The Unicorn, an all afternoon brunch show called 20 Titillating Minutes offers long sets by performers over a pancake breakfast ($10 includes pancakes) with an industry panel to follow. The evening wraps up with A Night of Dirty Songs which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, with Delfino and her world-wide celebrated "Dirty Folk Rock" songs at the helm. A full schedule of events follows on page 2 of this press release.

Other festival shows will take place in L.E.S. venues Piano's and Bowery Electric, at Q.E.D. in Astoria and at Sunnyside Community Services in Queens. Additional notable performers include Rob Paravonian, Katie Goodman, Killy Dwyer, Elena Simon, The Dreamstalks, Squirm & Germ, Rebecca Vigil, Afterbirth Monkey, Camille Harris and dozens of other comedic musicians who will travel from California, Kentucky and Missouri to be part of this year's festival. This year's sponsors include Trish Nelson's Banter Girl comedy production company, among others.

So what's next in Ms. Delfino's sachel of surprises? After the festival, she'll set to work finishing her newest solo show, "Before My Water Breaks", which is scheduled to run at Joe's Pub on Saturday, July 23rd, 2016. Ms. Delfino will then commit to her masterpiece: a baby son, due in late August of 2016.