The Women in Comedy Festival to Give Rita Rudner 2017 Award for Excellence at the Historic Wilbur Theater

The Women in Comedy Festival is pleased to announce that Rita Rudner will be the 2017 recipient of the 2017 Award for Excellence on Saturday, April 22nd. Founded in 2014, The WICF Award is presented annually to a professional in the comedy field who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of women in comedy. Past recipients include Amy Sedaris (Strangers with Candy, Second City), Jane Lynch (Glee, Best in Show), Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, The Heat), and Faith Soloway (Transparent).

The Women in Comedy Festival is thrilled to present the 2017 award to Ms. Rudner, whose contributions include many groundbreaking achievements, including one of the longest-running solo comedy shows in the history of Las Vegas where she has sold over one and half million tickets, multiple specials for HBO and Showtime, the first ever comedian to be featured on PBS with a stand-up special, as a Best Selling author and a screenwriter and actress. The award will be presented immediately following Ms. Rudner's headlining stand-up performance on Saturday, April 22nd, at 8pm at the historic Wilbur Theater.

Founded in 2009, the Women in Comedy Festival is open to comedians of all genders but flips the typical male to female ratio one sees at most festival to feature women prominently. Past headlining performers and speakers have included Maria Bamford, Jane Lynch, Wendy Liebman, Rachel Dratch, Kristen Schaal, Jen Kirkman, Morgan Murphy, Horatio Sanz, Kevin Allison, Ilana Glazer, Sasheer Zamata, Jackie Kashian, and Kelly MacFarland. The 2017 Women in Comedy Festival will take place in and around Boston from April 19th through April 23rd and will feature almost 80 lives performances, as well as workshops, panels, and parties, all open to the public.

For more information please visit: www.WICF.com