BPA Announces Queen City Comedy Experience

For less than $50, Charlotte comedy fans can enjoy a whole weekend of laughs courtesy of some of America's hottest comedians plus Charlotte's own comedic talent at The Queen City Comedy Experience Sept. 27 - 29 at Spirit Square.

Co-produced by Queen City Comedy, The Comedy Zone and Blumenthal Performing Arts, this one-of-a-kind event will highlight several dozen local and national acts from a wide variety of comedy genres. Fans can enjoy everything from the mainstage national acts to late night standup to comedy workshops for less than $50 with a Queen City Comedy Experience pass. The pass will admit buyers to every single show and experience at the festival.

Festival headliners include SNL alum Jay Pharoah and YouTube sensation Randy Rainbow, known for his spliced celebrity interviews and politically-inspired musical parodies. Comic Brian Regan, dubbed "the funniest stand-up alive" by Vanity Fair magazine, will also perform that weekend at Belk Theater.

"If it's comedy, we'll have it there," says event co-creator Cale Evans, a frequent local improv performer with groups like Now are the Foxes and Charlotte Comedy Theater. All in all, we're talking more than 25 hilarious shows, in three days, on four stages featuring the funniest performers in improv, sketch, stand-up and more!

Much of The Queen City Comedy Experience's focus will be on local acts, like the popular sketch comedy group Robot Johnson and the long-running Improv Charlotte. Another highlight will be a reunion of one of Charlotte's favorite sketch comedy teams, The Perch.

Spirit Square will be buzzing with comedy acts, free happy hour stand up shows, buskers, magicians, musical groups, comedic films, a live-taping of The Comedy Zone podcast, plus chances for budding performers of all ages to get some hands-on comedy experience. Two art galleries within Spirit Square will be transformed into mini clubs to add additional performance spaces to accommodate the large variety of offerings.

"We're also going to offer workshops that are both for seasoned professionals and performers and people who are new-who want to try improv or stand up for the first time," says Evans. These will be led by local artists as well as visiting performers from New York, Chicago and LA.

$50 Queen City Comedy Experience passes are on sale now! The pass includes seats for both Jay Pharoah and Randy Rainbow at McGlohon Theater, plus General Admission access to all the gallery and Duke Energy Theater shows.

If you're expecting the jokes your dad cracks on every family trip, buckle up. This is going to be one wild ride!

For a complete show lineup and details on how to purchase tickets, visit: BlumenthalArts.org/queen-city-comedy-experience or call our box office at (704)372-1000.

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