Gilda's LaughFest Begins To Roll Out Artists Announcements For 2022 Festival

Gilda's LaughFest, presented by Gun Lake Casino, today announced some of the headliners participating during LaughFest's festival, March 16-20. Additionally, Justin Willman, magician, comedian and creator of Netflix's Magic for Humans, will perform during Gilda's Club Grand Rapids' 20th anniversary Red Door Gala on March 15.

Headliners and shows announced that are scheduled as part of the festival's ticketed events include: Clean Comedy Showcase, Maria Bamford, Fortune Feimester, Charlie Berens, and Tone Bell. Other headliners and ticketed events will be announced in the coming days.

Tickets for all events will go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. at laughfestgr.org or by searching LaughFest at www.ticketmaster.com.

This year's festival will feature nearly 50 events and seriously fun and funny events for all ages. In addition to headlining acts, there will be free events such as Seriously Funny Adventure Challenge, Sunday Night Funnies, Kids Joke, Family Improv, You Have Two Minutes: Brian Kelly's Favorite LaughFest Portraits, Laughter Yoga, Recovery Showcase, All Ya'll Showcase, Drum it Out, and more.

The Clean Comedy Showcase will be going on March 16, 17 and 18 at 7 and 9:30 p.m. at the Wealthy Theatre. The Clean Comedy showcase features six different comedians performing clean shows that are non-vulgar and sure to make everyone laugh. Performers include LeClerc Andre, Jessi Campbell, Leighann Lord, Nancy Norton, Dwayne Perkins and Gianmarco Soresi.

Charlie Berens, the Emmy-winning mind behind the comedic news series Manitowac Minute will be performing Thursday, March 17 at 7 p.m. at Fountain Street Church. Charlie is a frequent collaborator on Funny or Die and his viral clips like "If Jack Dawson Was Really from Wisonsin" have been viewed by over 13 million people. Since starting his now viral series Manitowic Minute in 2017, Charlie has gone on to garner 550,000 Facebook followers and hundreds of millions of views.

Fortune Feimster will be returning this year with her 2 Sweet 2 Salty show on Friday, March 18 at 7 and 9:30 p.m. at Fountain Street Church. After her 2020 LaughFest show was postponed, the stand-up comedian, writer, and actor is excited to show off some new material. Her first special, Sweet & Salty is available for streaming on Netflix. She has been cast in roles on shows like The Mindy Project, NBC series Champions, and the movie Office Christmas Party. Other guest appearances include hit TV shows like Dear White People, Idiotsitter, Workaholics, Drunk History, and @Midnight. Please note: The 7 p.m. show has been rescheduled from 2020, original 2020 tickets will be honored for the 7 p.m. showtime only.

Maria Bamford and star of the Netflix comedy series Lady Dynamite will be performing on Saturday, March 19 at 7 and 9:30 p.m, at the Wealthy Theatre. Maria has starred in multiple one-hour long specials: Weakness Is the Brand, Old Baby, and Maria Bamford, the Special, Special, Special! She is the creator, writer, and only actor of the hit web series The Maria Bamford Show. Maria is known for her voiceover work in Big Mouth, BoJack Horseman, Adventure Time, Bob's Burgers, Legend of Korra, Puss in Boots, and more. She has also played recurring characters in the TV show Arrested Development and American sitcom Fresh Off the Boat. Please note: These shows have been rescheduled from 2020. Original 2020 tickets will be honored for corresponding showtime only.

Tone Bell, actor, writer and comedian will be at the Listening Room on Saturday March 19 and Sunday March 20 at 7 and 9 p.m. Tone Bell starred as John Levy in the award-winning film The U.S. vs Billie Holliday. His other roles include playing Richard Pryor in BET's American Soul. He has acted opposite Nina Dobrev in two works including CBS TV show Fam and movie Dog Days. Tone has been co-starring alongside Kathy Bates in the Netflix original comedy Disjointed and guest-starring on HBO's A Black Lady Sketch Show.

Kicking off the Festival, Gilda's Club will celebrate their 20th anniversary at the Red Door Gala on March 15 at the Steelcase Ballrooms at DeVos Place. The evenings entertainment will be LaughFest alum, Justin Willman a magician and comedian. In 2018, Willman premiered his six-episode magic series on Netflix entitled Magic for Humans with Justin Willman. In March 2020, as Covid spread across the globe, Willman debuted Magic for Humans @Home, a virtual show, which has garnered an audience of over 500,000 people. Information on the Red Door Gala can be found at gildasclubgr.org/reddoor.

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