Twenty-four stand-up comedians who will be competing for the top prize at this summer’s Great American Comedy Festival have been selected after auditions in 10 cities across the nation.
“These are some of the brightest, most intelligent and creative minds in the industry,” said Eddie Brill, the executive producer of the festival and the talent coordinator for the Late Night with David Letterman show.
The judges for the competition will include David Brenner, who will headline the festival’s gala finale; Bill Dana, who will receive the festival’s “Comedy Legend” award; Wende Curtis, owner of the Comedy Works club in Denver; Chris Mazzilli, owner of Gotham comedy club in New York City; and Jackie Miller-Knobbe, a talent agent for the Agency for Performing Arts in Los Angeles.
Deacon Gray, who won the stand-up competition at last year’s festival, will return to serve as the host for the Wednesday and Thursday preliminary rounds and comedian Tom Cotter will close the shows.
Comedians selected to compete at the festival:
Keith Alberstadt, New York City
Kermet Apio, Seattle
Aaron Aryanpur, Dallas
Ahmed Bharoocha, Smithfield, R.I.
Larry “Bubbles” Brown, San Francisco
Jessi Campbell, Minneapolis
Jesse Case, Seattle
Nhan Du, West Palm Beach, Florida
Pat Dixon, New York City
Jon Fisch, New York City
Tim Harmston, Minneapolis
Joe Larson, New York City
Ryan Lowery, Colorado Springs
Kumail Nanjiani, New York City
Michael Palascak, Orland Park, Ill.
Rudy Rush, Dallas
Tom Steffen, Minneapolis
Mike Vecchione, New York City
Chris Voth, Denver
Darlene Westgor, St. Paul, Minn.
Joe Wong, Boston
Andy Woodhull, Chicago
Jeff Wozer, Denver
Dwight York, Minneapolis
