The first annual Hollywood Comedy Fest took place August 26th-28th at The Jon Lovitz Theater at the World Famous Universal Citywalk. Presented by the amazing comedy troupe Frog Island, the indelible Liz Stewart hosted each night of the Fest.
All the comics had to submit and get approved to be in the festival. Attendance records were set at The Jon Lovitz Theater. Each comic performed for 8 minute sets and the feedback was resoundingly overwhelmingly positive for The Fest and Frog Island. Brandon Vestal was voted Best of The Fest for overall top performance. Each night the judges picked their favorites and the audience picked their favorites as well. By all accounts the inaugural edition of the Hollywood Comedy Fest was wildly successful.
The lineup included:
Thursday August 26th
Paul Cibis
Hanna Gansen
Rick Izquieta
Julian Michael
Matthew Nouriel
Andrew Sleighter
Sarah Taylor
Ron Yavnieli
At the end of night one, the judges favorite award went to Andrew Sleighter while the audience picked Julian Michael as their favorite comedian.
Friday, August 27th
Brandon Vestal
Tim Gaither
David Nickerson
Allison Weber
Katie Massa Kennedy
Julian Axelrod
Rob Troy
Mary Patterson Broome
This night, both the judges and audience agreed that Brandon Vestal was their favorite performer.
Saturday August 28th
Matt Champagne
Scott Boxenbaum
Marc Patrick
Skippy Greene
Jen Murphy
Kevin Garbee
Ralph Guerra
Laura Mannino
The judges were torn, picking Marc Patrick and Kevin Garbee as their favorite of the night. The audience proved to be more decisive giving their pick toward just Marc Patrick.
Photos by Katie DuMoulin
A few weeks back we spoke with Stewart about the planning of the festival.
