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8TH Annual Boston Comedy Festival Features Lewis Black, Mort Sahl and Shelley Berman

Boston (PRWEB) August 23, 2007 -- Boston Comedy and Movie Festival organizer Jim McCue today announced some of the line-up for the "historically funny" Boston Comedy Festival, taking place Oct.7-13, 2007 in various locations in and around Boston.

Boston Comedy Festival Contest Preliminaries and Semi-Finals

Sunday, Oct. 7 - Friday Oct. 12

Various times and locations TBA

Ninety-eight bright-eyed comics from all over the country compete with each other to advance to the finals, and when it's over, there will be one battered and broken guy or gal standing with a nice little bag of money. Two comics from each preliminary round advance to the Semi-Finals on Thursday and Friday Oct. 11 and 12, and eight comics proceed to the finals at the Cutler Majestic on Oct. 13. Preliminaries happen 7 and 9 p.m. from Oct. 7 - 10. Venues and Semi-final times TBA. For a complete list of contestants, visit http://www.bostoncomedyfestival.com/contest.php

Off the Boat Comedy with Irish comics Ed Byrne, Keith Farnan and Brian Joyce

Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday Oct. 10, 11 and 13, 8 p.m.

The Burren, 247 Elm Street, Somerville (Davis Square)

Tickets TBA. 21+

Irish comic and Fringe Festival favorite Ed Byrne, said to be the biggest comic in Ireland, which means he should also be the biggest comic in Southie, Charlestown, Brighton and parts of Dorchester and Somerville, comes to Somerville to perform at the Burren. Byrne has appeared at the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival six times, the HBO Comedy Festival in Aspen, and "Comics Come Home" with Denis Leary, Lenny Clarke and Dane Cook. He has made five appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and is a regular guest on The Panel on RTE Television Ireland. Also appearing will be fellow Irishman Keith Farnan, back by popular demand after his St. Patrick's Day appearance a the Burren, and Brian Joyce, who is Boston Irish, but might soon turn into Ireland Irish with recent gigs at Kilkenny and Galway, in addition to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

31 Years of Comedy at Emerson College

Produced by Eddie Brill and Grafton Nunes

Thursday, Oct. 11, 7:30 p.m.

Tickets: $45 - $65 available at http://www.maj.org or (617) 824-8000

Emerson alum Eddie Brill, talent coordinator for The David Letterman Show, has assembled some of his old school chums to stage a reunion of sorts, of the infamous Emerson Comedy Workshop. Denis Leary, Bill Burr and Anthony Clark are scheduled to appear, and more comics will be announced. Emerson has produced some of America's funniest comics, including Jay Leno, Henry Winkler, Steven Wright and Andrea Martin. Proceeds from this show will benefit a scholarship for Emerson students studying comedy.

The Comedy Studio's Comic-in-Residence Show

Thursday October 11, 8 - 10 p.m.

The Comedy Studio at the Hong Kong Restaurant, 1238 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge

Tickets $12, reservations (617) 661-6507

See the future for just $12. The Comedy Studio's "Comic-in-Residence" program has sent many young comics to HBO and Comedy Central, so come and see this batch before they're too big to talk to you. Lineup includes Shane Maus and last year's Boston Comedy Festival Contest winner Dan Boulger, plus at least six others.

Lewis Black and Friends at the Cutler Majestic Theatre

Friday, Oct. 12, 8:30 p.m.

Tickets: $45 - $65 available at http://www.maj.org or (617) 824-8000

Yes, even the biggest curmudgeons in the world have friends, and each year the country's favorite curmudgeon, The Daily Show's Lewis Black, brings several of his friends to The Boston Comedy Festival to put on a show that revels in absurdity, stupidity and of course, bitterness. So far this year, Black has identified three friends - Boston Legend and one of the founders of the infamous Ding Ho Club DJ Hazard, Daily Show co-creator and Air America co-founder Lizz Winstead, and Irish comic Ed Byrne. Black promises two more friends in time to write another press release before the festival.

Boston Comedy Contest Finals (plus Lifetime Achievement and Comic of the Year Awards Presentation)

Saturday Oct. 13, 8:15 p.m.

Tickets: $45 - $65 available at http://www.maj.org or (617) 824-8000

The eight comics who, after competing with 98 of the nation's funniest up-and-comers, make it past the preliminary and semi-final rounds, will vie for $10,000 in prize money in the Boston Comedy Festival Contest Finals.

At the finals, the Boston Comedy Festival and Emerson College will present Comedy Lifetime Achievement Awards to Mort Sahl, a comedy trailblazer who paved the way for the likes of Lenny Bruce and Dick Gregory, and also wrote speeches for President John F. Kennedy; and Shelley Berman, the legendary comic celebrating 50 years of comedy in 2007 who has a recurring role on the set-in-Boston show Boston Legal. In addition, the Comedian of the Year Award will be presented to Lewis Black. Sahl, Berman and Black will all be on hand to receive their awards.

Other shows and performers in the festival to be announced soon include The Gay Show at Club Cabaret, Harvard SUCS (Stand Up Comedy Show), Emerson College student show, The Fun Room: Urban Comedy Showcase at Hibernian Hall in Roxbury, Alternative Comedy Show, Comedy Revolution, Women's Show and much, much more.

Sponsored by Sierra Mist, Comcast and Southwest Airlines, the Boston Comedy Festival is in its eighth year. Over 150 comics will perform in dozens of venues. The Festival showcases the best in stand-up talent from the region, as well as national headlining talent, and culminates in the $10,000 Stand Up Comedy Contest, in which close to a hundred comics compete for prize money and a chance to perform for national talent scouts. The Festival is presented in association with WZLX, The Weekly Dig, and Vin DiBona. For more information or a complete schedule, call 617-782-8100 or visit www.bostoncomedyfestival.com.

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