NEWS RELEASE
18th Anniversary FunnyFest Calgary Comedy Festival Society, On Now to JUNE 10 (11 nights)
WESTERN Canada’s Largest Comedy Celebration: “FunnyFest built a PIPELINE of LAUGHS!”
Included: Performers / Schedule / What people are saying!
Calgary – June 7, 2018
FunnyFest Society, Calgary’s annual comedy festival is celebrating its 18th anniversary with a lineup of comedic talent as diverse as the city that hosts them. With 2 show per night – May 31 to June 10, 2010 – Venues throughout Calgary welcome to the stage comics from across North America for Western Canada’s largest comedy festival, lasting 11 days and nights.
Themed “FunnyFest built a PIPELINE of LAUGHS!”, the Calgary Comedy Festival offers 20 COMEDY SHOWCASES and 11,000 punchlines! This year’s festival features Belly Laughs Galore. With six (6) headline comics per show, the FunnyFest Talent Searchwinners, and more zany material and cutting commentary, partnering with a diversity of 9 venues. FunnyFest is a highly-anticipated break from the shackles of WILD FIRES, inviting Calgarians to embrace the light-heartedness of spring.
“Comedy, like most popular culture, is a nuance and detailed reflection of the society that creates it,” says Stu Hughes, Artistic Director and founder of the FunnyFest Society. “FunnyFest uses LAUGHTER to capture the truths behind all the craziness in the world and encourages an optimistic perspective.”
“It’s a celebration of comedy”, says Stu Hughes, Artistic Director of FunnyFest. “What better way to celebrate than to bring a smorgasbord of the best comics to Calgary?”
FunnyFest is a non-profit organization which began in 2001, when Hughes saw an opportunity to advocate laughter as a huge catalyst for mental and physical health and well-being. “Laughter really is the best medicine and the 6th sense,” says Hughes.
In addition to offering a break from the everyday burdens of an oil pipeline ever been built AND the daily hustle and bustle, FunnyFest donates value to charitable causes like The Salvation Army, humanitarian organizations and more. A feat, considering tickets are available to Calgarians at a nominal cost of $20. “It’s a nickel a laugh, or in US dollars, we are paying USA citizens who visit Canadian Tire money to attend” Hughes jokes. “Part of the plan is to make the festival accessible to all people affected by the economic uncertainty and Donald Trump, which means we have to keep the cost of attending low.”
Tickets are $20 per showcase to see a minimum of 6 world class performers per show, or $299 for the entire festival. Hughes expects more than 20,000 guffawing Calgarians and over 4000 visitors to attend the festival this year, warning that side effects may include sore cheeks, tears of laughter and an uncontrollable bladder.
Named one of the top 10 signature events in Calgary by Travel Alberta, FunnyFest 2018 is ready to “turn this town into 11 days and nights of non-stop belly laughs” providing Calgarians with amazing opportunities to laugh, learn and live-it-up, all at an unbelievable value!
For tickets, visit www.funnyfest.com
Stu Hughes, Founder & Artistic Director, 18th Annual FunnyFest Calgary Comedy Festival Society
403 228 7888 stu@funnyfest.com www.funnyfest.com