10th Anniversary Boston Comedy Festival Celebrates a Decade of Truly Historic Comedy

10th Anniversary Boston Comedy Festival Celebrates a Decade of Truly Historic Comedy

LINE-UP ANNOUNCED & COMPETITION ALREADY UNDERWAY

BOSTON, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The Boston Comedy Festival announced the 2009 preliminary line-up today including appearances by fan favorites such as this year's Boston Comedian of the Year recipient Tony V and top comedians from Boston and all across the country as they compete for a chance at being discovered by top talent scouts from shows like The Tonight Show and David Letterman. Celebrating its tenth anniversary, the Boston Comedy Festival celebrates Boston's rich comedy community that produced such great comedians as Jay Leno, Denis Leary and Lenny Clarke while highlighting the best up-and-coming talents on the local scene. At venues across the city, comedy fans have a week of live laughs and cinematic chuckles in a huge variety of styles and formats. Competition for the $10,000 grand prize culminates with a special event on September 5 at Hard Rock Cafe Boston located at 22-24 Clinton St. and sponsored by VinDiBona. For a full list of festival events happening at Hard Rock, please visit www.hardrock.com/boston.

Festival Founder Jim McCue, himself a Boston area comedy club favorite, says, "Boston's comedy community is a tight group of talented individuals that we aim to celebrate and promote with each Festival. This year's event is especially sweet since it marks 10 years of fabulously funny folks."

Highlights this year include performances by Lewis Black, Bobcat Goldthwait, Funny Females and a Tony V roast along with improv, sketch and one-person shows throughout the week.

HISTORY

Jim McCue conceived and created the first Boston Comedy Festival in 1999 with the vision to showcase New England's stand-up comedy talent to bigger audiences and the entertainment industry in general. The Boston area has a long history of producing successful comedians and more were appearing on the horizon. Over the years, such stars as Lewis Black, The Smothers Brothers, and Steven Wright have all participated. A family business, Jim's sister Helen is Festival vice president and his sister-in-law Midge is a major organizer. The Festival fulfills Jim's dream in making Boston a true hub of comedy.

More information, tickets and the entire Festival line-up is available at www.bostoncomedyfestival.com.

About Hard Rock International

With a total of 154 venues in 52 countries, including 127 cafes and 11 Hotels/Casinos, Hard Rock International is one of the world's most globally recognized brands. Beginning with an Eric Clapton guitar, Hard Rock owns the world's greatest collection of music memorabilia, which is displayed at its locations around the globe. Hard Rock is also known for its collectible fashion and music-related merchandise, Hard Rock Live performance venues and an award-winning website. In addition to the two flagship Seminole Hard Rock Hotels and Casinos in Tampa and Hollywood, Fla., Hard Rock Hotels/Casinos are located in Las Vegas, Biloxi, Orlando, Chicago, San Diego, Tulsa, Pattaya, Bali and Macau. Additional hotel and casino projects have been announced in Penang, scheduled to open in 2009; Singapore in 2010; Palm Springs, Atlanta and Panama, scheduled to open in 2011; Hungary, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, scheduled to open in 2012. Hard Rock International is owned by Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment, Inc. For further details on Hard Rock Hotels and Casinos, visit www.hardrockhotels.com. For more information on Hard Rock International, visit www.hardrock.com.

Source: Boston Comedy Festival

CONTACT: Wendy Pierce of GoldsteinPierce PR, +1-617-710-7733,
wendy@goldsteinpierce.com; or Kate Shamon of ShamonPR, +1-781-431-1133,
kate@shamonpr.com, both for Boston Comedy Festival

Web Site: http://www.bostoncomedyfestival.com/

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