The Aspen RooftopComedy Festival was a
stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up.
Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...
festival that was held annually in
Aspen, Colorado
Aspen is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,004 at the 2020 United States Census. Aspen is in a remote area of the Rocky Mounta ...
on or around the Memorial Day Weekend since 2008. The festival is the concept of Roxane Davis and the City Of Aspen. Davis, a consultant and producer, created the partnership between rooftopcomedy.com and Aspen's
Wheeler Opera House
The Wheeler Opera House is located at the corner of East Hyman Avenue and South Mill Street in Aspen, Colorado, Aspen, Colorado, United States. It is a stone building erected during the 1890s, from a design by Willoughby J. Edbrooke that blends ele ...
, a historic theater located in downtown Aspen.
The Aspen RooftopComedy Festival was designed to fill the gap left by HBO canceling the
U.S. Comedy Arts Festival
The Comedy Festival, formerly known as the US Comedy Arts Festival, was a comedy festival that ran from 1995 to 2008. The festival included stand-up comedy performances, appearances by the casts of television shows, and has a film component calle ...
, which had been held in Aspen from 1985 - 2007. HBO has since renamed the festival and relocated it to Las Vegas, Nevada. 2008 marked the inaugural debut of the Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival as a replacement to the former HBO event.
RooftopComedy.com brought the focus of the festival towards an underground talent base and an online media focus, and The Wheeler Opera House ensured that the festival transitioned to an event for the Aspen community by offering affordable tickets and local discounts on festival passes. Whereas the HBO/U.S. Comedy Arts Festival had evolved into primarily an industry event, the producers of the new festival committed to creating a community for developing unproven comics, as well as presenting comedy for a devoted live-comedy audience.
The festival ran for three editions, being followed in 2011 by the Aspen Laff Festival.
2008 Festival Details
;Performers
*Dave Waite
*
Paul Varghese
Paul Varghese (born January 4, 1977 in Dallas, Texas) is an American comedian and actor of Indian descent who appeared on the hit reality show ''Last Comic Standing 2'', where he made it to the semi-finals. He taped his first full set for nationa ...
*Mike E. Winfield
*Kevin Camia
*
Geoff Tate
Geoff Tate (born Jeffrey Wayne Tate, January 14, 1959; he later changed his first name to Geoffery or Geoffrey) (Pp. 11, 48). is an American singer and songwriter. He rose to fame with the progressive metal band Queensrÿche, who had commercial ...
*Vladimir McTavish
*
Chris Porter
*Vince Morris
*Robert Hawkins
*Tyrone Hawkins
*Andi Smith
*Isaac Witty
*
Lisa Landry
*
Auggie Smith
*John Ramsey
*
Matt Braunger
Matthew Braunger (born August 1, 1974) is an American actor, writer, and stand-up comedian. His most recent special ''Finally Live In Portland'' was launched by Comedy Dynamics in 2019. Outside of performing stand-up, Braunger is noted for bein ...
*Erin Foley
*Robert Buscemi
*Nathan Trenholm
*
Lamar Williams
Lamar Williams (January 14, 1949 – January 21, 1983) was an American musician best known for serving as the bassist of The Allman Brothers Band (1972–1976) and Sea Level (1976–1980).
Early years
Williams was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, ...
*
Tig Notaro
Mathilde O'Callaghan "Tig" Notaro (born March 24, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, radio contributor, and actress. She is known for her deadpan comedy. Her acclaimed album ''Live'' was nominated in 2014 for the Grammy Award for Be ...
*Steve Wilson
*Mike Lukas
*
Jimmy Dore
*
Tim Ball
;Other Highlights
*Industry Panel: Comedy meets New Media
''A cross-section of new media and comedy industry leaders discuss how the Internet is impacting the comedy business, and how comedians are harnessing new media strategies to further their careers. Participating Panelists are below. The discussion was moderated by RooftopComedy.''
*Mark Day, Comedy Content Manager, YouTube
*Dylan Gadino, Editor-in-Chief, PunchlineMagazine.com
*Allison Kingsley, Executive Producer/GM, Bushleague.tv
*Mike Kwatinetz, General Partner, Azure Capital Partners
Azure Capital Partners, which was established in 2000, is an early stage venture capital firm that invests in the information technology industry using an investment research approach to venture capital investing. Azure Capital Partners was fou ...
*Kevan O'Brien, Digital Film and Video Specialist, Adobe
*2008 RooftopComedy Awards
''Awards were presented to comedians and those working in the field of online comedy who "are doing exciting, innovative and, yes, hilarious things."''the RooftopComedy Awards at The Aspen RooftopComedy Festival
*Matt Braunger
Matthew Braunger (born August 1, 1974) is an American actor, writer, and stand-up comedian. His most recent special ''Finally Live In Portland'' was launched by Comedy Dynamics in 2019. Outside of performing stand-up, Braunger is noted for bein ...
- Best of the Fest
*Robert Hawkins - Rooftop Comics' Comic
* Auggie Smith - Rooftop Clubs' Comic of the Year
*Tyrone Hawkins - The Rooftop Golden Shingle
*The Rooftop Rusty Nails
**Matt Bearden
**Jonathan Pace
**Tabari McCoy
**TJ Young
**Albert Im
**Jeff Wesselschmidt
** Tim Harmston
** Andy Erikson
* Eddie Gossling - The Roofie
*Go Bananas in Cincinnati, OH - Best Club for Emerging Talent
*Go Bananas in Cincinnati, OH - Best Club to Work
* MySpace Comedy Forum - Best Online Comedy Forum
*Punchline Magazine - Best Online Industry Publication
*Never Not Funny
''Never Not Funny'' is a podcast hosted by American comedian Jimmy Pardo, since spring 2006, currently releasing two episodes a week. He and producer/co-host Matt Belknap have appeared in every episode. Comedian Mike Schmidt appeared as co-host f ...
with Jimmy Pardo - Best Comedy Podcast
*Michael Showalter Showalter - Best Sketch Comedy News Parody Shows
*The Onion
''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on August 2 ...
News Network - Best Comedy Web Shows and Series
*National College Comedy Competition Finals
''The Finals of the NCCC featured the top 4 students in the categories of Stand Up and Short Film from across the US competing for the title of Funniest College Student.''
*Tim Ball from Duke University won in the Stand Up Category.
*Dan Perrault from Emerson College won in the Short Film Category with ''Car Phone''.
References
External links
Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival- Official Festival Site
Stage Time- Stage Time Article discussing the festival
Aspen Comedy Festival- Dead Frog Article on the festival
- Official site of Aspen's Wheeler Opera House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival, The
Festivals in Colorado
Comedy festivals in the United States
Tourist attractions in Aspen, Colorado