Funny Ladies Wanted

This summer, comedy producers are searching for the New York metropolitan area’s funniest women to take part in the Ladies of Laughter comedy contest for cash prizes, comedy bookings, gift certificates, merchandise and the 2012 Ladies of Laughter titles.
“Since it was first introduced into comedy clubs in 1999, the Ladies of Laughter series has awarded comedy bookings, major publicity and over $20,000 to comediennes and has been a driving force behind women comediennes getting to the next level in their careers,” said Executive Producer, Peggy Boyce.
The events have led contestants to appearances in local and national media, including ABC-Television, Comedy Central, FOX-TV and even to feature stories in the New York Times, not to mention the paid bookings many comediennes receive afterwards at major comedy clubs.
A percentage of proceeds from this year’s events will benefit Buddy Cares – an animal rights advocacy group that provides wellness and services to abandoned animals in need.
2012 Ladies of Laughter sponsors include, Gotham Comedy Club, Broadway Comedy Club, The Comic Strip, Leica Camera, Back Stage Magazine, Comic Bible and Andover Communications. Part of the prize package will also include the winner taking part in a paid comedy tour co-produced by Ladies of Laughter and Admire Entertainment.
Those interested in registering for Ladies of Laughter should go to www.ladiesoflaughter.org. Contestants must be eighteen years or older and must enter no later than July 20th to be considered for the 2012 competition.
Ladies of Laughter has separate categories for “Professionals” and “Newcomers”. Each contestant will be judged on audience response, originality, material and delivery by a panel of entertainment industry judges. Winners from each event advance to the Finale where they will be perform before Comedy Central, major talent representatives and press.

The 2012 Ladies of Laughter Event Schedule:

Tuesday, July 17th @ 8:00pm-Broadway Comedy Club- 318 W. 53rd St. New York, 212-757-2323

Tuesday, July 24th @ 8:00pm-Broadway Comedy Club-318 W. 53rd St. New York, 212-757-2323

Friday, July 27th@ 6:15pm-The Comic Strip-1568 Second Ave. New York, 212-861-9386

Wednesday, Aug. 1st @ 8:00pm-Broadway Comedy Club-318 W. 53rd St. New York, 212-757-2323

2012 LADIES OF LAUGHTER FINALS:

Wednesday, Aug. 15th @ 8:00pm-Gotham Comedy Club-208 W. 23rd. St. New York, 212-367-9000

Tickets for all preliminary events can be purchased at Ladies of Laughter.org under “2012 Events”

Tickets for the 2012 Finale on August 15th can be purchased at gothamcomedyclub.com

For more information on Ladies of Laughter, go to www.ladiesoflaughter.org. To keep up to date on all the developments in this year’s Ladies of Laughter series, “Like” “The Ladies of Laughter” on Facebook and follow them on Twitter at LadiesOLaughter.

Comedy at CinemaCon

The actor at least had some material for the Monday night occasion as he paraded through the audience of theater owners in costume and character as an authoritarian leader of a fictitious middle eastern country to promote his upcoming film The Dictator – before a late night surprise screening elsewhere. “I thought I was going to be the only dictator here tonight,” he said. “Imagine my surprise when I found out Jeffrey Katzenberg would be here.” He added that he was “pleased to be here to address Cinnabon” claiming to have stared in movies such as When Harry Kidnapped Sally, The 14 Year Old Virgin, and The Planet Of The Rapes. “I hope you show my film on all of your screens…Trust me, there are bigger bombs than John Carter.” Staying with the riff he urged Disney to “just shoot the executive” responsible for the film. “Wait a minute, you did” — an obvious reference to the company’s decision last week to fire studio chief Rich Ross. He told the industry audience that his “film will be released on May 16. As for your families, we’ll see.”

The shtick was part of Paramount and DreamWorks Animation’s effort to impress the exhibition community with the potential audience appeal of their 2012 slates. Jon Chu, the director of G.I. Joe: Retaliation called the film’s star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson “franchise Viagra. He brings everyone’s game up.” The actor, who was presented an award as the CinemaCon Action Star of the Decade, predicted that the film would be “a massive hit.”

Katzenberg presented extended clips from The Guardians and Madagascar 3 and brought Chris Rock on to talk up the sequel. Although Madagascar will be be up against “Spider-man, Batman and all this other crap,”  he says, “I believe the biggest movie of the summer will be Madagascar 3″ which he says reminded him of Pixar’s Toy Story 3. “It can’t get no better.”  But after Rock was through, Katzenberg — one of Hollywood’s most passionate evangelists for 3D — got a bigger laugh by asking the audience: “Have I ever mentioned to you guys how much I like 3D?”