On the Town: Festival shines spotlight on hundreds of comedians

Putting on a weeklong festival is no laughing matter … unless you’re staging the fourth annual Burbank Comedy Festival, which was presented last week by Flappers Comedy Club in Burbank.

Co-produced by Josh Snyder and the club’s owner Barbara Holliday, the event has been molded after Montreal’s Just for Laughs festival, which, founded in 1983, has become the largest convening of comedians in the world.

“We’ve grown exponentially, and this year, we had 376 comedians and over 200 industry guests and participants that came from Boston, Tennessee, New York — all over the country,” said Holliday.

“Burbank is really the perfect location to do what Montreal does. And this year we had great support from local sponsors including Barney’s Beanery, Story Tavern, the Yard House, Fantasia Billiards, and the Hilton Garden Inn that hosted panels and after-parties,” she added.

During this past week, the festival presented more than 100 shows, which featured both headlining stars of the comedy world as well as promising up-and-comers, workshops, celebrity podcasts and industry panels. The latter took place at the downtown comedy club, the L.A. Connection Comedy Theatre and the Hilton Garden Inn.

Among the established stars of stand-up who graced audiences with their comedic stylings during last week’s fun fest were Jimmy Dore, Kevin Pollak, Carol Leifer, Christopher Titus, Hal Sparks, Kel Mitchell, David Zucker, Jimmy Pardo, Jamie Kennedy, and actress and comedienne Mary Lynn Rajskub, who is best known for her role as Chloe O’Brian in the popular FOX television series “24.”

Along with Snyder and Holliday, last week’s festival was made possible by Jessica Cisneros Ramsey and Ken Pringle, who were assisted by Lauren Smith, Ryan Stathos, Alex Caine, Magdalynne Sager, Ellie Wessel, Chelsea Mitchell, Robin Faulk, David Albert Pierce, Mark Scroggs and the entire Flappers staff.

Flappers Comedy Club, which opened in 2008, is the brainchild of Holliday and Dave Reinitz, who, since the late 1990s, have been producing comedy shows and festivals in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Now established as leaders in the West Coast comedy scene, the duo is currently working on several television and reality shows that are in development.

For more information about the club, show and event schedules as well as food menus, visit flapperscomedy.com.

DAVID LAURELL may be reached by email at dlaurell@aol.com or (818) 563-1007.