Red Clay comedy festival returns for another round of laughs
Colin Quinn, Rory Scovel, Clayton English, and more headline alternative comedy festival’s second installment
This year has been one of the hottest years in recent memory, literally, figuratively, and comedically speaking. It means sweaty September will slide into October and no one will know the difference. During this time, the second annual Red Clay Comedy Festival is dropping off some of the country’s most beloved comedians right here in Fulton county, Sept. 29-Oct. 1, to help beat the heat.
For a city that’s seen comedy thrive as of late (think Laughing Skull Festival or Hotlanta Comedy Fest in July) there’s a higher demand for humor, and more performance spaces across town are supplying the laughter.
“Standup comedy is experiencing an incredible renaissance, not only in sheer scale but in the nature of this recent explosion,” says Mike Albanese, Atlanta comedian and co-founder of the Red Clay Comedy festival. “The most exciting standup comedy no longer occurs in comedy clubs.”
Albanese, and Gilbert Lawand share credit for founding the festival which is setting residence across the city, including Relapse Theatre, The Drunken Unicorn, The Highland Inn Ballroom Lounge, and Variety Playhouse. Headliners include Clayton English (brother of CL photographer Brandon English ) who won last year at NBC’s Last Comic Standing, Rory Scovel, and Colin Quinn.
In case you’re thinking “I’ll skip it,” think of this: $100-$125 will dub you a comedy nerd, and offer access into both Red Clay Comedy Festival and Project Pabst Music Festival. That’s more than 20 shows and a chance to see both Run the Jewels and Mastodon while sipping the finest of economical beers. There will also be $10-$20 individual comedy show tickets.