COMEDY CENTRAL® and The New York Comedy Festival's Third Annual
"Comics To Watch" Showcase Featuring the Best Up-And-Coming Young
Comedians to Premiere on cc.com/comicstowatch on Monday, November
12 at 4:00 P.M. ET
NEW YORK, Nov. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- After
concluding an extensive, nationwide search, this year's "Comics to
Watch" features a record 10 comedians performing in the showcase
reflecting an ever-expanding scope of the very best young talent on
the comedy scene today. COMEDY CENTRAL and The New York
Comedy Festival teamed up again for the third annual "Comics to
Watch" showcase which took place at Carolines on Broadway on
Wednesday, November 7 as part of the
2012 New York Comedy Festival. The "Comics to Watch" event
will premiere in full-length on cc.com/comicstowatch on
Monday, November 12 at 4:00 p.m. ET and is available through Wednesday,
November 14. Subsequently, clips of the individual
performances from "Comics to Watch" 2012 will be live on the
site.
Hosted by Owen Benjamin, this year's "Comics To Watch" features
the following comedians: Asif Ali,
David Agyekum, Kate Berlant, Matt D, Chris Distefano, Phil
Hanley, Andrew Santino,
Liza Treyger, Brooks Wheelan and Hampton Yount.
Asif Ali - stand-up,
writer, improviser and actor who has appeared on ABC's "Modern
Family" in addition to starring as a series regular on an upcoming
ABC pilot with Dan Castellaneta.
David Agyekum - 22
year-old Michigander who has taken his talents to open mics and
noisy bar shows across the East Coast.
Kate Berlant -
Brooklyn-based comic/witch who has
opened for Reggie Watts.
Matt D – competed and won Comic Stand-Off at the 2012
Magners Comedy Festival in Boston
for an opportunity to perform at the Glasgow International Comedy
Festival.
Chris Distefano – appeared
on MTV2's highest-rated show "Guy
Code" and starting in January, he can be seen on MTVs
"Failosiphy" and "Money from Strangers."
Phil Hanley - native of
Vancouver and now based in
New York City, he has recently
performed for a second time on "The Late Late Show with
Craig Ferguson."
Andrew Santino - comedic
headliner who has appeared on Comedy Central and MTV's "Punk'd"
with upcoming appearances on "The Office," "Arrested Development"
as well as in the new indie movie, "Warren."
Liza Treyger -
Chicago based stand-up comedian
from the former Soviet Union who
loves wearing dresses, getting her nails done and telling jokes
about race and woman things.
Brooks Wheelan – writer
and performer based in Los Angeles
whose credits include UCB, Comedy Central,
College Humor and Second City Chicago.
Hampton Yount - Virginia
native and currently a writer on MTV's "Ridiculousness and "TruTv's
"Upload with Shaquille O'Neal."
"Comics to Watch" is a showcase featuring a wide range of
diversely talented young comedians. It was created to launch
the careers of the next generation of comedians by putting them in
front of industry executives and comedy fans. The selection
process involved live showcases in multiple cities. The
all-comedy network and the festival organizers worked closely
together to identify the best new stand-up comedians.
Comedians from past "Comics to Watch" showcases such as
Michael Che, Emily Heller, Ben
Kronberg, Adam Newman,
Kurt Braunohler, and Kevin Biggins have gone on to making stand-up
appearances on COMEDY CENTRAL shows including "John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show" and "CC
Stand-Up Live from The South Beach Comedy Festival."
Available on-air, online and on-the-go, COMEDY CENTRAL
(www.cc.com) is the #1 brand in comedy and is owned by, and is a
registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned unit of
Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA and VIAB). For up-to-the-minute and
archival press information and photographs visit COMEDY CENTRAL's
press Web site at www.cc.com/press and follow us on Twitter
@ComedyCentralPR for the latest in breaking news updates,
behind-the-scenes information and photos.
The New York Comedy Festival is produced by Carolines on
Broadway in association with COMEDY CENTRAL. The festival has
featured the country's top comedians, including Louis C.K.,
Bill Maher, Ricky Gervais, Kathy
Griffin, Dane Cook,
Sarah Silverman, Aziz Ansari, Wanda
Sykes and Joel McHale, to
name a few. In 2007, the festival launched the "Stand-Up for
Heroes" event to benefit The Bob Woodruff Foundation, which has
featured performances by Robin
Williams, Jon Stewart,
Jerry Seinfeld, Lewis Black, Ricky
Gervais, Conan O'Brien and Bruce
Springsteen. The festival is produced by Carolines on
Broadway. Sponsors are Citbank, Klondike, JetBlue and Svedka Vodka.
The media sponsors are New York Post, Time Out New York, Variety
and the Village Voice.
SOURCE COMEDY CENTRAL Corporate Communications