Hey friends, we’re excited to announce the first annual 26th Annual Comedy Festival, presented by The A.V. Club (that’s us) and The Onion (that’s our sister publication). It’ll take place June 12-14 at Chicago’s beautiful Athenaeum Theatre (2936 N. Southport), and will feature Comedy Bang! Bang! Live (June 12, 7:30 p.m.), two shows with the awesome double bill of Tig Notaro and Kyle Kinane (June 13, 7 & 10 p.m.), and Marc Maron (June 14, 7:30 p.m.). A limited number of three-night passes will go on sale tomorrow, March 25, at 10 a.m. central; three-night purchasers will have access to the best seats in the house (though every seat is pretty great in this old beauty), and will have the option of sitting in the same seat each night. Tickets for individual shows will go on sale this Friday, March 28, at 10 a.m. central. More information and ticket links can be found at 26comedy.com. Information about the performers (as if you didn’t know ’em!) is below. We hope to see you there, and we hope to make this thing bigger and better every year. Join us!


The first annual 26th Annual Comedy Festival is generously supported in part by IFC, the “Always On Slightly Off” comedy destination, and WBEZ, the home of such original programming as This American Life and Sound Opinions.

On Thursday, June 12 at 7:30 p.m. we’ll present a live version of Comedy Bang! Bang!, the podcast and television show created by Scott Aukerman, who will be joined here by cohorts and guests to be announced. The third season of Comedy Bang! Bang! premieres May 8 at 10:30 pm ET/PT on IFC and has just been renewed for an expanded fourth season of 40 episodes, to premiere in 2015. Aukerman is also known as the co-creator and director of Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis, and he was a part of the legendary Mr. Show gang.


On Friday, June 13 at 7 & 10 p.m. we’ll present two shows with the incredible double bill of Tig Notaro and Kyle Kinane. Notaro may be best known for her appearances on The Sarah Silverman Program and This American Life, as well as her monumental, Grammy-nominated album Live, an impromptu set delivered after her cancer diagnosis. Kinane grew up in the Chicago area, and to call him a hometown favorite is an understatement. He’s had a Comedy Central special (and he provides the network’s voiceovers), and a well received album, Whiskey Icarus. Kinane will also provide voice work for the upcoming series TripTank on Comedy Central, alongside Bob Odenkirk, Tom Kenny, Kumail Nanjiani, and others.

On Saturday, June 14 at 7:30 p.m., we’ll present comedy legend Marc Maron, star of IFC’s Maron, returning for a second season on May 8 at 10 pm ET/PT, and creator/host of his hugely successful podcast, WTF With Marc Maron. He’s been a guest of David Letterman and Conan O’Brien’s more times than he can count.

