On Saturday April 8th, get ready, as 50 comics from Chico, LA, SF and Sacramento converge on downtown Chico. This is a chance to laugh, in some cases for free, and take a deep breath. For a change.

It can be confusing to wrap your mind around a festival atmosphere, you  want to be able to see as much as you can, so here’s what it looks like.

On Saturday, April 8th starting at 6pm comics will begin checking into our HQ at The Naked Lounge. This is a good place for fans to check out, as you can questions from …

Comedian Paula Poundstone has it in her contract that the promoter must put a clock onstage. “I can’t tell how long I’ve been onstage when I’m performing.” Known for Springsteen like sets that top several hours, Pondstone has perfected the art of working a crowd. Stories splinter, drawing in several audience members, weaving ideas and reflections until the crowd is enchanted and falling out of their chairs laughing. From her early days in the Boston Comedy scene in the 80s to her recent ascent as a favored performer on NPR’s Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me, Poundstone is relevant and a force …

Piff the Magic Dragon is a once in a lifetime experience. Before he was hatched as Piff in 2006, the man behind the dragon, John van der Put, studied Shakespeare and was a theatrical director.  Performing magic in the UK, Piff’s incredibly sardonic personality was born. Opening for Mumford and Sons and appearing on season 10 of America’s Got Talent, as Piff, solidified this comedy/magic act as gold. Cantankerous with a definite slant on the world, Piff is refreshing, candid and amazing.

See him at The San Jose Improv on November 4th, 5th and 6th Tix here: http://tinyurl.com/zfnt9uv

Did you start off …

The Third Annual Santa Cruz Comedy Festival returns with comedy shows at The Poet, The Kuumbwa, The Blue Lagoon, Rosie McCann’s, Metavinyl, 99 Bottles, The Rio Theatre, Streetlight Records and more.

On Saturday, October 15th, 75 comedians race around downtown Santa Cruz dropping hilarious sets at multiple venues. This is a unique fun festival for fans and comics. Tix for All Star Show at Kuumbwa here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2599184

Friday October 14th Neptunes Kingdom 7pm HIGH Stakes Comedy Min-Golf Tournament $10 Contact votedna@gmail.com to register

Saturday October 15th 10 Venues Dowtown* 75 Comics*

Headliner show at The Kuumbwa 8pm http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2599184

Pure Pleasure All Ladies Line …

Win a pair of tickets to see Maria Bamford at the Heritage Theatre in Campbell, CA on Saturday, July 16, 2016 at 8:00 PM!!!!

You know her. You love her.  We have two pairs of tickets to give to two different lucky winners.

All you need to do to win is answer this question. A close friend of Maria’s is her comedy buddy Jackie Kashian. Where did Jackie work when she went to Europe in the 1980s?

What you thought this was going to be easy??? Put your brain to it and send your answer in the comments on our FB …

It’s fascinating when you see your comedy friends and acquaintances taking huge strides forward. It’s as if there is a veil between this regular ordinary world and the world of fame and they have managed to pierce it. SUSC was nervous about interviewing Natasha Leggero and Moshe Kasher, Moshe has always been a pretty brilliant and intense Mofo and Natasha is a fast rising star whose stage persona is barbed and sharp. Natasha is crushing it on her co-written, produced and directed Comedy Central show Another Period and Moshe just launched a “coming to Showtime”  series slated to …

Matt Lieb is a thirty-one year old comedy powerhouse: writer, actor and street musician/Bone Thugs-N-Harmony cover band. He was named “one of my all-time favorite Bay Area performers” by the award-winning SF blog Courting Comedy and described as “extremely talented, charmingly dark and genuinely pleasant.” He won 2nd place at the 2004 KZSC Comedy Competition, but the guy who won 1st place no longer does comedy so Matt basically won 1st place. He also won 1st place at the 2013 Rooster-T-Feathers Comedy Competition, which was very validating for him. Matt Lieb has opened for many legendary …

Kathleen Madigan is a firestorm of jokes, advice and more jokes. She is the way of the comic samurai. Beholden to none besides her hard-earned fans, Madigan came up with people like Ron White and Lewis Black. All iconoclasts, all hilarious.

She will be appearing at The Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz on May 5th, get your tickets here: http://www.riotheatre.com/events-2/2016/5/5/kathleen-madigan

SUSC: You seemed to have a different kind of start then most comics. You got into the club system early on. You started hitting mics after college?

Kathleen: I didn’t do any comedy in college. I bartended in college …

When interviewing Carlos Mencia, the elephant in the room can be heard breathing heavy in the corner. You know it’s there, he knows it’s there. But, fuck that elephant. Let’s ride that elephant, let’s see what fucking tricks that elephant knows. At a certain point, a man, a comedian has to be seen beyond his accusers and given a chance for redemption.

I would much rather hang out with Carlos Mencia than anyone I’ve met that has harsh words for the guy, because I love comedy. Look at just this one blurb from his lengthy bio:

“Mind of Mencia” …

Join us on April 23rd and 24th in Chico, California for another round of Comedy Festival excitement and laughter.

The festivities kick-off at 6pm on Saturday April 23rd with a FREE show in the Downtown Park Plaza. 35 comedians from all over California will attempt to make you laugh for 3 hours straight. Also featuring, skits, sketches and raffles this is a unique chance to share laughter with your community.

Then during the night of Saturday April 23rd comedians will be wandering around performing at different venues. Catch them starting at 9pm at B Street, Duffys Tavern and starting …