The Onion and The A.V. Club's 'The First Annual 26th Annual Comedy Festival,' is taking place in Chicago June 12-14, 2014, with headliners Comedy Bang! Bang!, Tig Notaro, Kyle Kinane, and Marc Maron. Notaro is also openly gay. Tickets available at 26comedy.com .
Over three nights in June at Chicago's historic Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave., The Onion and The A.V. Club will present special performances by some of our favorite comedians, a convocation we're calling The 26th Annual Comedy Festival. ( Yes, the name is a joke. This is their first year. )
On Thursday, June 12 at 7:30 p.m. they present a live version of Comedy Bang! Bang!, the podcast and television show created by Scott Aukerman, who will be joined by cohorts and guests to be announced. CBB has just been renewed for a massive 40 episodes by IFC. 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. they 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., they present comedy legend Marc Maron, the podcast and TV star of WTF With Marc Maron and Maron, respectively. He's been a guest of David Letterman and Conan O'Brien's more times than he can count, and he found an incredible following for his podcast, which began in 2009 and spun off into the television show, which returns for a second season on IFC starting Thursday, May 8.
"We couldn't be more excited about this slate of comedians," said festival producer ( and A.V. Club editor-in-chief ) Josh Modell. "And we hope the first annual 26th Annual Comedy Festival will bloom into something bigger and better every year."
For the first three days of ticket sales, early birds will have a chance to buy a three-show pass, which guarantees one of the best seats in the house for each night. All seats are reserved at the Athenaeum.
The first annual 26th Annual Comedy Festival is generously supported in part by IFC, the network that champions authentic, original comedies, and WBEZ, the home of such original programming as This American Life and Sound Opinions.
The Onion, updated daily at theonion.com, is America's Finest News Source.
The A.V. Club, updated daily at avclub.com, is one of the biggest pop-culture sites on the Internet.
The Athenaeum Theatre ( athenaeumtheatre.org/ ) was built in 1911 as a "neighborhood playhouse." There's not a bad seat among its 984.
For further information on the 26th Annual Comedy Festival, or to arrange interviews with festival producers and talent, please contact Derek Cuculich at The Onion ( DCuculich@TheOnion.com ). Visit 26comedy.com for more details and ticket links.
