5th Annual Hampton Beach Comedy Festival

Thursday, July 24, 2014 - Friday, July 25, 2014 at 7:00 PM
Location: Ashworth by the Sea

5th Annual Hampton Beach Comedy Festival Promises Big Laughs

comedyfest

The 5th Annual Hampton Beach Comedy Festival kicks off with a superb lineup of standup comedians from Boston and New England on July 24-25 at Ashworth by the Sea, the landmark hotel on Ocean Boulevard.

Highlights of this year’s event include the last local public performance of the year from Jimmy Dunn, who leaves for Los Angeles to shoot the CBS sitcom The McCarthys in August.

Tickets are on sale now at the Ashworth by the Sea, on-line at
Eventbrite.com or at the door on show night if space allows. For more information, go to scampscomedy.com or hamptonbeachcomedy.com.

Dunn, who lives in Hampton, founded the festival five years ago as a way to break up the summer.

“It was a fun way for me to invite guys up for a visit, and to get out and see folks that I usually see on the beach or around town,” said Dunn. “I was doing a lot of traveling then. This year, with the sitcom (which will air on Thursday nights at 9:30 beginning Oct. 30), it’s a way to catch up with folks before I go to Hollywood.”

Comedians from previous festivals have gone on to write or perform comedy on national network shows such as The Tonight Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Comedy Central. But career success was secondary to the ability to make audiences laugh.

This year’s list of comics includes some old favorites and new favorites. The first night lineup features Paul Gilligan, Dave Rattigan, Chris Pennie, Mac Livingston, Will Noonan, and Hampton’s Josh Day. For the July 25 finale, Dunn will be joined by Lamont Price, Katie Grady, Jeff Koen, Abhishek Shah, and Jesse Bickford, another seacoast native who currently lives in Dover.

“Jimmy just picks guys that he likes, and that he wants his friends and neighbors from Hampton to see,” said Rattigan, a comedian who has performed in three previous festivals. “The bonus used to be that if you were on the same night he was on, you could stop at his house before the gig and he’d cook you a steak. If you were on a night that he wasn’t on, you’d go to the beach and get a slice and some fried dough.

“Unlike other festivals, the focus is really just on having fun and enjoying comedy,” Rattigan said. “There are no contests, and no entry fee, no actors that aren’t ready for standup showcases or guys who are only in high-profile spots because their agent placed them there. These are funny guys who are picked to be here because they’re funny, and they’re here to enjoy the show. You see comics hanging out with the people before and afterwards, and it’s just very loose, and very fun.”

“I’m really excited to be doing this,” said Bickford, a southern Maine native who is performing in the festival for the first time. “It’s great to be involved with a comedy festival that’s so well-known, and to be with such high caliber comedians. Performing with Jimmy, before he leaves for L.A., will be a lot of fun.”

The doors open at 7 p.m. for the 8 p.m. shows, each of which will feature six comedians. Tickets are $18. Patrons must be 21-plus. There is a full bar in the showroom.

 

5th Annual Hampton Beach Comedy Festival

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