Comedy festival again set to bring laughs to West Point

The Viaero Great American Comedy Festival is returning to West Point, so get ready to laugh. The first of the festival’s preliminary amateur stand-up competitions will take place Saturday, Jan. 26, at 8 p.m. at the West Point Community Theater.

Tickets will be available at the door for $10 and in advance online at www.greatamericancomedyfestival.com.

“This is our third year of having West Point host one of our amateur shows,” said Lori Williams, the festival’s executive director. “We always enjoy having a show here. The audiences are great and appreciate what the comedians are doing. It will be a fun evening again.”

Serving as the host for the show will be Stephanie McHugh of Denver, who was one of the professional comedians who participate in the 2012 comedy festival in Norfolk.

Her wit and charm has made her a regular in the Denver comedy scene, and she keeps radio listeners laughing with her daily mishaps on the “Steve and Stephanie Morning Show” on a Denver radio station.

In addition to participating in the Great American Comedy Festival last year, McHugh also has appeared on Nick at Nite’s “NickMom Night Out” and “America’s Funniest Mom.”

She also has been a participate in the Las Vegas Comedy Festival as a finalist in the Laugh Across America contest. McHugh said her children love the fact that their mom is a standup comic and radio personality – as long as no one they know is around to hear it.

The amateur shows feature a series of comedians who will each do a 6-minute set on stage. The rules of the festival competition are that material should be network TV friendly.

After all the comedians have had a chance to make audience members laugh, those same audience members will determine who advances to the amateur finals this June in Norfolk.

The top two vote-getters will qualify for a chance to win the overall amateur competition.

Williams said festival organizers appreciate the opportunity to partner with the West Point Community Theater to bring entertainment like this to Cuming County.

“It’s just not the kind of thing you normally have a chance to attend,” she said. “We’re hoping that West Point and area residents again turn out for an evening of live comedy.”

The finals of the 2013 Viaero Great American Comedy Festival are set for Saturday, June 8, at Divots in Norfolk.

Additional festival performances will be June 12-16 in Norfolk, primarily at the Johnny Carson Theatre.

Drew Carey will serve as the festival’s headliner. Also featured will be Pete Lee, who won the festival’s professional competition in 2012, and Tom Cotter, who was runner-up in 2012 on “America’s Got Talent” television show.

The Nebraska Arts Council is providing funding to help underwrite the festival’s amateur competition shows in West Point and O’Neill, which is set for Saturday, March 16.

For more information, contact West Point Community Theater members or Lori Williams at 750-3516.