June 1st, 2021

 

Media Contact: Bryan Adams
Phone: 818.295.8047
badams@nacellecompany.com

TRIBECA ENTERPRISES AND COMEDY DYNAMICS GREENLIGHT TEN STAND-UP SPECIALS TO BE FILMED LIVE AT THE TRIBECA FESTIVAL

 

NEW YORK – June 1, 2021 – Tribeca and Comedy Dynamics have announced that they’re producing ten stand-up comedy specials at this year’s festival. This comedy program is part of Tribeca’s 12-day celebration to re-open New York and bring live entertainment back to the city June 9th – 20th. The ten specials, produced by Tribeca and Comedy Dynamics, will be directed by Brian Volk-Weiss as part of Tribeca’s expansion into new storytelling platforms.

 

“We had a blast working with the amazing team at Tribeca for our 2020 Comedy Drive-In at the Rose Bowl and we’re excited to be taking the show back to New York City in 2021 to give fans a bigger, better and more interactive experience,” said Brian Volk-Weiss, Founder and CEO of Comedy Dynamics.

 

In early 2020, Tribeca and Comedy Dynamics teamed up to produce original stand-up comedy specials which were slated to be filmed at the annual Tribeca Festival in New York City. Once covid restrictions were implemented nationwide, they quickly pivoted and evolved the indoor festival into an outdoor comedy drive-in set across the country at The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Tribeca x Comedy Dynamics Drive-In featured hour-long comedy sets from Ester Steinberg, Dave Helem, Erica Rhodes and Daniel Webb, making history as the first set of drive-in comedy specials filmed in the midst of the pandemic.

 

“Tribeca is proud to be part of New York City’s cultural reopening with12 days of live entertainment at outdoor and indoor venues across all five boroughs” said Pete Torres, Chief Operations Officer of Tribeca Enterprises. ”We’re excited to partner and grow our program with Comedy Dynamics bringing ten comedians back to the stage during our 20th anniversary celebration.”

 

As Covid restrictions are being lifted,  one-hour comedy sets will be reintroduced to live audiences including the likes of Bill Bellamy, Cocoa Brown, Jackie Fabulous, Josh Gondelman, Helen Hong and more! Fans will be treated to ten stand-up performances which will be taped for later viewing.

 

A complete list of comedians and performance dates below:

 

Bill Bellamy – June 12 – 8:30pm & 10:30pm – Spring Studios
Bill Bellamy is a comedian and actor who has been featured on HBO’s Def Comedy Jam, MTV Jamz, MTV Beach House, Last Comic Standing, Hot in Cleveland and more. Bill has several acclaimed stand-up specials under his belt, including Booty Call, Ladies Night Out and Crazy, Sexy, Dirty. Bill is also the host and EP of Bill Bellamy’s Who’s Got Jokes, which has featured rising comedians in their early days, including Tiffany Haddish, Lil Rel Howery and Karlous Miller.

 

Cocoa Brown – June 17 – 8:30pm & 10:30pm – Spring Studios
Cocoa Brown is a comedian and actress who has appeared on Showtime at the Apollo, One Mic Stand and BET’s ComicView. She’s also appeared in Tyler Perry’s series, For Better or Worse and comedy films such as, Ted 2 and The Single Mom’s Club. In addition to her comedic roles, Cocoa has showcased her acting talents on dramatic series such as Fox’s 9-1-1 and FX’s The People Vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.

 

Helen Hong – June 16 – 10:30pm – Spring Studios
A fan favorite on the hit NPR podcast Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, Helen Hong is a recurring character on HBO’s Silicon Valley, CBS’s The Unicorn and Netflix’s Huge in France. She’s performed standup comedy on The Arsenio Hall Show, Last Call with Carson Daly, Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen and the Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal. Helen was featured in the Coen Brothers’ film Inside Llewyn Davis, and has guest-starred on Jane the Virgin, Parks and Recreation, and Pretty Little Liars.

 

Maija DiGiorgio – June 16 – 8:30pm – Spring Studios
Maija DiGiorgio is recognized by New York's Time Out Magazine as one of "the freshest, funniest, unique voices to grace the microphone". Maija has been featured on HBO Def Comedy Jam, Hot 97, NBC's Comics Unleashed, HBO's Sex & The City, Uncontrolled Comedy Hour and more. Maija received a standing ovation on her first television appearance on NBC’s Live from the Apollo and never stopped touring since, including several tours to serve our troops stationed overseas in Korea, Okinawa, and Japan.

 

Josh Gondelman – June 13 – 8:30pm – Spring Studios
Josh Gondelman is a writer and comedian who incubated in Boston before moving to New York City, where he currently lives and works as a writer and producer for Desus and Mero on Showtime. Previously, he spent five years at Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, where he earned two Peabody Awards, four Emmy awards, and three WGA Awards for his work. Josh’s debut essay collection, Nice Try, was released in fall 2019 through Harper Perennial. In the past, Josh has written for Fuse TV’s Billy On The Street. Onstage, Josh charms audiences using his good-natured storytelling and cracks them up with his sharp, pointy wit. He takes topics from surprise parties to his experience teaching preschool and makes them all equally hilarious. In 2016, he made his late night standup debut on Conan (TBS), and made his network TV debut on Late Night With Seth Meyers (NBC) in 2018. He has also appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden. Josh’s album Dancing On a Weeknight was released April 2019 on Blonde Medicine Records and hit #7 on the Billboard comedy chart. His previous comedy album Physical Whisperdebuted in March of 2016 at #1 on the iTunes comedy charts (as well as #4 on the Billboard comedy chart) and stayed there for…well…longer than he expected, honestly.

 

Miz Cracker – June 13 – 10:30pm – Spring Studios
Miz Cracker is a New York City drag queen, writer and comedienne. She launched her drag career in 2011 while participating in marches for marriage equality in Times Square. She went on to compete in RuPaul’s Drag Race Season Ten, landing a spot in the top five and becoming a fan favorite. She now tours the world with her one woman shows; delights fans on her YouTube channel; lectures on drag at top universities; cooks with Bon Appetit; writes for publications like Slate, ArtForum, Vice and GQ; and engages over a million followers on Instagram and Twitter. Cracker describes herself as a “woman’s lifestyle brand,” and is a vocal advocate for women’s rights. Her forthcoming solo show, American Woman, discusses how drag queens and gay men can become better allies to women in an age when Feminism is more important than ever.

 

Kellen Erskine – June 14 – 8:30pm – Spring Studios
Comedian Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Jimmy Kimmel, NBC’s America’s Got Talent, and the Amazon Original series, Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 30 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the coveted “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. Kellen was named one of TBS’s Top Ten Comics to Watch in 2017, and he performed at the Bridgetown, Big Sky, and Boston Comedy Festivals. In February 2018, Kellen made his late night TV stand-up debut on TBS’s Conan.

 

Katrina Davis – June 14 – 10:30pm – Spring Studios
Katrina Davis is a stand-up from Jacksonville, Florida who sprang onto the Los Angeles comedy scene with a few 60-second sets on Kill Tony. She took on enough contenders in Roast Battle at The Comedy Store to be ranked amongst the top 50 battlers in 2018 and can been seen on America’s Got Talent as well as the Seed & Spark comedy special Everything is Fine. Katrina performs at shows regularly all-around LA and was honored to be named one of Time Out LA’s Comics to Watch for 2019. During the pandemic, Katrina has been featured on many online comedy shows and even hosts her own monthly Zoom show called Valley Girl. Most recently Katrina can be seen on Amazon Prime’s Fact Check digital series and heard as a voice of a couple characters on YouTube’s Swipeothesis.  

 

Jackie Fabulous – June 15 – 8:30pm – Spring Studios
Comedian Jackie Fabulous captured America’s heart as a semi-finalist on the 2019 season of America’s Got Talent. She’s a hilarious and affable stand-up comedian, writer, actor, producer, motivational speaker, and headliner who uses her jokes and sparkling nature to simultaneously entertain, encourage, and empower audiences while keeping them laughing, and easily navigating the comedy gamut from family friendly to naughty. Jackie’s standup has been featured on The Arsenio Hall Show, Gotham Comedy Live, FOX, BET, Last Comic Standing, Kevin Harts LOL Network and more. In addition to her television appearances, Jackie Fabulous is a paid regular and headliner at several top comedy clubs such as The Comedy Cellar, The Hollywood Improv, The Laugh Factory, and Funny Bone clubs. 

 

Steven Michael Quezada – June 15 – 10:30pm – Spring Studios
Steven is best known for his role in the hit series’, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, while also appearing in films such as Kites, Beerfest, First Snow and 3 From Hell over his career. In addition to his acting work, Steven performs stand-up comedy across the country and also performs regularly on Carnival Cruise Lines.

 

The specials will be Directed by Brian Volk-Weiss, Executive Produced by Cisco Henson, and Produced by Michael Epstein.

 

About the Tribeca Festival
The Tribeca Festival, presented by AT&T, brings artists and diverse audiences together to celebrate storytelling in all its forms, including film, TV, VR, gaming, music, and online work. With strong roots in
independent film, Tribeca is a platform for creative expression and immersive entertainment. Tribeca champions emerging and established voices; discovers award-winning filmmakers and creators; curates innovative experiences; and introduces new technology and ideas through premieres, exhibitions, talks, and live performances. The Festival was founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff in 2001 to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of lower Manhattan following the attacks on the World Trade Center. Tribeca will celebrate its 20th year June 9 – 20, 2021. www.tribecafilm.com/festival

In 2019, James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems, a private investment company with locations in New York and Mumbai, bought a majority stake in Tribeca Enterprises, bringing together Rosenthal, De Niro, and Murdoch to grow the enterprise.

 

About Comedy Dynamics:
Founded by Brian Volk-Weiss, Comedy Dynamics, a Nacelle company, is the largest independent comedy production and distribution company. They’ve produced Netflix’s Kevin Hart’s Guide to Black History, Sony’s Mad About You reboot, The CW’s Discontinued, All The Way Black for BET+, Animal Planet’s Animal Nation with Anthony Anderson, the scripted comedy on Hulu There’s… Johnny!, History’s Join Or Die with Craig Ferguson, as well as hundreds of stand up comedy specials. In 2017 the Comedy Dynamics Network (CDN) launched and currently distributes stand-up specials, television shows and films to all major transactional platforms such as iTunes, Amazon, Google, PlayStation, Xbox, Tubi, Peacock, Pluto TV and most major telco & satellite providers, including AT&T, Comcast, Charter, Dish, Verizon, and Samsung TVs.  The company has worked with a wide range of established and emerging comedic talent including Kevin Hart, Ali Wong, Tiffany Haddish, Aziz Ansari, Jim Gaffigan, Pete Davidson, Iliza Shlesinger, Jimmy O. Yang, Larry The Cable Guy, Tom Segura, Maria Bamford and many more. The company was nominated for an NAACP Spirit Award in 2019 for Kevin Hart’s Guide to Black History. 20 Comedy Dynamics releases have been Grammy-nominated (with four wins). Comedy Dynamics and their parent company, Nacelle, produced and distributed 55 specials, 8 shows and 7 films.