cinder-block-comedy

inaugural Cinder Block Comedy Festival coming to Williamsburg in September

by Arielle Gordon

The Brooklyn Comedy Festival is currently underway and it won’t be long till another festival hits the borough. The inaugural Cinder Block Comedy Festival will take place in venues around Williamsburg September 14-18. It has garnered attention for its unorthodox approach to submissions: it utilized “wage-gap pricing,” in which performers who were not straight, white, and male received a discount for registering. Their tactic, though controversial, seems to have worked: the festival is filled with three full days of comics culled from diverse backgrounds. Some highlights:

Kate Burdick‘s Guide to Predator and Prey, hosted by the hilarious Myka Fox (Some ECards), promises to provide levity to the scary topic of modern love.

Baron Vaughn (Grace & Frankie, Black Dynamite), arguably the biggest name on the festival lineup, is performing throughout the festival, including the kickoff show at Muchmore’s, as well as a stellar stand-up lineup at Over The Eight, and at a screening of his satirical musical, Thugs, The Musical.

The festival really takes advantage of the Williamsburg locale, showing there are still fringe-y parts of the neighborhood that now has a Whole Foods and an Apple Store, and displaying Brooklyn comedy as it comes into its own. There are improv shows at the new Annoyance Theatre, a “Joke-Off” at Over The Eight, Comedy Night at Knitting Factory, and even an all-night open mic at Two Boots pizza.

Festival and daily passes are on sale now and you can check out the full schedule here.