ARTSQUEST TO PRODUCE 8th ANNUAL STEELSTACKS IMPROV COMEDY FESTIVAL

All-digital events featuring comics from across the country to happen live Feb. 25-28

BETHLEHEM, PA – Performers who have been seen and heard on Netflix, Stephen Colbert, NPR and more are among the nationwide lineup of comedians taking part in the 8th annual SteelStacks Improv Comedy Festival (SSICF), to be produced exclusively on digital platforms Feb. 25-28. The 2021 edition of the SSICF will shift from its usual performance marathon format to one that focuses more on the future of comedy, featuring roundtable discussions, intimate 1-on-1 conversations and workshops. All SSICF events – except for the workshops – are free of charge and will be livestreamed via the SSICF Facebook page.

SSICF 2021 will kick off on the night of Thurs., Feb. 25 with a keynote talk from The Astronomy Club, the first all-black house team at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater and the creators of a self-titled sketch show currently streaming on Netflix. Their talk will cover their shared experiences as people of color in the comedy business and offer direction on how to create the comedy participants want to see in the world. A Q&A session will follow the talk.

“When Astronomy Club performed at SSICF in 2019, we were pleasantly surprised at the warmth that radiated from the audience,” said Monique Moses, a member of Astronomy Club. “It was clear while working with the participants of our workshop that ArtsQuest has fostered a community that really cares about comedy, the arts and performance. I’m so curious to see how this energy will translate into a digital festival, but I have no doubt that it will remain.”

As many improv teams have adapted to performing via digital platforms, the 2021 SSICF has four shows slated, including sets from Chucho, a NYC-based Latinx team, and Conlan-Williams, a duo originally from Colorado that splits time between New York and Los Angeles and features Nicole Conlan, a staff writer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Two improv jams will be hosted by Staycation, a Lehigh Valley-based team made up of ArtsQuest-trained performers.

“We see a unique opportunity in producing the 2021 SSICF in this way,” said Ryan Hill, the Director of the SSICF and ArtsQuest’s Programming Director. “We can bring performers, producers and fans of comedy from across the country in a way that helps everyone envision a way forward through not just the pandemic, but the seismic shifts in the live comedy landscape that have occurred over the past few years. Hopefully this year’s SSICF will give people the knowledge and confidence to turn those visions into reality.”

There are three roundtable events geared towards turning those visions into actions to be produced as part of the 2021 SSICF: Where Do We Go From Here?, gauging how to move forward past the pandemic and the effect the shutdown of big-name improv theaters across the country has had on the comedy landscape; Healthier Improv Communities, addressing how theaters can ensure their spaces are safe and welcoming to all; and An Improv Career (And How to Have One), helping improvisers to figure out how to apply their improv skills to a career in the arts.
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Ophira Eisenberg, the host of NPR’s Ask Me Another, regular panelist on Hulu’s new late-night show Up Early Tonight and a veteran standup comedian and storyteller, will also be speaking to performers trying to figure out where they fit when she sits down for an informal talk with Hill entitled How to Have an Unfocused Comedy Career (and Succeed!).

The current schedule of events for the 2021 SSICF follows (more events will be added as they are confirmed):

Thurs, Feb. 25
8 p.m.: Keynote Talk – Comedy in the Age of Wokeness with The Astronomy Club
9:30 p.m.: Improv Jam with Staycation

Fri, Feb. 26
7:30 p.m.: SSICF Roundtable – Where Do We Go From Here? with panelists Raymond Cordova, Lou Gonzalez, Martiza Montanez and Melissa Ulloa
9:30 p.m.: SSICF Show – Chucho + team TBD

Sat, Feb. 27
1:30 p.m.: SSICF Workshop – Sketches That Say Something with Astronomy Club’s Monique Moses and Keisha Zollar*
5 p.m.: SSICF Talk – How to Have an Unfocused Comedy Career (and Succeed!) with Ophira Eisenberg
7 p.m.: SSICF Roundtable – An Improv Career (And How to Have One) with panelists Nicole Conlan, Monique Moses, Rachel Rosenthal and Tovah Silbermann
9 p.m.: SSICF Show – Conlan-Williams + team TBD
10:30 p.m.: Improv Jam with Staycation

Sun, Feb. 28
1 p.m.: SSICF Workshop – Make Online Improv Fun with Donald Chang of Asian AF*
4 p.m.: SSICF Roundtable – Healthy Improv Communities with panelists Donald Chang, Amey Goerlich and Glo Tavarez

*Denotes price points of $29 / $26 ArtsQuest Member; all other events are free of charge.

The ArtsQuest Comedy program, in existence since the opening of the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in April 2011, includes the Lehigh Valley’s only year-round comedy class program (currently on hiatus due to the pandemic), the SteelStacks Improv Comedy Festival, and 100-150 free and ticketed shows a year. It is overseen by Programming Director Ryan Hill and Cinema and Comedy Coordinator Addyson Young, who serve as Festival Director and Assistant Festival Director, respectively, for the SSICF.