The New York Comedy Festival (NYCF) announced last week that a new partnership with the People's Choice Awards that will provide two unique opportunities for both comedians and fans to participate in this year's festival. For the first time ever, festival-goers will have the chance to vote on and present an official People's Choice Award during the "New York's Funniest Stand-Up" competition, an event that showcases the most talented newcomers and established comedians in New York. The winner of the competition will receive the prestigious crystal People's Choice Award and will be recognized during the 2010 People's Choice Award live broadcast on CBS.Additionally, the People’s Choice partnership offers aspiring comedians across the nation the opportunity to perform live as an opening act for one of the following NYCF’s headlining comedians: Tracy Morgan, Artie Lange, Mike Epps, Bill Burr, Patton Oswalt or Mike Birbiglia. Performers can submit a three-minute comedy routine from Sept 21 through Oct 7 on www.peopleschoice.com. A NYCF panel will post the top three performers back on the site on Oct 9 for fans to vote for their favorite and ultimately decide which comedian to send to New York to perform during the New York Comedy Festival. The winner will be announced Oct 23. In addition to performing in New York during the Festival, the winner is invited to attend the 2010 People’s Choice Awards in Los Angeles.
The 2009 NYCF is presented in association with Comedy Central. The festival is produced by Carolines on Broadway and United Entertainment Group. Media sponsors include Time Warner Cable Media Sales- NYC, Time Out New York, the New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, Myspace.com, and People’s Choice Awards. Jameson is the official Irish whiskey, Travelocity is the official travel sponsor, and The Shoreham Hotel is the official hotel of the 2009 New York Comedy Festival.
