Here comes the Athens Comedy Festival

The stand-up comedy has flourished as a species in Athens over the last few years. So, a scene has been created that is constantly expanding and spreads from small cafés to large theaters. It is precisely on this enthusiasm that the Athens Comedy Festival comes to capitalize. The festival will be held for the first time this year, from May 19 to 21 at the “Gazarte,” with Greek and international entries. It is a new institution that will present, during a three-day event, the best of the exciting and multifaceted Greek stand-up scene, and at the same time will bring the audience in touch with what is most new abroad at the biggest comic theater and improvisation festival in Greece. The stand-up now relies on witty, elaborate and compact texts that are judged with surprising promptness by the audience. The Athens Comedy Festival includes 28 performances by 31 Greek and four foreign comedians, aspiring to give a complete picture of the stand-up comedy scene both in Greece and abroad. The list of international guests includes Felicity Ward, the astute Australian; Imran Yusuf, the British-Indian master of phlegm “made in Britain”; Rod Ben Zeev, the unbelievable Israeli; and Scott Cappuro from San Francisco. The elite of the Greek stand-up comedians will take their well-deserved place next to them, microphone in hand, presenting a small sample of their work to the Athenian audience and beyond.