The Comedy Festival

History

The first 13 editions of the US Comedy Arts Festival were held annually at the Wheeler Opera House and other venues in Aspen, Colorado. The primary sponsor of the festival was HBO, with co-sponsorship by Caesars Palace (the primary venue), TBS, GEICO Insurance, Twix candy bars and Smirnoff Vodka. In-between, HBO had started a spin-off version simply named The Comedy Festival, which was held in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 2006, in collaboration with the Anschutz Entertainment Group.

The Aspen event folded in 2007 once HBO exited the festival business, considering the expenditures too high. American comedian Chris Fleming performed at the 2007 event.

TBS picked up the Las Vegas event in 2008, and organized a follow-up edition that year, also arranging for other comedy festivals in collaboration with Just for Laughs. In turn, Aspen replaced the festival with similar events, the Aspen RooftopComedy Festival and the Aspen Laff Festival.

References

References

1. Phil Rosenthal. (1997-03-03). "Live From Aspen, It's a Tribute!". LA Times.
2. (2004-03-16). "Celebrating a Decade of Laughs, U.S. Comedy Arts Festival Wraps in Aspen". IndieWire.
3. Steve Johnson. (1997-03-07). "'Animal House' Without Belushi". Chicago Tribune.
4. "HBO Comedy Festival - USCAF History". hbocomedyfestival.com.
5. (1994-09-16). "U.S. Comedy Arts Festival Details, a Report by Trademark Bank | Calendar Your Mark | Monitor Similar Marks". Trademarkbank.com.
6. Lei, Richard. (1995-04-02). "What Are You Laughing At? Weird And Hostile Detours In The Search For New Comedy". The Washington Post.
7. [https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/99270439/ Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan), Sunday, March 26, 1995, Page 55. ... going for yucks at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colo.]
8. (2007-05-10). "Comedy fest drops Aspen".
9. The Mandy Network. (2006-03-12). "HBO's Comedy Fest announces winners | HBO Comedy Festival". Festivalfocus.org.
10. (2007-08-30). "HBO: No U.S. Comedy Arts Festival next year". Denverpost.com.
11. Variety Staff. (1997-02-24). "Live From Aspen". Variety.
12. "The Comedy Festival - About".
13. "Chris Fleming during HBO's 13th Annual U.S. Comedy Arts Festival -...".
14. (2008-02-21). "TBS expands comedy festival work".
15. "Aspen Laff Fest just for laughs? Nope – the Wheeler wants smarts, too".
16. "HBO pulls U.S. Comedy Arts Festival".
17. "Wheeler Opera House Announces Line-up of 2017 Aspen Laugh Festival {{!}} Aspen CO Chamber".
18. Husted, Bill. (14 May 2007). "Comedy Arts Festival was a hoot in Aspen".