Cleveland's first annual female-run comedy festival. Created by women, for everyone!
WHEN: Thursday October 4 - Saturday October 6
WHERE: The Magalen & Forest City Brewery
Mass Hysteria Comedy Fest from October 4th-6th will showcase Cleveland’s improv, storytelling, workshops & local shows you love! See creators from your backyard make some fun. Created by women, for everyone! Festival passes are just $50. Tickets for individual shows and workshops are available online or at the door.
FESTIVAL SCHEDULE -
DAY ONE - October 4th - The Magalen, 5203 Fleet Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44105
SHOW
7:30PM
RSVP + Casually Late Stampede & an Open Jam!
- The first day of Mass Hysteria - Comedy Fest kicks off with
performances from River Side Valley Players & Casually Late
Stampede! Following will be an open jam where we play games with
audience & improvisers alike!
Tickets are $10 - Doors at 7:15 - Show at 7:30 - Street Parking
WORKSHOP
5-7PM
Improv 101 workshop from 5-7PM taught by Deena Nyer Mendlowitz! Deena is a comedian and improviser who trained at The Second City Cleveland and at both The Second City and Annoyance Theater in Chicago. She has been featured on Ideastream, Cleveland.com, Canvas, NPR, FOX 8, In the Land of Cleve, Miami University & New Scientist Magazine. She is also co-creator of the first annual Mass Hysteria - Comedy Fest.
Workshop registration is $20
______________________________
DAY TWO - October 5th - Forest City Brewery, 2135 Columbus Rd., Cleveland, Ohio 44113
SHOWS
7:30PM
This Improvised Life + Story Club -This Improvised Life is what happens when you mix live storytelling with improv comedy! With special guest from The Nest Theatre Tara DeFrancisco & many more!
Story Club is a nonfiction storytelling show hosted by Dana Norris!
Tickets are $ 15 - Doors at 7:15 - Show at 7:30 - Street Parking
9:30PM
Share-apy + Asking for a Friend - Share-apy is a comedy advice show that makes light of your problems in front of everyone! The audience will enjoy getting a turn at the mic expressing their concerns anonymously with a written question or joining the hosts on stage for one on one help! Hosted by Mass Hysteria co-creator Sam Dee
Asking for a Friend is a long-form improv troupe that base our sets off of a randomly-selected entry from one of our childhood diaries.
Tickets are $15 - Doors at 9:15 - Show at 9:30 - Street Parking
Day Two Passes to both shows are $25
WORKSHOP
6-7PM
STORYTELLING - This one-hour workshop with Dana Norris, founder of Story Club, will show you how to use the tools of narrative to takes moments from your life and turn them into captivating tales. We'll discuss the basics of effective storytelling, view examples of great stories, and get started writing your own story. Dana Norris is the founder of Story Club, a monthly storytelling show in Cleveland, Chicago, Boston, Columbus, and Minneapolis. She has taught at Northwestern University, Kent State, Literary Cleveland, and Ashland University, among many others. She has been published in McSweeney's Internet Tendency, The Rumpus, the Tampa Review, and her stories have been featured on Risk!, WCPN, and Chicago Public Radio. Dana is also a co-creator of the first annual Mass Hysteria - Comedy Fest!Workshop registration is $25
______________________________
DAY THREE - October 6th, Forest City Brewery, 2135 Columbus Rd., Cleveland, Ohio 44113
SHOWS
7:30PM
Mental Illness and Friends - Mental Illness and Friends! is a live comedy talk show that entertains with a goal of helping to destigmatize mental illness hosted by Deena Nyer Mendlowitz with Tara DeFrancisco, improv & Special Guests!
Tickets are $15 - Doors at 7:15 - Show at 7:30 - Street Parking
9:30PM
HERE - Here the Improvised Musical with Tara DeFrancisco & Rance Rizzutto. Veteran Chicago improvisers Tara DeFrancisco and Rance Rizzutto have been performing together for well over a thousand shows and well over a decade. HERE is one of Chicago’s most lauded shows presenting the original two-person improvised musical. Chicago Tribune Critic-Recommended and called “Nothing Short of Genius” by NPR, this show has been brought to 14 countries and 40 cities worldwide. In HERE, Tara and Rance get one suggestion to create theme through an opening number, design characters and storylines inspired by that theme, and effortlessly weave the strings together to discover one piece. Funny, beautiful, and charming, HERE “has shown something new and amazing is possible in improvisation” and has been called groundbreaking by audiences around the globe.
Tickets are $15 - Doors at 9:15 - Show at 9:30 - Street Parking
Day Three Passes to both shows are $25