Comedy Festival Gets Even Funnier, More Local

TBS "Just For Laughs" Festival adds more comedians to its week-long lineup

More details have emerged about the inaugural Chicago installment of TBS' "Just For Laughs" comedy festival, which will take place at venues around town starting on Monday, June 15 and running through Sunday, June 21. As we reported a few weeks ago, the week-long event will present performances and special events featuring some of the biggest names in comedy, such as Ellen DeGeneres, Jimmy Fallon, George Lopez, David Allen Grier and many more.

The latest announcements include the addition of comedic performances by Jim Breuer, Danny Bhoy, David Cross, Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter and Jon Lajoie, who will join the alternative comedy lineup at the Lakeshore Theater. And in big news for Chicago comedy fans, the "Just For Laughs" festival will kick off on Tuesday, June 16 with a tribute to Chicago-born actor and filmmaker Harold Ramis. A new film directed by Ramis and starring Jack Black and Michael Cera entitled "Year One" will be presented in a special screening at the Music Box Theatre, and Ramis will be awarded with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Just For Laughs entertainment production company. (Ticket information will be announced soon for this event.) Columbia Pictures will also honor Ramis with a one-day retrospective of his films at the Gene Siskel Film Center on Monday, June 15. The event will be free and open to the (adoring) public.

More local talent will be showcased at Chicago comedy venues iO Theater, Lincoln Lodge, Annoyance Theatre and Playground Theater, including "Best of Sketchfest," featuring the top six groups chosen from the Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival in January, and "Chicagoland," an all-star show of improv comedy veterans.

Tickets for the just-added shows at the Lakeshore Theater and the Gene Siskel Film Center will go on sale at 12PM on Friday, April 24. To buy tickets for the lineup at the Lakeshore Theater, visit the Web site or call 773-472-3492. Tickets for the Gene Siskel Film Center presentations can be bought through the Ticketmaster site or by calling 800-745-3000.

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