GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Gilda's LaughFest is announcing artists participating in the 2023 festival, set for March 8-12.
The lineup features comedians from around the country for five days of laughs.
On the list includes Tig Notaro, Pete Holmes, The Clean Comedy Showcase with six nationally touring comedians, D.J. Demers, Daphnique Springs, and Mike Vecchione.
D.J. Demers brings a unique style of stand-up to LaughFest on March 8th at the Special Olympics Michigan Unified Sports & Inclusion Center (160 68th St SW, Grand Rapids). Demers, who is hearing-impaired, has performed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, America’s Got Talent and has made three appearance on Conan. He also has three stand-up albums and has won numerous awards at comedy festivals in Canada. He makes his show accessible to all by using an ASL interpreter for the hearing-impaired.
Pete Holmes is a LaughFest alum and nationally touring standup comedian, actor, “Christ-leaning spiritual seeker,” improviser, writer, cartoonist, and late-night host. Pete is currently the host of the wildly popular podcast, “You Made It Weird,” which is a comedic exploration of the meaning of life with guests ranging from Deepak Chopra and Elizabeth Gilbert to Seth Rogen and Garry Shandling. With more than 600 episodes, “You Made It Weird” has been downloaded over 39 million times and is recognized annually as a top podcast. He will perform on March 9th at Fountain Street Church.
The Clean Comedy Showcase returns to The B.O.B. and Dr. Grins Comedy Club with dinner options and a new brunch show. The Clean Comedy Showcase features six different, nationally touring comedians featuring adult content without profanity or vulgarity. The comedians will perform the showcase twice daily March 9 and 10 and three times on March 11, with one show including brunch at 11 a.m. The performers in this year’s showcase are Meghan Hanley, Mike Paramore, Laura Peek, Steven Rogers, Irene Tu and Jenny Zigrino.
Mike Vecchione is known for his “rapid-fire” comedic skills and has made numerous appearances on The Tonight Show, Comedy Central, Netflix, Sirius XM and more. He will be performing two shows on March 9th at the Gun Lake Casino in Wayland, and one show on March 10th at First United Congregational UCC in Lowell, Mich. Vecchione’s album, The Worst Kind of Thoughtful, was named comedy album of the year by Vulture and Sirius XM.
Tig Notaro is one of Rolling Stone magazine’s “50 Best Stand-Up Comics of All Time”. She will be performing at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids on March 10th. Notaro is an Emmy and Grammy-nominated comedian, writer, radio contributor and actor and currently appears in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead and Star Trek: Discovery. She has appeared on numerous talk shows as well, including Ellen, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Conan. She also wrote and starred in the TV show One Mississippi and hosts an advice podcast, “Don’t Ask Tig”.
Daphnique Springs will perform two shows on both March 10th and 11th at Midtown (formerly The Listening Room -123 Ionia SW, Grand Rapids, MI). Springs stars on Amazon’s Inside Jokes and recently made her stand-up debut on HBO’s All Def Comedy. She has also performed on Last Call with Carson Daily, Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Comedy Get Brown on BET. Springs won the She-Devil Festival in New York in 2015 and the American Black Film Festival “Comedy Wings Competition in 2016. She has toured with comedian Katt Williams and had a variety of roles on shows such as How I Met Your Mother.
Capping off the Festival, Gilda’s Club will hold the Red Door Gala on March 16th at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. Charlie Berens, comedian, host and Emmy award-winning journalist will return to West Michigan to perform at the event. Berens is the creator of the viral comedic news series Manitowoc Minute and is a frequent collaborator on Funny or Die. He also hosts the Discovery + show, Dark Side Of.
Donations raised at the gala support the free emotional health services offered through Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids for anyone on a cancer or grief journey. Ticket and sponsorship information on the Red Door Gala can be found here.
Other events announced include: LaughFest: Night at the Museum, LaughFest Trivia Night of Stars, Karajokee, Pop Scholars, River City Improv and The Dirt Show.
Free events include the Seriously Funny Adventure Challenge, Sunday Night Funnies, Kids Joke, Family Improv, the Cancer Survivors Showcase, All Y'all Showcase, and Drums for All.
More events are still set to be announced.
Tickets for all events go on sale Friday, Jan. 20 at 10 a.m. at laughfestgr.org or by searching LaughFest at ticketmaster.com.
