Today marks the beginning of the Lady Laughs International Comedy Festival hosted at the Louis Bluver Theater! Founded in Madison, Wisconsin, in 2016, the Lady Laughs International Comedy Festival has grown into a celebrated showcase for women and queer comedians from around the world.
This is technically the 5th Annual Lady Laughs International Comedy Festival. Founder and producer of Lady Laughs Shawna Lutzow explained that it is “the first time it will be in Philadelphia. Other years it has been in Madison, Wisconsin; Wichita, Kansas; and one year it was virtual during the pandemic.”
From August 17th to the 24th, there will be more than 15 shows centering 50+ comedians from the Philadelphia area, many more from across the United States and some international acts all either women and/or queer comedians! There is an immense amount of variety in the types of shows taking place at the Bluver from “Ooops All Trans!” which features an all transgender lineup, “Gay Sons and Thot Daughters,” a Stand-Up Comedy Pageant, and so much more! There is a show with all Gen Z comedians, a show with all sober comedians, a show with all parent comedians, an all Black show, and anything else you could think of.
We asked Lutzow what drove her to pursue this work and she told the Philly Plain Dealer “I started doing comedy in 2014 in Madison, Wisconsin, and I think I always wanted to perform comedy, but especially after I came out as queer, there was something that was pushing me to do it more.
I found humor in some of the ignorance that I experienced with people and some of the questions that they asked me or different encounters that I had. So a lot of my comedy has always been inspired by just my own lived experience as a queer person and what that has looked like. So that’s what drew me to comedy and when I moved to Philadelphia, I looked for shows or open mics that centered women in queer comics.
A lot of major cities have them. Philadelphia didn’t have something regular, just a few pop-ups here and there. So, I’m the kind of person that if I want to see something and it’s not there, then I’ll try to see what I can do to make it happen. So I did.”
Lutzow’s goal was to provide opportunity to more women and members of the LGBTQ+ community in the Philadelphia comedy scene, and the Lady Laughs International Comedy Festival is the fruits of her labor.
Tickets to these comedy shows are available here – prices range from free to $15 per ticket. Simply click on the flyers at the link above to purchase tickets! The Lady Laughs International Comedy Festival partnered with the West Philly nonprofit We Love Philly’s Apprenticeship Program to design much of the flyer art.
If you’re not in town for the Festival, you can still see Lady Laughs shows at Frankie Bradley’s every 3rd Saturday of the month and at Silk City Diner every month!
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