Press Release: First, Only Boston AAPI Comedy Festival Launches Inaugural Run; Announces Line-Up 

Press Release
Written By Courtney Pong

First, Only Boston AAPI Comedy Festival Launches Inaugural Run; Announces Line-Up 

May 24-25 event features standup comedy, improv, storytelling, and magic. 

BOSTON, MA – May 13, 2024 - The Rozzie Square Theater, a leading and established comedy venue making improv accessible to Boston and Greater Boston areas, in partnership with New Normal Boston, a Boston-based production group dedicated to showcasing and uplifting historically underrepresented comedians on comedy lineups, announces the launch of the 2024 AAPI Comedy Festival, the first and only of its kind in Boston. 

The festival offers a series of 3 shows during Memorial Day Weekend. Each show highlights the diversity of the Boston AAPI comedy scene across multiple comedy arts, including improv, storytelling, magic, and standup comedy. The festival will be hosted by Boston-based stand-up comic, Nora Panahi. 

Show dates and times & tickets are: 

“ In 2023, we launched a single evening show of AAPI Comedy for an overly sold-out house - it was incredible, there was no feeling like it. The most notable thing was the wide range of people in the audience - neighbors, families, friends, people we had never met who just wanted to check out the format and celebrate alongside what we were offering the community - a chance to see a variety of bodies of work while celebrating and honoring the AAPI experience and the work it took to get to this point in our entertainment careers. Expanding to a 2-day festival is the organic next step we are energized for - by building off the success we found in 2023, we are able to welcome more performers and continue to create the fun, celebratory space we are known for creating at The Rozzie Square Theater.” said festival co-producer Courtney Pong, Owner and Founder of The Rozzie Square Theater.

Performers on the line-up are: 

  • Amber Born

  • Arun Rath

  • Courtney Pong

  • Cynthia Wang

  • Felice Ling

  • Francis Miranda

  • Lisa Lam

  • Michael Yang

  • Mikey Lee

  • Nora Panahi 

  • Roya Hamadani

  • Sadaf Nazimi

  • Sehar Mahmood 

  • Steph Dalwin

  • Tennah McDonald 

  • Tien Dao

“The goal of this festival is community. We’re seeking to showcase the diversity of the AAPI comedy scene while providing a safe and welcoming space for performers to share their art. I am beyond excited and humbled not only to help produce this festival, but to share the stage with so much talent across so many comedy disciplines. The Boston comedy scene boasts some of the best AAPI talent in the country, and I’m excited for it to be front and center at this festival,” said Steph Dalwin, festival co-producer and co-founder of New Normal Boston. 

“Hosting Boston's first AAPI Comedy Festival is truly an honor. The Rozzie Square Theater's commitment to spotlighting historically marginalized voices - particularly BIPOC and queer performers - never ceases to impress and inspire me. South West Asian/Middle Eastern folks like myself aren't always included in celebrations of AAPI heritage, so it's incredibly meaningful to see such a diverse array of performers represented in this festival. Thank you to the Theater for making this event possible and for the opportunity to host!,” said Nora Panahi, festival host

About The Rozzie Square Theater

The Rozzie Square Theater is an established comedy venue in Boston whose mission is to build communities and unite people through laughter while making improv accessible and useful. The theater offers a variety of comedy programming and education opportunities from the award-winning, nationally acclaimed improv competition show ComedySportz, to free drop-in classes and series workshops, unscripted and scripted shows, and live events. The Rozzie Square Theater, founded in May 2018, is the only improv venue and comedy venue in Boston owned by a Woman and the only comedy venue in Boston owned by an Asian American. https://www.rozziesquaretheater.com/

About New Normal Boston 

New Normal Boston produces open mics and comedy shows across Boston highlighting underrepresented comics. New Normal brings folks with identities that are historically the first, only, or different on a lineup, to the center. They celebrate comics who offer their unique perspectives to the stage and help them share their voices with audiences committed to understanding them. New Normal aims to make the stage feel like home, to create a room where comics feel like they can succeed, and to bring people who haven’t been made to feel normal, together. Learn more here: https://www.newnormalboston.com/about. 

Press Contact:
courtney@cszboston.com
The Rozzie Square Theater


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Courtney Pong
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