New York launches £10m comedy fest

New York has announced it is to host a comedy festival that's expected to generate £10 million for the city.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg (pictured) yesterday unveiled plans for a five-day event in November.

Organised by the Carolines On Broadway venue, the event will offer more than 15,000 tickets at venues including Madison Square Garden, the Apollo Theater.

The billionaire mayor tried to get into the spirit of the occasion by cracking jokes at the launch.

"It really was cold out there this morning," Bloomberg reporters City Hall. How cold? "So cold that the hot dogs were wearing earmuffs, so cold that tort lawyers had their hands in their own pockets.

"Comedy is one of New York's real art forms, sort of like jaywalking or holding on to the lease of a below-market-rate three-bedroom apartment.

"From the days of vaudeville to the birth of Saturday Night Live to today's era of cutting-edge comics, New York has been the Mount Everest of comedy. If You Like to make people laugh, New York's the place to do it"

Carolines founder Caroline Hirsch said the festival, to run from November 9 to 13, will compete with similar events in Montreal. But "ours will be funnier," Bloomberg said.

To watch the launch press conference

Published: 9 Mar 2004