Catskills Comedy Festival returns for a third year

CATSKILL―The Catskills Comedy Festival returns next month for its third year, filling seven Village of Catskill venues with stand-up, improv, alt comedy, vaudeville, film and free family programming.

The non-profit festival, slated for October 16-18, features 18 shows in venues like the Community Theatre, Avalon Lounge, Café Joust, Left Bank Ciders, Bridge Street Theater, Citiot and Chemistry Wine Bar.

“Catskill turns into one big comedy club for a weekend,” said festival co-founder and Director of Funny Robbie Chafitz, a filmmaker who lives in Catskill.

“You can walk from a sold-out theatre show to a late set at a bar in five minutes, and the next morning your kid can get on stage for the first time,” said Chafitz.

This year's lineup features a dynamic mix of festival favorites and breakout voices. Headlining talent and featured performers include:

Jared Freid & Tina Friml — Saturday Night Headliners

Freid headlines the Saturday MainStage show at the Community Theatre. His Netflix special Jared Freid: 37 & Single premiered in 2023 and climbed into the platform’s Top 10 most-watched shows in the US and Canada. A New York-based stand-up known for his takes on modern dating and relationships, he has performed on The Tonight Show, was named one of Just For Laughs’ New Faces in 2017, hosts The JTrain Podcast and co-hosts U Up? He is joined by Tina Friml, named one of Variety’s 10 Comics to Watch in 2024 and featured in the 2025 CBS Diversity Showcase. The Vermont-raised comic has appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central, The Drew Barrymore Show and the Netflix Is A Joke Festival, and is a leading voice for authentic disability representation in mainstream comedy.

Ophira Eisenberg — Host, Storyteller & Stand-Up

Eisenberg opens the festival as host of the Friday Kick-Off show. She hosted NPR’s national trivia comedy show Ask Me Another for nine seasons, tours regularly with The Moth Mainstage and hosts the Webby-nominated podcast Parenting Is A Joke. Her credits include Comedy Central, HBO, CBS and The Late Late Show, and a new stand-up special produced by Lewis Black’s Stark Raving Black Productions arriving in 2026.

• Sean Patton — New Orleans-bred, New York-based stand-up with specials on Comedy Central and Peacock; co-star of FX’s English Teacher, with credits including Hacks, Maron and Inside Amy Schumer.

• John Hill — Actor, singer and SiriusXM personality who co-hosts Andy Cohen Live and hosts The John Hill Show; currently touring his original musical comedy show Silk and Loose!

• Jocelyn Chia — Singapore-raised, Georgetown Law-trained attorney turned stand-up. She made her TV debut on AXS TV’s Gotham Comedy Live, has guested on SiriusXM’s Howard Stern Channel and hosted on MTV, and has been profiled by Vulture, Forbes and the South China Morning Post.

• Raanan Hershberg — Louisville-raised, New York-based comic seen on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Late Show with James Corden and Comedy Central. His special landed on The New York Times’ best comedy of 2022 list, and his albums include Jokes from the Underground.

• Nico Carney — Brooklyn-based stand-up, writer and actor from Savannah, Georgia. He made his late-night debut on Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2024, was named one of Vulture’s Comedians You Should and Will Know, and one of Deadline’s Future of Funny comics ready to break out in 2025.

• Peter Peter — Ringmaster of 'A Schticky Situation,' a variety showcase of burlesque, circus and alt-comedy oddballs.

• Erin Harkes — Capital Region favorite and 2020 Thomas Edison Award winner, repeatedly voted Best Comedian and Best Singer/Songwriter in the region. She leads the beloved Grapes of Laughs showcase.

• Havana Club — Improv collective bringing high-energy, spontaneous comedy to the festival stage.

• Alex English — Detroit-born stand-up and three-time Emmy-nominated Saturday Night Live writer, also a writer on The Rundown with Robin Thede and The Fix. Vulture named him one of 2022’s Comedians You Should and Will Know.

• Sarah Austin Jenness — Executive producer at The Moth since 2005 and a host of the Peabody Award-winning Moth Radio Hour, who launched The Moth’s Global Community Program. She moderates the Saturday comedy panel, Crossing the Line.

Proceeds from the festival fund free, comedy workshops, classes and events for local youth, including the festival’s free Kids Open Mic and Workshop for ages 7-14, the Punch-Up Comedy Critique with Ophira Eisenberg and Lauren Kincheloe and the Show Up/Go Up open mic hosted by Peabody Award-winning writer Erik Marino.

“We’re trying reach local kids that might not play sports and haven’t found their thing yet,” Chafitz said.

“Humor can help young people build self-esteem and confidence. When I was young, I often felt like an outsider, and comedy gave me a safe place to express myself,” he added.

Tickets, the full lineup and a downloadable schedule are available at tccfest.org. Several events are free and open to the public.

The 2026 festival is made possible through the generous support of CREATE Council on the Arts, the Fortnightly Club of Catskill, the Catskill Community Center and other local merchants and private donors.