Brought to you by the Montreux Comedy Festival.
Because laughter is a universal language, the Montreux Comedy Festival decided to pull together standup comedians from all corners of the globe. Among the Russian, German, Croatian, Korean and French speakers is a fine line up of English language comedians from the UK, Australia, South Africa, Dubai, Russia, Croatia and the USA. Wonho Chung an English-Korean-Arabic-speaking Korean performer from Dubai embodies the internationalism of the event.
There are three English events. One large event called “Jokenation” at the Auditorium Stravinski in Montreux,which seats 1,600, at 20h15 on Friday 4 December 2015, consists of acts selected from a long list of hopefuls. Five talented finalists will perform in English alongside five well-known comedy ambassadors. Video clips of the 10 performers and the host (Kagiso Lediga from South Africa) are set out below.
The other two English events, more intimate and informal, will be performed is a space with only 100 seats. “Standup Night” is at 20h30 on Thursday 3 December 2015, and the third “Say that again” is at 20h30 on Saturday 5 December 2015. “Say that again” is an evening where non-native English speakers perform in English. All shows are in Montreux, Switzerland. These events will include some of the same comedians along with some new ones. “Standup night” will include Loyiso Gola (Host), Craig Hill, Jessica Michelle Singleton, Francesco de Carlo and Marina Rollman. “Say that again” will feature Loyiso Madinga (Host), Francesco De Carlo, Marina Rollman, Igor Emerson and Marina Orsag .
For those keen to come along and see these artists live, the Montreux Comedy Festival is offering special 50% off tickets for “Jokenation”. To buy these discounted tickets click here and enter the discount code: 50JokeEN.
Rather than trying to convince you of the quality of these fine rib tickling acts, we thought it would make much more sense to add some video clips so you can see for yourselves. These comedians below will all perform at “Jokenation”.
CRAIG HILL (UNITED KINGDOM)
Craig Hill is Scotland’s brightest comedy star. Cheeky, irreverent and, of course, wonderfully camp, his hilarious blend of incisive stand-up, fabulous musical characterisations and improvisation has earned him rave reviews around the globe. The very much-loved star of BBC’s “Live Floor Show” and his own BBC show “Craig Hill’s Out Tonight”, 2015 has seen Craig achieve 16 consecutive years performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – where each year he has played to sold out audiences. Craig has also been invited to act as an international ambassador representing all the festivals in Edinburgh (including the Fringe and the International) for high-profile gala nights in New York and Toronto, regularly hosts the Hogmanay street party event in Inverness, has performed at the London Palladium and hosted star-studded, variety show ‘Forbidden Vaudeville’ especially produced for Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s prestigious Sydmonton Festival.
JEFF SHEEN (USA)
A stand up comedian, from Michigan living in Brooklyn he likes to tweet thing such as: “making a sandwich”, “just sneezed”, “shopping for pants” and “lego are the building blocks of my life”.
A quickly tiring star who just preformed in the prestigious Bridgetown Comedy Festival and was a finalist in Atlanta’s comedy competition Laughing Skull Comedy Festival. He’s weird but fun I’d say, mainly because I’m the one writing this. I will tell you with an alpha like confidence that I am pretty good.
OLA (UNITED KINGDOM)
Just in his twenties, Ola has already appeared on Comedy Central, London Live, ITV4and MTV Base and written for BBCR4’s The Now Show, The News Quiz and Nathan Caton’s Can’t Tell Me Nothing. He performs all over the UK and as far afield as the European Continent and Dubai. Young, driven and hugely talented, Ola is a stand-up comedian, writer and actor with natural originality and enviable stage presence.
KATIE BURCH (AUSTRALIA)
All the way from Sydney, this mother of two is one of Australia’s hottest up-and-coming comedy performers.
JESSICA MICHELLE SINGLETON (USA)
Jessica Michelle Singleton is the headliner for the three person Road Kill Comedy Tour Series, a national comedy tour docu-series following three young comedians as they travel around the United States to perform. She will be featured on NuvoTV’s “Stand Up & Deliver” this season, performing live from the Cabo Comedy Festival. She was originally introduced to the Montreux Comedy Festival in 2013 when she became the first American female to perform here. Her comedy is featured on SiriusXM’s Raw Dog Comedy Station and she travels the world making people laugh. Jessica Michelle Singleton has created a unique style of comedy that combines personal stories and extremely random thoughts and observations from what some people refer to as a hyperactive, slightly deranged imagination.
KAGISO LEDIGA (SOUTH AFRICA)
Kagiso Lediga is a South African stand-up comedian and television presenter. He created, write, produced and starred in the SABC1 comedy series Pure Monate Show, from 2003 to 2004. Born in Pretoria in 1978 he got his first taste of stand-up comedy, performing during Orientation Week in 1995 at the University of Cape Town.
PRINS (SOUTH AFRICA)
The comedian formally and informally known as ‘Prins’ is one of the hottest up-and-coming comedians in South Africa.
LOYISO GOLA (SOUTH AFRICA)
Loyiso Gola is without a doubt one of the finest comedians performing in Africa today. He has been making waves on the international comedy circuit with great performances all over the world. With numerous awards, countless comedy specials, a library of comedy DVD’s & a blooming international career – Loyiso Gola’s is sure to enthrall audiences with his spellbounding brand of comedy.
WONHO CHUNG (DUBAI)
Chung is an award winning and critically acclaimed stand-up comedian, singer, musician, interviewer, actor and media personality. Born to South Korean and Vietnamese parents in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and raised in Jordan, he learned to speak Arabic as his native tongue. Wonho’s fluency in the language of the region and immersion in its culture from childhood have given this multi-talented entertainer a unique Asian-Arab perspective, enabling him to make a strong connection with audiences from this part of the world.
IGOR MEERSON (RUSSIA)
Igor ruins the stereotypes about Russia and discovers stereotypes about Britain and the West, telling us about his childhood in the Soviet Union, life in modern Russia and internationally. Hot on the back of his hugely successful Edinburgh Festival season and one of GQ’s “Five new faces of Russian humour’ – don’t miss the chance to see the Yuri Gagarin of Russian Comedy! ‘Meerson is a wonderful comedian. He is the wise and funny Grandmother you always wanted. And he can shrug using only his face. Go see him or he will find you and complain. Bring soup.’ Dylan Moran.
MARINA ORSAG (CROATIA)
WARNING – THIS CLIP IS SEXUALLY EXPLICIT
She’s been doing stand up for ten years, opened a club in Croatia, started open mic nights and now really wants to get out into the world!
The following video explains the concept behind Jokenation, the gathering of international comedians to perform in Montreux.
Book tickets below now to see them live. And if you’d like tickets for “Jokenation” don’t forget the discount code: 50JokeEN to get 50% off.
For Standup Night tickets click here – Thursday 3 December 2015 at 20h30 – 100 seats
For Jokenation tickets click here – Friday 4 December 2015 at 20h15 – 1,600 seats – enter discount code 50JokeEN before validating.
For Say that again tickets click here – Saturday 5 December 2015 at 20h30 – 100 seats
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