Just days removed from Arte Para Todos announcing the astounding lineup for its four-day, five-neighborhood, 25-venue festival to benefit Milwaukee school art programs, another grassroots philanthropic artist undertaking has officially announced it’s returning this spring.
In its inaugural year, Cream City Comedy Festival brought 11 stand-up, improv, and variety shows to venues in four Milwaukee neighborhoods over the course of four days. Better yet, all the shows were free. Best yet, any donations collected were given to a mental health charity. After that successful first run, producers Liz Ziner, Sammy Arechar, and Phil Davidson—all of whom now live in Chicago—and new co-producers Addie Blanchard and Nate Seek will bring CCCF back in 2017, with a whopping 12 shows planned in Bay View, Walker’s Point, Riverwest, and The East Side from May 18-21.
The second annual Cream City Comedy Festival will begin with a May 18 Kick-Off Show at Club Garibaldi that will be headlined by New York comedian Ben Kronberg (Comedy Central Presents, Late Night With Seth Meyers, @midnight). The rest of the lineup hasn’t been set yet. In fact, comedians interested in participating are encouraged to apply for CCCF on the festival’s website. There’s a $5 fee for submissions. Once again, all shows will be free, but any donations raised will be donated to charity. This year’s beneficiary is the ACLU. The festival will also be partnering with Vanguard on a special VIP seating promotion (details forthcoming).
To recap: There’s a bunch of free comedy shows happening all around the city May 18-21. Any money raised along the way is going to charity. You’re going to this.