Rogue Island Comedy Festival is ready to deliver laughs. Here are 5 can't-miss comics.
Columbus Day Weekend, or Indigenous People’s Day Weekend, depending on what you’re recognizing and/or celebrating, is steadily approaching and in Newport it means the return of the Rogue Island Comedy Festival.
Since 2015, the festival has taken place at various venues within Newport County and even featured a spring edition that started last year.
Starting Thursday and running through Sunday, Oct. 6-9, an abundance of local and national comics take numerous stages and deliver a lot of laughs. Portsmouth native, New York City resident, funny comedian and Rogue Island Comedy Festival founder Doug Key says he's looking forward to this weekend.
“We’re super excited for this fall lineup as it marks our 10th official festival now that we do this twice a year,” he said. “This will also be our first time ever hosting shows all over Aquidneck Island, including the newly renovated Ragged Island Brewery in Portsmouth, Diego’s Barrio Cantina in Middletown and the historic Jane Pickens Theater in Newport.
"You’ll get to see some of the funniest up-and-coming comics in the country mixed with nationally touring headliners. We’re so lucky to have such loyal festival goers every year, and with vacationers coming into town over the holiday weekend, the shows tend to sell out so it’s best to get tickets earlier than later.”
Tickets can be purchased at rogueislandcomedyfest.com. Speaking of those up-and-coming comics and national touring headliners, here are five you won't want to miss at the Rogue Island Comedy Festival:
Zoltan Kaszas
October 6 at Ragged Island Brewing Company
54 Bristol Ferry Road, Portsmouth
6 p.m. & 8 p.m. 21+ $30
Born in Budapest, Hungary, and living in the United States since the early 1990s, Kaszas has been doing standup comedy since he was 19.
Since taking on the artform, he has won numerous competitions, including the Seattle International Comedy Competition, the San Diego Funniest Person Contest and the Rockstar Energy Drink Comedy Throwdown.
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His bit known as “Cat Jokes” that’s part of his Dry Bar Comedy Special has more than 60 million views on YouTube, and he’s also heard regularly on SiriusXM.
Paris Sashay
October 7 at Ragged Island Brewing Company
54 Bristol Ferry Road, Portsmouth
6 p.m. & 8 p.m. 18+ $30
Sashay is a multi-talented artist from Washington, D.C. who is also an actor, writer and producer along with being a standup comic.
She currently lives in New York City and has worked with the likes of Wanda Sykes, Michael Che, Dick Gregory, Lil Rel and Roy Wood Jr. while also performing at reputable establishments such as the Howard Theatre and the Kennedy Center in her hometown, Caroline’s On Broadway and the Comedy Cellar in New York City and the Hollywood Improv and the Comedy Store in Los Angeles.
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For these two upcoming performances, Sashay will be co-headlining with Vancouver native and current fellow New Yorker Gavin Matts.
Ahmed Bharoocha
October 8 at Jane Pickens Film & Event Center
49 Touro Street, Newport
7 p.m. and 9 p.m. 18+ $30
Originally from Santa Barbara, California, Bharoocha has local ties to Rhode Island — his family moved here when he was in high school and he attended the University Of Rhode Island.
During his time in the northeast, he frequented the Comedy Studio in Boston while eventually becoming a “Comic in Residence” there. After winning the Magner’s International Comedy Festival in 2010, he moved to Los Angeles and has been based there since while producing weekly web shorts for the Dead Kevin YouTube channel, performing on "Conan," Comedy Central and pursuing other comedic endeavors.
Gordon Baker-Bone
October 9 at Diego’s Barrio Cantina
116 Aquidneck Avenue, Middletown
7 p.m. 18+ $30
Gordon Baker-Bone is a comic from Newark, New Jersey, who is the co-host of the weekly podcast “The Bad Advice Show” with writer Melanie Dione and Cerrome Russell from the comedy troupe The Decepticomics.
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He’s been performing all over the United States while being featured on the AXS TV series "Gotham Live" and being voted one of Brooklyn’s 50 Funniest People in 2016. Baker-Bone also has written for MTV, and his comedy album “Nobody? Just Me?” that came out in 2018 is available to stream on Apple Music and Spotify.
Ray Harrington
October 9 at Diego’s Barrio Cantina
116 Aquidneck Avenue, Middletown
9 p.m. 18+ $30
Closing out this edition of the Rogue Island Comedy Festival will be Warwick native Ray Harrington, who has become a staple of the festival over the years. I’ve even included him in previous coverage I’ve done of the festival, and he’s a Rogue Island regular because of his hilarious wit and humor.
Just check out his performance on "Conan" via YouTube from the beginning of 2020 and his 2016 L.A. Comedy Festival winning documentary “Be A Man” via Hulu to understand why.
This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Rogue Island Comedy Festival: 5 can't miss comics Columbus Day weekend
