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Macungie’s Adam Yenser, Bethlehem’s Kate Hughes among headliners
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – ArtsQuest has teamed up with another mainstay of the SouthSide Bethlehem arts district, Touchstone Theatre, to present three comedy shows in the months of June and July 2021. Each show will be presented on Touchstone’s new outdoor stage, which sits behind the theatre’s longtime home at 321 E 4th St, and will have a capacity of 250 seats sold as general admission. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and over. Tickets for each show are currently on sale at steelstacks.org/comedy.
“We’re grateful to Touchstone for offering us this opportunity,” said Ryan Hill, ArtsQuest’s Programming Director and Director of the ArtsQuest Comedy Program. “We were looking for a space to safely produce comedy this summer, and Touchstone came through via the strong bond we’ve developed with them over the years. Touchstone and ArtsQuest share a commitment to enriching the lives of the people in our SouthSide neighborhoods and beyond. I’m happy that we get this opportunity to do so together.”
The series kicks off with standup comic Ramon Rivas II, as part of our ¡Sabor! Latin Festival, on June 25 at 8 p.m. (rain date June 26), with tickets available at $17 for ArtsQuest Members, $18 for students and seniors and $19 for the public. Rivas has self-distributed two comedy albums, “Revisted” and “Stick to Comedy,” with portions of both heard on SIRIUS/XM comedy stations Kevin Hart’s LOL Network, Rawdag, Laughs USA and Jeff & Larry’s Comedy Roundup. His work is also viewable on Paramount+, HBO Max, Netflix and Amazon Prime. He was selected as a ‘Comic to Watch’ by Comedy Central in 2015.
Macungie native Adam Yenser headlines the July 10 show, also at 8 p.m. and with tickets available at $17 for ArtsQuest Members, $18 for students and seniors, and $19 for the public. Yenser, an Emmy award-winning writer for The Ellen DeGeneres Show, is also the star of the recurring “Kevin the Cashier” segments. He’s appeared on Conan, FOX Laughs, and the Greg Gutfeld Show, in addition to writing for the Oscars and contributing to Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update.
July 17 will mark the return of Bethlehem native Kate Hughes’ one-woman show Most Flammable, performed as standup and storytelling both live and onscreen. The two previous editions of this show are among the most successful ever produced within the ArtsQuest Comedy Program; the new version, Most Flammable III: Amsterdammmmnnnn, details an overseas trip she took in the aftermath of a very tough year – an overseas trip that coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tickets are available for $23.50 to ArtsQuest Members, $24 for students and seniors, and $26 for the public. The rain date is July 18.
“We are excited to partner with ArtsQuest on these upcoming shows,” said James P. Jordan, Touchstone’s Artistic Director. “Our organization’s missions of our serving our community in the SouthSide and beyond align perfectly. We are proud to offer a much-needed reprieve and give people the opportunity to enjoy artistic expression through comedy together, in-person once again.”
The ArtsQuest Comedy Program started with the opening of the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in May of 2011. Overseen by Hill, along with Coordinator Addyson Young, Specialist Anthony DeSanctis and a volunteer committee made up of twelve performers, fans and arts administrators, the ArtsQuest Comedy Program is the home of the Lehigh Valley’s only year-round comedy curriculum, which will start back up in the early fall of 2021.
Information provided to TVL by:
Nicole Harrell
ArtsQuest Director of Communications
http://www.artsquest.org/
