About the Show

Who’s on the fringe of funny?

Blue Heaven, FringeArts’ festival of contemporary comedy, returns with four days of programming, April 20–23!

FringeArts welcomes the most exciting new voices in comedy to Philadelphia for four days of provocative performances, multimedia stand-up, dynamic sketches, film screenings, and more! Join us in Blue Heaven for a long weekend of cutting-edge, genre-bending acts from the next generation of artists redefining contemporary comedy.

Schedule

Thursday, April 20

7pm: Smiley Face (2007) Screening

Friday, April 21

Spike Einbinder
Asha Ward
Benny Feldman
Tim Platt
Fareeha Khan
Francesca D’UVa
Natalie Rotter-Laitman

Saturday, April 22

Brittany Carney
Brian Bahe
Ben Wasserman
STRESS EXORCIST

Sunday, April 23

Club Video

About the Artists

Friday

Spike Einbinder is a shape shifting demon and comedian from Los Angeles. He has appeared in HBO’s Los Espookys, High Maintenance, and the upcoming A24 films PROBLEMISTA and You Hurt My Feelings. His live shows Red Guy: Live! and VISIONS have been performed to sold-out crowds in Brooklyn, New York.​

Asha Ward is a comedian and writer based in NYC. She recently joined the 48th season of SNL as a writer. Asha hails from The Windy City where she is a recent grad of Columbia College Chicago’s Comedy Writing and Performance Major. Asha got her start in comedy 5 years ago through school and quickly became a novel performer in the Chicago comedy scene, known for her unique delivery and stoic nature. You can catch her showcasing her dry wit and eccentric point of view at her monthly show,”Earthtones” at Union Hall as well as local clubs and venues around New York including  Stand Up NY, The Bell House, and more.

Benny Feldman is a stand-up comedian based out of New York City, who just recently performed on Comedy Central’s Stand-up Featuring series for 2023. This past year, Feldman was named one of the New Faces at the 2022 Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. Feldman is known for his one-liners and for performing with Tourette’s syndrome.​

Tim Platt is a comedian, musician, and actor who has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Masterclass with Steve Martin. He written music for Sesame Street and the Story Pirates. Tim is a cast member on the popular comedy fantasy podcast Rude Tales of Magic and the comedy sci fi podcast Oh These Those Stars of Space. He has been featured as a Comedy Central Up Next comedian and a Kickstarter Artists in Residence.​

Fareeha Khan is a comedian and artist based in New York City. She’s been on Comedy Central’s “Tight Five” presented by Ilana Glazer. Her short film she created, wrote, and starred in, Break Up, Baby, was a NoBudge 2021 pick and Vulture said she has “an enchanting onscreen presence” in it, which was pretty cool. She self-publishes zines, essays, and comics exploring the search for meaning in the trappings of capitalism, which you can find on her website: fareeha-khan.com.

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Francesca D’Uva is an experimental comedian living in Brooklyn. She performs regularly in New York and her work has been showcased at MoMA PS1, MOCA and Ars Nova. In 2022, Francesca performed her solo show This Is My Favorite Song at Abrons Arts Center, as the culmination of her Performance AIRSpace Residency.

Natalie Rotter-Laitman is a Brooklyn based comedian!!!! She has opened for Nikki Glazer, Nick Kroll and Sonja Morgan, and has a podcast called Exploration: Live! 

Saturday

Brittany Carney began standup in DC, where she appeared at the DC Improv Comedy Club, Drafthouse Theaters, Black Cat, and Underground Comedy’s The Big Hunt. She now lives in NYC and performs at venues including Upright Citizens Brigade, Caroline’s On Broadway, and the Comedy Cellar. She is a writer for Audible’s upcoming podcast Networking for Introverts with Aparna Nancherla. She  was a staff writer for Adult Swim’s Teenage Euthanasia  and HBO Max’s sketch series That Damn Michael Che Show. Her on-camera credits include Comedy Central’s This Week at the Cellar, That Damn Michael Che Show and she has performed stand-up for Comedy Central’s Up Next series. Vulture named her one of 2022’s Comedians You Should and Will Know. She has featured for some of the most venerable names in comedy now including Aparna Nancherla, Chris Gethard, Melissa Villasenor, Gary Gulman, Colin Quinn, Hari Kondabolu, Moshe Kasher, Wyatt Cenac, Jena Friedman and many more.​

Brian Bahe is an Indigenous (enrolled member of the Tohono O’odham Nation, and a member of the Hopi and Navajo Nation), gay comedian and writer based in Los Angeles. He is currently staffed on THE GREAT NORTH for Fox/20th and was recently named one of the 2022 Just For Laugh’s New Faces of Comedy. Brian’s script DECOLONIZE was featured on the Sundance/The Black List’s 2022 Indigenous List, and he has also been featured in NPR, Vulture, and The Los Angeles Times.  He also taped a stand-up set for Comedy Central Digital and his writing has been published in McSweeney’s. He has performed at San Francisco Sketchfest, Women in Comedy Festival Presented by HBO, and others.

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Ben Wasserman is a very funny boy based in NYC. He regularly performs his chaotic blend of comedy, characters, and crowd participation all over NYC and the East Coast. Ben has appeared in the Brooklyn Comedy Festival, Laughing Devil Festival, Cannonball Festival, NY/Philly/Burlington Fringe Festivals and his work has been featured by The New York Times, VICE, Paste Magazine, Vulture, Time Out NY, Buzzfeed among others. He’s currently running his newest solo show, Live after Death in Brooklyn and on tour. Importantly, Ben also painted with his butt on MTV.​

Mary McCool is dedicated to weird & wonderful performance as a standup, actor, collaborator with Pig Iron Theater Company, and cofounder of New Paradise Laboratories. Her solo show, STRESS EXORCIST is an anonymous monster spectacular that heals the audience(!) thru magic & comedy. She is the 2022 winner of the Fringies Audience Choice Award for Best Comedy (STRESS EXORCIST), and one of Philly Magazine’s Faces of the Fringe (2015, 2017). Her work has been seen around the world, in an eastward direction from California to Japan.

Sunday

Club Video

Micah Phillips
Co-Host, Producer
Micah is an animator and filmmaker who has previously produced Red Hot Video Fun Time and video shorts that appeared on Tosh.0, College Humor, Funny Or Die, Brooklyn Comedy Festival Kickstarter Shorts Short Film Showcase, and more.

Whitley Watson
Co-Host, Producer
Whitley is a comedian and filmmaker who has previously produced the Explain Your Face Podcast and a trio of shorts on the No Budge streaming platform.

Marshall Louise
Producer, PR
NYC based actor.

Participating Artists:
Amy & Ray
Buurpcast
Circuitous Situationship
Brooke Eliot
Theo Frorer
James Friszell
Devin Gant
Zach Garner
Michelle Gold
Sarah Knittel/Keppler
Laguardia Boys
Marshall Louise
Lucky Marvel
Todd Molinari
Manolo Moreno
Melisande Osnes
Liam Paris and Andrew Shearer
Micah Phillips
Corey Popowski
Kevin Ralston
Gabriel Sacco
Matthew Saucedo
Jake Schick
Sam Schild
SCROTE (Michael S. Watkins, Joe Bell, Dan Angelucci)
The Snails – Gene and Josh
Samantha Stoakes
John Swan
Travis Trew
Whitley Watson