Aspen in the rear view mirror

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on August 30th, 2007

FOS Sean L. McCarthy, blogging for the Daily News, caught an Aspen Daily News article that quoted HBO officials as saying that they’re not returning to Aspen in ’08… nor are they going to migrate to Santa Barbara.

We called that one. All this hoo-ha about moving it to Santa Barbara was just to squeeze Aspen. Or just cover. Whatever it was, we figured that once the Vegas fest was up and running (and demonstrating the potential for making money for all interested parties), “Aspen” (the concept, not the actual conclave in the mountains of Colorado) was toast.

Says McCarthy:

Unless HBO decides to include stand-up or sketch showcases in Vegas, this means Montreal’s Just For Laughs is now the only sure place for comedians to get seen by top network scouts, agents and managers.

(Unless, of course, you discount Los Angeles and New York. But, we’re certain he meant the only North American comedy festival.)

We remind all that The Comedy Festival in Vegas is conducting Lucky 21, a multi-platform “contest” that drags relatively unknown comics from all corners of the continent to Sin City for showcasing. They did it last year and they’re doing it again this year, so someone must have derived benefit from it.

It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. We are predicting that JFL will migrate to Toronto and that “Aspen” will be folded into Vegas. And Vegas will rightfully assume its place at the center of the comedy universe.

You think “Vegas,” and, rightly or wrongly, you (reflexively) think Elvis, Wayne Newton, Frank Sinatra and Shecky Greene. If you go general rather than specific, you think singers, gamblers, showgirls, hookers and comics. It’s just the way it is. Standup comedy is in the Las Vegas DNA. Like we said before, the history (official and unofficial), the customs, the habits, the attitudes– all of it was shaped, to some extent, by the comedians who lived there, who worked there, who played there. It’s not such a fun place by accident.

And, for thousands of people in the latter half of the twentieth century, Vegas was the first place (and for many, the only place, the last place), they ever saw a comedian perform live. For those people, the city in the desert is forever entangled with the idea of standup comedy.

How appropriate that a comedy festival should blossom there in the beginning of the 21st century.

from → News • View 2 Comments • Print-Friendly • Back To Top