Caroline Hirsch is the founder and owner of the New York comedy club Carolines on Broadway and the New York Comedy Festival. She is recognized for her ability to spot rising comedic talent including Jerry Seinfeld and Paul Reubens. [1]
Hirsch was born in 1952 and grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn. [2] She says the first standup act she ever saw was when she snuck into a 1967 George Carlin gig at The Bitter End in Greenwich Village. [3] After living in Brooklyn, she would later move to Manhattan [4] She attended City College and the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). After school she went to work at Gimbels until she became unemployed. [4]
While collecting unemployment [4] a few friends approached her about opening up a cabaret club which she eventually accepted. [1] The club opened in 1982 but she realized that the cabaret theme was not working and decided to turn it into a comedy club instead which brought in a younger clientele that was more profitable. [1] In the late 80's the A&E network asked her to produce a comedy special which became Carolines Comedy Hour which was produced by her production company Pinky Ring Productions. [5] The show won a CableACE award for Best Stand-Up Comedy Series. [5] In November 2004, Hirsch launched the New York Comedy Festival, with Jarrod Moses, [6] a weeklong comedy festival that features comedy’s biggest stars performing in New York’s most prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Harlem’s World Famous Apollo Theater, Madison Square Garden, Town Hall and Carolines on Broadway. [7] She currently lives in a duplex with views of the East River. [2]
Hirsch serves as a board member of the Creative Coalition and implemented the highly successful "Stand-Up for Class" program in both the New York City and Los Angeles public school systems. She is also a board member of the Times Square Alliance (formerly the Times Business Improvement District); NYC & Company, the city’s official tourism marketing organization; the board of The Association for the Help of Retarded Children; and the national advisory board of Count Me In, a micro lending organization for women. Additionally, she formerly sat on the board of the Ms. Foundation for Women. [5] During her tenure on the Ms. Foundation for Women board, Hirsch created the successful "Take Our Daughters to Work" initiative.
In 2006, Hirsch produced "Roasted, Battered and Fried," a roast of Mario Batali to benefit the Food Bank For New York City, which took place at Capitale as part the third annual New York Comedy Festival (NYCF). In 2007, Hirsch created "Stand Up for Heroes" to benefit the Bob Woodruff Foundation, an annual event that takes place during the NYCF which has featured performances by Bill Cosby, Ricky Gervais, Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Roger Waters and John Mayer, among others. To date, "Stand Up for Heroes" has raised more than $20 million. In 2011, Hirsch produced "On the Chopping Block: A Roast of Anthony Bourdain" as part of the New York City Wine & Food Festival. The event helped raise money for the Food Bank for New York City and Share Our Strength's "No Kid Hungry" campaign.
Hirsch was honored with the New York Police Athletic League’s Woman of the Year Award, the Ms. Foundation’s Philanthropic Vision Award and the National Association of Women Business Owners’ Signature Award for Lifetime Achievement. She also received the Leadership in Tourism Award from the NYC & Company Foundation. [5] In 2011, Hirsch was the recipient of Variety's "Comedy Legend & Groundbreaker Award" and in 2013 was named as one of Crain's New York Business's "Movers & Shakers."
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, does not typically dance but usually sits at tables. Performances are usually introduced by a master of ceremonies (M.C.). The entertainment, as performed by an ensemble of actors and according to its European origins, is often oriented towards adult audiences and of a clearly underground nature. In the United States, striptease, burlesque, drag shows, or a solo vocalist with a pianist, as well as the venues which offer this entertainment, are often advertised as cabarets.
Jerome Allen Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. As a stand-up comedian, Seinfeld specializes in observational comedy. Seinfeld has received numerous accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards as well as nominations for four Grammy Awards. In 2004, Comedy Central named him the 12th-greatest stand-up comedian of all time. In 2017, Rolling Stone named him the 7th-greatest stand-up comedian of all time.
Lisa Lampanelli is an American former stand-up comedian, actress, and insult comic.
Lady Bunny, previously known as Bunny Hickory Dickory Dock, is an American drag queen, nightclub DJ, actor, comedian, and event organizer. She is the founder of the annual Wigstock event, as well as an occasional television and radio personality. She has released disco singles such as "Shame, Shame, Shame!" and "The Pussycat Song", and has hosted two one-woman comedy shows, 'That Ain't No Lady!' and 'Clowns Syndrome'.
Colin Edward Quinn is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. He first gained widespread attention for his work as a cast member and writer on Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 2000, and he became known for anchoring Weekend Update, the show's news parody segment. Prior to SNL, he was best known as the announcer/sidekick on MTV's 1980s game show Remote Control. Following his departure from SNL, Quinn went on to host Comedy Central's late-night panel show Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, where he and a panel of New York's big names in stand-up comedy discussed and debated news stories of the day. Notable film work includes his role as Dooey in A Night at the Roxbury, Dickey Bailey in the Grown Ups films, and playing Amy Schumer's father in the film Trainwreck. Comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld, Tina Fey, Chris Rock, and Dave Attell have cited Quinn as the quintessential "comic's comic" and New York comedian.
Carolines on Broadway was a venue for stand-up comedy situated at 750 Seventh Avenue, on Broadway between 49th and 50th Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The club operated from 1981 to 2022.
Carol Leifer is an American comedian, writer and producer whose career as a stand-up comedian started in the 1970s when she was in college. She has written many television scripts including The Larry Sanders Show, Saturday Night Live and Seinfeld. She has received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for The Larry Sanders Show, Seinfeld, the 82nd Academy Awards and the 84th Academy Awards. Leifer's inner-monologue driven, observational style is often autobiographical, encompassing subjects about her Jewish ancestry and upbringing, coming out, same-sex marriage, relationships and parenting.
Marjorie Gross was a Canadian comedian best known for her work as a television writer and producer. She wrote for Seinfeld, Newhart, The Larry Sanders Show, Get a Life and Square Pegs.
Jeffrey Ross Lifschultz is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known as the "Roastmaster General" for his insult comedy, his multiple appearances at celebrity roasts held by the New York Friars Club, the Comedy Central Roast television series, and the Netflix historical comedy series Historical Roasts. In 2009 the Chicago Tribune called Ross "the new millennium Don Rickles." His directorial debut, the 2006 documentary Patriot Act: A Jeffrey Ross Home Movie, won the prize for Best Film at the Comedia film festival held at the Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal.
Amy Beth Schumer is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director. Schumer ventured into comedy in the early 2000s before appearing as a contestant on the fifth season of the NBC reality competition series Last Comic Standing in 2007. From 2013 to 2016, she was the creator, co-producer, co-writer, and star of the Comedy Central sketch comedy series Inside Amy Schumer, for which she received a Peabody Award and was nominated for five Primetime Emmy Awards, winning Outstanding Variety Sketch Series in 2015.
Ophira Eisenberg is a Canadian American comedian, writer, and actress. She is from Calgary, Alberta. She has been living in New York City since 2001 and obtained American citizenship in April 2021.
The New York Comedy Festival is an annual comedy festival founded by Caroline Hirsch and launched in November 2004. The week-long festival is produced by Carolines and held each year in November. It features more than 200 comedians performing in more than 150 shows throughout all five boroughs of New York City. The festival has featured performances by some of the biggest stars in comedy, including Bill Maher, Ricky Gervais, Andy Samberg, Mike Birbiglia, Tracy Morgan, Artie Lange, Mike Epps, and Dane Cook.
Laurie Tisch is an American investor, philanthropist, and billionaire.
Rose Kennedy Schlossberg is an American filmmaker, writer, and actress known for co-producing and co-writing the Peabody Award-winning documentary series Time: The Kalief Browder Story (2017). She serves as a trustee of the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, and has been on the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts since her appointment in 2014 by 44th U.S. President Barack Obama.
Brooke Lewis Bellas is an American actress known for the mystery thriller iMurders (2008), mobster movie Sinatra Club (2010) and her alter-ego character Ms. Vampy. After growing up in Philadelphia, she moved to New York City and booked the role of Donna Marsala in the off-Broadway comedy Tony n' Tina's Wedding. After moving to Hollywood, she launched Philly Chick Pictures in 2002 to create more opportunities for herself as an actress. In 2007, she played Dr. Grace Sario in Kinky Killers, which aired on Showtime, earning the title "Scream Queen".
Mary Dimino is an American actress, comedian, author, solo show writer and performer.
Catherine Cohen is an American comedian, actress, and singer. Her live comedy performances combine stand-up comedy with cabaret-style songs. Her first Netflix comedy special, The Twist...? She's Gorgeous, was released in 2022.
Adrianne Tolsch was an American comedian. Tolsch's comedy style is bold, conversational, and covers broad topics. She made jokes about life as a middle-age woman, her sex life, her Jewish identity and Jewish family, and life experiences. She was long associated with the Catch a Rising Star comedy club in New York City, as a performer, club manager, and the club's first woman emcee. She was a headliner at many major comedy clubs in the United States and toured domestically and internationally. She also performed on Broadway and in cabaret shows and was a graphic artist. She was married to fellow comedian and writer Bill Scheft. The two toured together in the United States and co-produced the documentary film Take My Nose... Please!
Barry Katz is an American television producer, film producer and talent manager. He was the owner and founder of the Boston Comedy Club in New York City and helped launch the careers of many successful comedians, including Bill Burr, Dane Cook, Louis C.K., Kevin Brennan, Bert Kreischer, Wanda Sykes, Dave Chappelle, Whitney Cummings, as well as Saturday Night Live alumni Jay Mohr, Jim Breuer, Darrell Hammond and Tracy Morgan.
Stand Up for Heroes is annual benefit concert/comedy festival, started in 2007, that benefits the Bob Woodruff Foundation, which supports charities and runs programs benefitting veterans. The benefit usually kicks off New York Comedy Festival, and was started by Festival founders Caroline Hirsch and Andrew Fox and Foundation founders Bob Woodruff and Lee Woodruff. The event takes place yearly at the Hulu Theater inside Madison Square Garden, although it was originally held at the Beacon Theatre and The Town Hall, both in New York City. As of 2019, the event has raised $55 million for the foundation.
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