Arguably the two biggest names in the funny business at the moment -- Amy Schumer and Aziz Ansari -- will share a bill at the third annual Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival, which wraps its brief 18-city at the Gexa Energy Pavilion on October 18, per the heads-up that just landed in the in-box. And, of course, they will not be alone: Also expected to roll through with the traveling Funny or Die-fest are Jeff Ross, Anthony Jeselnik and others. Unfortunately, not the great Nick Kroll:
@RobertWilonsky just a heads up I won't be on the Texas dates.
— nick kroll (@nickkroll) July 7, 2015
Tickets for the show go on sale here Friday morning -- Thursday if you're a Citi® cardmember.
The fest, just three years old, never had any trouble pulling The Big Name: Dave Chappelle headlined the inaugural tour, while Louis C.K. and Sarah Silverman rolled through last year. But the timing's particularly good for Schumer, who's on screens big (the Judd Apatow-directed Trainwreck opens this month) and small (Comedy Central, natch) and smaller (apologizing to the internet).
Months later, and I still can't get this out of my head.
Then there's Ansari, the former Parks and Recreation star who's now a celebrated author with Modern Romance, about the pitfalls of digitally dating. He's also awfully good at playing the big room: His brilliant Madison Square Garden special on Netflix might as well have been filmed in front of a brick wall. A sample. A very grown-up-language-y sample:
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"The Oddball Festival has been one of Funny or Die's most successful brand extensions, so being able to crank up the midway for a third time is very exciting," says Funny or Die CEO Dick Glover. "With such an incredible line-up of comedians joining this year's tour, it clearly will be the best Oddball yet. We are so thrilled to take it back on the road."
And in the fall. Thank God. Because the Gexa in summer? Not funny at all.
