Press Release
For Immediate Release
Milwaukee Comedy Celebrates Serious Milestone
More than 1500 live events presented over Twenty Years
MILWAUKEE, WIS. – Milwaukee Comedy LLC, the region’s longest-running independent comedy production company celebrates Twenty Years of presenting live comedy on stages of all sizes in Milwaukee. More than 1,500 live shows and events have been presented to over 75,000 people in two decades. Milwaukee Comedy produces the annual Milwaukee Comedy Festival, The Laughing Tap comedy club, and several monthly showcases at different venues every month. The Milwaukee Comedy Festival also commemorates 20 years in 2025, and The Laughing Tap celebrates 5 years.
Multiple events commemorating the 20-year milestone will be presented throughout 2025 including Todd Barry at Shank Hall Saturday, June 7, and a yet-to-be announced headliner at The Pabst Theatre on Thursday, October 9th for the 20th annual Milwaukee Comedy Festival. Additional special events will be made public in the coming months.
History of the Company
Milwaukee Comedy was started in 2005 by Matt Kemple, initially as a simple website to promote the growing local comedy scene and the annual Milwaukee Comedy Festival founded the same year. It quickly grew from producing just 3-4 events per year in small venues, to now more than 200 live shows annually at venues of all sizes across Greater Milwaukee.
Kemple brought Co-Producers Kaitlin McCarthy and Greg Bach onto the team as partners in the mid- 2000’s. Bach, Kemple and McCarthy have decades of combined experience as live comedy producers. Since the trio began working together a dozen years ago, they have grown the production company, The Festival, and the scene to new heights by establishing a nationally recognized comedy club and various live shows that have consistently drawn sold out crowds.
In 2013, Milwaukee Comedy established its own space, The Underground Collaborative in the former Shops of Grand Avenue. The UC, as it was known, produced hundreds of live shows and events including theatre, music and dance, with an emphasis on monthly live comedy shows. The former venue, which closed in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, allowed Milwaukee Comedy to grow from several monthly shows around town, to a dedicated venue where comedy was regularly presented to live audiences.
The Laughing Tap comedy club in the Walkers Point neighborhood was established in January 2020 by the three producers, and has presented over 650 stand up comedy shows in just five years. The club regularly sells out events every weekend with national headliners such as Sean Patton, Bobcat Goldthwait, and Laurie Killmartin.
Today, Milwaukee Comedy is considered the central hub for stand up comedy in Southeastern Wisconsin by comics, agents, producers and fans. Monthly shows include weekends with national headliners at The Laughing Tap, several unique showcases like Keg Stand up at Lakefront Brewery, Cask Comedy at Great Lakes Distillery, Backroom Comedy at Dandy, and East Cider Comedy Show at Pomona Cider Co, among others. In total, Milwaukee Comedy produces 15-20 ticketed shows every month.
Notable past events include Kyle Kinane at the Pabst Theatre; Beth Stelling, Todd Barry, and Adam Cayton-Holland at Shank Hall; Neil Hamburger and Andy Kindler at Club Garibaldi; Sam Tallent, Dana Gould, Mary Mack, and Hari Kondabolu at The Laughing Tap, and many more.
Future plans for Milwaukee Comedy include adding to the number of monthly showcases around the city, and expanding the comedy club in order to accommodate more seats and bigger acts.
