It happens every December, according to Memphis comic Katrina Coleman, who’s returned to her role producing the Memphis Comedy Festival following a year’s hiatus. In advance of the big show, one Chicago comedian sends her the same message: “How about them gizzards, tho?”
“That’s right,” Coleman says. “I’m pretty sure the only reason he keeps coming back to the festival is to eat Jack Pirtle’s chicken gizzards.”
Coleman’s identity protected gizzard fiend is just one of 42 comics performing in 15 shows at the 7th annual Memphis Comedy Festival.
Chicken gizzards, Tarzan, and Lady Parts
“We were really swinging for the fences,” Coleman says of festival headliner Lizz Winstead, a co-creator and head writer for The Daily Show. Winstead also started Lady Parts Justice, a comedy-forward activism project identifying itself as, “The first not-safe-for-work, rapid response reproductive rights messaging hub.”
“We host a Lady Parts Justice taco festival in Memphis,” Coleman says, assuring that the yearly festival doesn’t discriminate against sausage tacos or other taco-identifying sandwiches.
Anybody who’s ever wondered what it might be like to see filmmaker Craig Brewer roasted by the characters in his own films will appreciate a special Memphis-specific show hosted by Character Assassination. “They’re a roaming band of crazies out of Chicago and Louisville, Kentucky, who put on roasts as fictional characters,” Coleman says. She’s pretty sure Tarzan will show up to roast Brewer. “A personification of the P&H Cafe will probably show up too,” she adds.
The Memphis Comedy Festival’s Midtown locations include TheatreWorks, the Hi-Tone, Midtown Crossing, and the P&H Cafe.