5th Annual Cleveland Comedy Festival Takes Over PlayhouseSquare, Now thru 11/21

The Cleveland Comedy Festival is back for its 5th year and is ready to entertain and delight audiences at PlayhouseSquare today, November 14 – 21 with more shows and more laughs than ever before. This year's festival is jam packed with 16 different shows over 8 full days and more than 60+ hilarious comedians from Northeast Ohio and all over the U.S. Tickets are $10 - $20, and are available now at The PlayhouseSquare ticket office, by calling 216-241-6000 or online at playhousesquare.org.

Highlights in this year's festival include:

· 16 different shows at the home of the Cleveland Comedy Festival – PlayhouseSquare! Our partnership that began in 2011 is expanded to include more shows than ever at Kennedy's Theatre and 14th Street Theatre as well as simultaneous shows on the same nights.

· A higher stakes stand-up comedy contest featuring 36 top comedians from Cleveland, Chicago, New York, California, Canada and Florida. Prelim shows with 12 comics each will take place Wednesday 11/14 – Friday 11/16. Contest finals with the top 9 comics will take place on Saturday, 11/17. Audience voting and a panel of celebrity judges will each determine the winners. Total purse is now more than $2,000!

· Stay up for some Late Night Laughs at Kennedy's Theatre 11/14 – 11/16 starting at 10:00 p.m. each night and catch some great after-hours comedy from many of the hilarious Festival contestants. Tickets are just $5 or admission is free when you show your ticket to any Cleveland Comedy Festival show.

· Cleveland's best sketch comedy group Last Call Cleveland headlines on Thursday 11/15 at 14th Street Theatre. Led by comedic provocateur Mike Polk Jr., Last Call Cleveland has won awards at sketch festivals in Toronto and Chicago and prides itself on its uniquely "Clevelandy" humor.

· Veteran NYC comedian and podcaster Tom Simmons will headline two shows on Friday, November 16 at 14th Street Theatre. Winner of the 2009 San Francisco Comedy Competition and two-time finalist at the Boston Comedy Festival, Tom Simmons has appeared in the Montreal Just For Laughs Festival, Comedy Central, Bob & Tom Radio show and is known for his provocative Sunday morning #PewTweets.

· A new LGBT theme comedy benefit show "Out Loud Laughs" with lesbian and gay comedians from Chicago and Cleveland will take place on Saturday, November 17th at Kennedy's Theatre. $5 of every ticket sold will go to the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland. This show is also sponsored by Skylight Financial Group, a leader in financial planning and LGBT-friendly business.