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

· The city we know and love to make fun of will take its lumps on Saturday, November 17th at The Roast of Cleveland at the 14th Street Theatre. Comedians Mike Polk Jr., Ryan Dalton, Jeff Blanchard, and Joe Howard will be joined by Plain Dealer "Minister of Culture", Michael Heaton and WCPN 90.3 and Plain Dealer columnist Mike McIntyre as they joke on each other and the city of Cleveland. $5 of every ticket sold for this event will benefit the Cleveland Foodbank.

· A class of 11 aspiring young comedians will make their stand-up comedy debuts at the Class Clown Graduation Show on Sunday, November 18th at 14th Street Theatre. These 11–17 year old comedy students are taking a comedy class and receiving instruction from festival comedians and will show what they've learned in front of friends and family.

· Cleveland's own Tammy Pescatelli concludes the 2012 Cleveland Comedy Festival on Wednesday, November 21 (Thanksgiving Eve) at the 14th Street Theatre. Best known for NBC's Last Comic Standing and her own reality TV show on Wetv called "A Stand Up Mother" which she produced, wrote and starred in, Tammy is a seriously funny comedian. Tammy grew up in the Cleveland area and honed her comedy act right here. We're very excited to welcome her home to close out the 2012 festival with a bang.

"The first four years of the festival were successful beyond expectations," said Joe Hannum, co-founder, who is – by day – a direct marketing strategist with Wyse Advertising and – by night – a local stand-up comic. "But this year we've really outdone ourselves. We're really excited about the partnerships we've established with multiple venues, independent producers, Comedy Clubs and the comedians themselves."

"This year we added more shows and events for fans and comics, "said Hannum. "The comedy contest and the workshops are bringing in comedians to Cleveland from Chicago, Columbus, Cincinnati and even Florida. And the shows will be even better with national headliners sharing the stage with our great local comics. We want to make the Cleveland Comedy Festival a destination event and another reason for Clevelanders to come downtown. I mean, it's Cleveland… how could it not be funny?"

For details about shows and performers and to purchase tickets, visit www.playhousesquare.org.

PlayhouseSquare is a not-for-profit performing arts center whose mission is presenting and producing a wide variety of quality performing arts, advancing arts education and creating a destination that is a superior location for entertainment, business and residential living, thereby strengthening the economic vitality of the region.