Kids 'N Comedy Presents THE TERRIFIED OF EVERYTHING HALLOWEEN SHOW Today, 10/21

Kids 'N Comedy, New York's leading presenter of young comic talent, will open its 2012-2013 season today, October 21 with "The Terrified of Everything Halloween Show," a confession of deep, dark fears by the funniest teenagers in the tri-state area. The show will launch a new season of themed shows for which the young comedians will create exclusive material. For the second full season, each show features new writing by the comedians appearing, which they are creating expressly for the varied topics of the shows. Future shows this season will include "Thanks, I Guess" on November 18 and "Christmakwanzukah" on December 16.

Kids 'N Comedy presents monthly shows at Gotham Comedy Club with a turntable of talented teens and 'tweens from the tri-state area. In the company's shows, each comic performs his/her own material, which is screened to be free of profanity and abrasive or cheap "low" humor (like fart jokes). They do, however, venture into edgy comic terrain: politics, getting old, even death.

The Kids 'N Comedy ensemble for 2012-2013 includes: Charlie Bardey, Valerie Bodurtha, Conor Carroll, Ryan Drum, Leo Frampton, Dillon Heverin, Rachel Kaly, Eric Kurn, Zach Rosenfeld, Conor Williams and Lee Wolfowitz. Host of the show is David Smithyman, the dry-as-a-bone Australian-bred comedian who is Emcee, Producer and Senior Instructor of Kids 'N Comedy.

Smithyman's book, "Young, Funny and Unbalanced: a Stand-Up Comedy Guide for Teens," was released this month and is available through Amazon. It outlines methods for summoning material organically out of your soul and explains the Kids 'N Comedy method of comedy training, which is an unconventional education for unconventional kids.

"The Terrified of Everything Halloween Show" will be presented today October 21 at 1 PM at Gotham Comedy Club, 208 W 23rd Street. Tickets are $15 plus a one-item minimum (food or drink.) There is a kids' menu for children under 12. The show is appropriate for ages 9-18. Running time is 1 hour and 45 minutes.

For reservations, call 212-877-6115 or visit www.kidsncomedy.com.

Kids 'N Comedy originated in 1996 as a talent show for kids at a The West End Gate restaurant on the Upper West Side. The talent of the kids caught the attention of BBC-TV, which filmed a documentary about them, which resulted in more media attention. Demand spiked among kids wishing to perform and this prompted the creation of Kids 'N Comedy to serve these budding comics through classes taught by a rotating staff, an intensive summer comedy camp, and professional gigs. Their performance series started at The Knitting Factory in 1996 and moved to Caroline's in 1998 and to Gotham Comedy Club in 2000.

Beside their regular shows at Gotham Comedy Club, Kids 'N Comedy performers have appeared at a variety of benefits and charity events, including events of the WB11 Care for Kids Fund, a fund of the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation (supporting needy families, including teen mothers, homeless families and at-risk youth), Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation (it brightens the lives of seriously ill children and their families) and the Toyota Comedy Festival.

Photo Credit: Jo Ann Grossman